Generic accounts issues

reck

I’ve recently discovered that Generic accounts don’t translate over to iOS and unintentional things can happen when used between platforms. Please see this thread - https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/comment/279543#Comment_279543

Ben’s explained to me in the linked thread that Generic accounts aren’t supported on iOS and it’s likely won’t be, in fact it’s more likely they will eventually be removed from the Windows client.

I’ve made extensive use of generic accounts and I now have the unenvious task of having to go through and create new accounts using alternative containers such as safe notes to prevent the issues I’ve mentioned in the other thread. This got my thinking, are there any other item types that are depreciated or just aren’t supported between Windows and iOS? I’d like to ensure I remove all these types of items and ensure I don’t create new ones.

Thanks

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LauraR

Hi @reck - I apologize for this. Items in the Generic Account category will move to the Logins category on iOS and Mac. The other two categories that are on Windows but not the other platforms are -

• Instant Messenger
• FTP Account

These will be created as Logins on Mac and iOS. The correct information will still be there.

reck

Hi Laura,

The iOS app automatically changing account types into Login type when edited is the issue really. I saved this information using accounts as that’s what they are and they don’t contain any login information. I also use the account view in 1P for Windows and having them suddenly disappear from this section was what prompted this. Some of my account information is now mixed up with my login information when before I could switch between logins and the accounts views to filter what information I see. Hope you can see why this is causing problems.

Now that I know that there are issues with certain types of categories I will look to move my generic accounts to a type that’s supported on both platforms.

Along with I.M and FTP accounts I see lots of other types, most of which I don’t think I’m using thankfully.

Is it accurate to say that all these categories listed below are not supported across platforms and will also be automatically converted to logins if edited on iOS?

Instant Messenger
FTP Account
Generic Account
iCloud
iTunes
Amazon S3
Internet Provider

If that’s the case I will avoid using them and just use cross-platform containers in future.

Thanks for the information.

LauraR

Hi @reck, Yes, you're correct with this list. These categories will be converted to Logins in 1Password on iOS. The iTunes, iCloud and Amazon S3 items will maintain their icons.

MikeT

Hi @reck,

Just to clarify what's going on, these older templates have been phased out and converted into Logins when we started supporting custom fields for 1Password, which makes Login more customizable.

Many folks do not use all of these templates, so we've consolidated it into Logins.

For the newer OPVault format, it does not know about these legacy templates anymore. However, 1Password on Windows read and write to both .agilekeychain / .opvault formats, which leaves us with the interface showing the older templates as well. So, what we do is not convert the items until edited in 1Password for Mac or iOS apps that are using the newer format only.

In the next major version of 1Password on Windows, it will not do that anymore and will be consistent with all platforms.

reck

Hi Mike,

That's interesting to hear what's going on behind the scenes. I was going to make a similar point regarding the templates.

One of the great things about 1Password is the flexibility it gives in terms of customising templates. The ability to add custom fields, sections, icons etc pretty much allows you to create logins and accounts for anything.

With this in mind I was going to ask why you don't get rid of these very specific ridged templates (iCloud, Amazon S3 etc) and just leave the generic account option which can be customised to hold account info for any purpose.

From your post it sounds like you are going to transfer these "legacy templates" into logins. My question is why logins and not the generic account template which appears to be the perfect template for holding account information?

Are you planning to completely remove the idea of account templates and just use logins? I have a lot of account information for hardware that use usernames, passwords and other info but don't have logins. The generic account template is a lot cleaner for this sort of thing as it doesn't contain redundant UI elements in the template like urls box, web browser icons edit/add/delete url buttons.

If (generic) accounts are going to be going I'd much prefer to use safe notesas a replacement rather than the login template for the reasons I mention above so if this is the plan I'll probably go down that route.

MikeT

Hi @Reck,

With this in mind I was going to ask why you don't get rid of these very specific ridged templates (iCloud, Amazon S3 etc) and just leave the generic account option which can be customised to hold account info for any purpose.

We did, it's just called Logins instead. A lot of customers were confused as to what the difference is between Logins and Accounts, so we decided to keep it simple by only keeping one category, Logins. From there, you can customize it with custom sections and fields.

The ability to create your own custom categories is on our list to consider for 1Password in the future. Custom sections/fields are just the beginning.

In fact, you can replicate this in a way. If you save a Login item with a list of custom fields with no values, save it as a "FTP Template", you can then right-click on it to duplicate it to create a new copy of the said template item. You can also put it in a folder to collect them into a category of your own. You can even save a custom icon in the template item and the duplicated items will have that custom icon as well.

We do want to automate and simplify this process in the future to turn it into the custom category idea.

The generic account template is a lot cleaner for this sort of thing as it doesn't contain redundant UI elements in the template like urls box, web browser icons edit/add/delete url buttons.

We plan to clean it up in the future to start with the least amount of fields and then let you expand on it by creating your own fields and sections, rather than showing everything right now.

reck

With this in mind I was going to ask why you don't get rid of these very specific ridged templates (iCloud, Amazon S3 etc) and just leave the generic account option

We did....

iCloud, Amazon S3 etc templates are still visible for me under the Accounts section . What I was suggesting is to remove these and just leave the single generic account option.

So the "new item" menu would look more like this.

Login
(generic) Account
Wallet Items ->
Secure Note
...
...

The generic account template is a lot cleaner for this sort of thing as it doesn't contain redundant UI elements in the template like urls box, web browser icons edit/add/delete url buttons.

Once this gets implemented I can see why you would only need a single login template as you could customise it for any purpose. In the mean time providing a single login and single account option would be a good interim step imo. I don't see how just having the two options would then be confusing to customers.

MikeT

Hi @reck,

iCloud, Amazon S3 etc templates are still visible for me under the Accounts section

These categories still exist in the UI, we haven't removed it because the program can still read/write to older files. In the near future, it will not have these categories anymore, including the Accounts group.

What I was suggesting is to remove these and just leave the single generic account option.

I understand but we've already moved beyond this for a few years now on all platforms except for Windows, the issue is the UI on Windows is behind everyone else. Once we fix this, it'd make more sense.

I don't see how just having the two options would then be confusing to customers.

Basically, there's no clear answer as to why a customer should pick one or the other, a generic Account item is no different from a Login item. We went through thousands and thousands worth of feedback asking the same question, so as soon as we made the new changes, no more questions on other platforms but we still get it on Windows because we didn't update the UI yet.

reck

OK I understand. Thanks very much for taking the time to reply Mike, it's much appreciated.

MikeT

You're welcome!