What improvements to wi-fi sync are in the pipeline? Right now, it's a pain.
Is Agilebits actively working on any improvements to wi-fi sync, or is this something that's just on basic life support and on it's way out?
Wi-fi is the only sync method that's practical for me. I'm in China, so Dropbox, iCloud, and other sync services such as SpiderOak all perform inconsistently. Using a VPN sometimes improves the situation, but getting those type of cloud sync options to work usually leads me down a time-wasting rabbit-hole.
As it stands, wi-fi sync is clunky and confusing. Do you know how many button presses I need to sync my iOS device (and then get back to what I was doing)? Ten. Count 'em:
- Settings
- Sync
- Choose a vault
- Start Syncing
- Sync using Wi-Fi
- Choose the computer
- Sync Now
- Back to Wi-Fi Sync
- Cancel
- Favourites (or Categories, or whatever else it was I was doing).
Not to mention that 1Password on my computer needs to be unlocked too. And wi-fi sync is confusing too. Because it's relatively limited compared to the other sync options (e.g., one computer to many devices, only one vault), yet resides in some of the same menus/screens as the other sync options, it's a pain to setup and maintain in a password ecosystem that involves multiple computers, multiple devices, and multiple vaults (which the other sync methods can handle).
So, there are a lot of pain points with the existing wi-fi sync functionality. Can someone please tell me that improvements are on the way soon?
Here are some features/improvements I'd love to see:
- Fewer steps to sync a device to a computer/vault
- Sync multiple vaults over wi-fi
- Sync many computers to many devices over wi-fi
- Remote unlocking of device vault using 1Password on the computer (Yes, the passcode is a nice option, but typing my Master Password on my iPhone after a device restart is such a pain.)
1Password Version: 6.1
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: OS X 10.11.3
Sync Type: Wi-FI!
Comments
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Hi @wsjndr,
Thanks for taking the time to write in! Unfortunately I'm not aware of any planned improvements, but it actually sounds like the things you want, for the most part, already exist.
Once WiFi sync is set up it should not be necessary to go into the sync screen each time. As long as both devices are connected to the same WiFi network and have 1Password open and unlocked syncing should start automatically (when the iOS app unlocks).
Multiple vaults can already be synced over WiFi:
Wi-Fi Sync | 1Password 6 for Mac
Unfortunately the "sync many computers to many devices" one is unlikely to happen. It would require a massive re-engineering of how WiFi sync works. Currently the Mac is the server, and the iOS devices are clients. To enable the kind of syncing you're describing both the Mac and iOS devices would have to act as both.
Also while I don't think we'll see "remote unlocking" any time in the near future we do currently have a change in beta such that the Master Password does not have to be used after a reboot. This is not a guarantee -- it still needs a lot of testing, but it is something we're actively working on.
If any of the things I've outlined are not working as intended for you please let us know and we'd be happy to troubleshoot.
Ben
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WiFi sync definitely does NOT work automatically for my devices (MacBookAir5,1 on OS X 10.11.13 with 1Password 6.1 (610005); iPhone5,1 on iOS 9.2.1 with 1Password 6.3.1), and never has.
I can't recall every seeing specific instructions on how to make this sync happen automatically. Could someone kindly point me towards the appropriate webpage or knowledgebase article?
As for the possibility of expanding the wi-fi syncing options, how about letting more than one computer act as the server for a single iOS device? For example, say I have a Macbook Air for work and an iMac for my family, each with its own 1Password vault. I'd like both vaults to be available on my iPhone using wi-fi sync. (I'm in China, so anything that relies on the cloud for syncing will be terribly inconsistent.) As far as I understand, that's not currently possible. So, I'd love to see some kind of option on the iOS version that would allow me to at least toggle between the two vaults using a different PIN code for each. (Okay, even if I had to use my full master password, that would be an improvement on the current situation.)
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We found that the more common scenario was that folks would use multiple iOS devices and only one Mac, as compaired to the number of people using multiple Macs and only one iOS device, and that is part of the reason we designed WiFi sync the way we did. I don't see this changing in the near future, but we do certainly appreciate the feedback and will take it into consideration as we move forward.
As for syncing automatically... from our 1Password for iOS WiFi sync guide:
Sync over Wi-Fi | 1Password for iOS
If you’re syncing a Mac with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, all you need to do to sync in the future is make sure 1Password is open on both your computer and iOS device.
If that isn't happening for you, I'd like to get an idea of what is going on under the hood. I'd like to ask you to create some Diagnostics Reports, one from each of your devices:
Attach the Diagnostics Report(s) to an email message addressed to support+forum@agilebits.com.
Please do not post your Diagnostics Report(s) in the forums, but please do include a link to this thread in your email, along with your forum handle so that we can "connect the dots" when we see your Diagnostics Report(s) in our inbox.
You should receive an automated reply from our BitBot assistant with a Support ID number. Please post that number here so we can track down the report(s) and ensure that this issue is dealt with quickly. :)
Once we see the report we should be able to better assist you. Thanks very much!
Ben
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BEN: "We found that the more common scenario was that folks would use multiple iOS devices and only one Mac, ..."
Wow, that's shocking to me. I have a desktop, a laptop, and multiple iOS devices, and it's really annoying to me that I can't keep them all in sync w/o using a cloud server. (I could with SplashID, though that had other issues, so I bailed!)
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Using a combination of syncing via 1Password's WLAN server and Folder Sync you may be able to set up such an environment, but it will require the use of a 3rd party sync tool to sync between the Macs. As such we do not generally recommend it, but if you are so inclined...
Sync your 1Password data
Ben
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