Focus shifts from browser when clicking in 1Password mini [a couple workarounds are available]

superQ

a search for 'bug' in the forums returned 0 results.

i'd like to report a bug with the chrome extension on os x.

os x v. 10.10.2
chrome v. 41.0.2272.89 (64-bit)

what happens:
clicking the extension icon and copying a credential (e.g. username) from an item causes the active browser window (and text field) to lose focus.
as a result i cannot immediately press cmd+v to paste the item's credential into the selected text field, even though the cursor continues blinking, and chrome appears active in the os x menubar (e.g. top-left, next to the apple icon).

what i expect to happen:
after clicking the extension icon and copying a credential i expect to be able to press cmd+v to paste the credential into the text field with the actively blinking icon.

how to reproduce:

• in chrome, go to a website and place your cursor in a text field
• click the 1password extension icon
• search for an item
• hover your cursor over the item so the item's details open
• hover your cursor over the credential you want to copy, and click 'copy' when the copy button appears
• (notice the cursor is still blinking, and chrome appears active, however, the three window buttons lose color)
• press cmd+v to paste the credential in the text field which appears to have focus
• nothing happens

edit to add: i've also tried pressing cmd+~ to "cycle" or "bring to front" the chrome window, however, the focus has so completely disappeared that keyboard input no longer affects chrome (despite that it still appears active).

khad

Thanks for taking the time to contact us, @superQ! Let me see if I can't help out with this a bit. :)

The problem

The issue here is that clicking anywhere 1Password mini will shift the focus from Chrome to 1Password mini which is a background process. So when 1Password mini goes away, the focus is essentially on an invisible window (or "nowhere" for all intents and purposes).

I'm not sure what we can do here to send focus back to the last app that had it (since you may be using 1Password in any number of browsers), but I'll mention it to the developers.

A solution

There is actually a really simple workaround, though, which might make your life even easier than resolving the focus issue when clicking with your mouse: ⇧⌘C will copy the password of the selected item. And since you are not using the mouse to change focus, it actually picks up where you left off. You can even forego the mouse altogether and press ⌥⌘\ to open 1Password mini. So your workflow could be:

1. Focus password field on page.
2. ⌥⌘\ (to open mini)
3. ⇧⌘C (to copy password)
4. ⌘V (to paste password

Boom!

An even better solution

But there is an even better solution if you can believe it. Simply press ⌘\ and 1Password will fill both your username and password into the appropriate fields of the login page. That's it!

If you are having trouble with a particular page that is prompting you to manually copy and paste the password, please let me know the URL. We'd love to improve filling there.

I hope that helps. Please let me know.

Cheers!

superQ

@khad - thanks for your well-written response.

I'm not sure what we can do here to send focus back to the last app that had it (since you may be using 1Password in any number of browsers), but I'll mention it to the developers.

in light of the "workaround" you've mentioned, i wouldn't assign this much priority. (in quotes b/c i now realize it's the default workflow :))

instead, however, could you ask your devs to add a username kb shortcut for the os x app? (per this thread)

thanks again

khad

Will do! :+1:

Quantumpanda

I know this is several months old, but I wanted to ask a clarifying technical question of my own. I've been having the same issue as superQ was, and while I'm glad to know there are viable workarounds, I'm a little confused by something you said.

I was under the impression that 1P Mini was the background engine and the menubar icon, as you said, but that the browser extension itself runs as a process under the browser. The reported issue is with the browser extension, when clicking on its toolbar icon. What it sounds like you're saying is that when the extension brings up a window (or anything other than its primary popover), that window actually belongs to 1P Mini and not the browser extension. Is that correct?

If that's the case, though, shouldn't the extension be able to tell 1P Mini (at the time it calls on 1P Mini) which browser/window it was called from, so that 1P Mini can properly return focus? I know this starts to get into OS X inter-app communication technicals, and so is probably best addressed by someone from the dev team. I'm just wondering whether the OS sandboxing actually prevents the extension from telling 1P Mini where to return focus. If it doesn't, then I would think this solution would be doable. (Not to mention that in an overwhelming majority of cases, the correct window to return focus to is going to be the frontmost one, since you brought up 1P directly from the browser window in the first place.)

I'll also mention that the keyboard shortcuts provided for login info don't help when the info being filled in is a credit card—and credit card autofill fails far more often than login autofill, so it's very common for me to have to manually copy and paste that info. Obviously, adding kb shortcuts for credit card info could get cumbersome, since unlike with logins, 1P has no way of predicting what credit card you'll want it to fill in (unless you have only one set up). So is there, or could your devs add, some kind of solution or workaround for this circumstance?

In relation to that, would you want users who report web site issues via Synapse also report credit card fill issues? I see credit card autofill failures with at least half of the websites I try it on. I recently had to update card info on several websites because my old card expired, and the new card, in addition to having a new expiration date, of course also has a new security code. And many sites don't allow you to simply update the existing card info if they've tried what they have and it rejected, so in many cases I've been having to reenter the full card info again. So I have recently experienced how well several different websites work (or don't) for 1P autofilling credit cards.

littlebobbytables

Hello @Quantumpanda,

While we expect most entries in Synapse will likely be for login pages it has been written to report all filling issues including when you try to fill a credit card or identity too. We do want to learn about all filling issues. You're quite right though, filling credit card and identity items is tougher because with so many fields everything is essentially an educated guess based on what we find most sites commonly do. That does mean there will be some sites we will probably never get right if they get creative with how they create and label their fields. If we can improve it though it is of course desirable.

While I'm not a programmer I would hope it's possible to return focus to the browser. Certainly we know if we're trying to fill into a browser with the extension regardless if you use a keyboard shortcut or click the extension button as it's simply based on the in-focus application at invocation. I would also hope that sandboxing won't be a factor here but of course this might all be the naive thoughts of a non-programmer.

Now for manually filling credit card details. Can I ask, how are you currently doing this? If I need to fill more than one detail I would bring up the item details for the card in question and use the keyboard shortcut ⌘O (uppercase o just in case the font used doesn't make that obvious). This anchors the item details of the card and allows you to copy and paste. If you click to copy the focus is still on the browser so I tend to use the mouse for copying the field from the anchored view and the keyboard for navigating the web page and filling, all without worrying about focus. Does this approach sound of any use to you?

ref: OPM-1519

Quantumpanda

@littlebobbytables,

Now for manually filling credit card details. Can I ask, how are you currently doing this?

If the autofill doesn't work, I usually copy only the actual card number and just type the other info. I have a Typinator shortcut for my name, and expire date and security code aren't hard to remember, especially since I use the same card for most things.

littlebobbytables

Greetings @Quantumpanda,

It might be worth checking out an item after you've anchored it, it might be something you find useful in these situations. Just a thought. Hopefully we can address the more nagging issue of focus.