Adjusting to 1Password for Families
I've been really excited about using 1Password for Families. I especially love the account recovery feature. As with any new product, some adjustments to past usage behaviour are expected, and, through the advice and comments from several of the posters on this forum, I've found ways to make the transition to Families workable even when a new change/feature in the product originally concerned me.
For example, I understand the importance of the account key, but I was worried about having easy access to the key when I needed it quickly (like when setting up a new iPhone without access to any other devices). I'd hate to have to drive to a safety deposit box in that situation (if I was even in the same city at the time). Therefore, I've followed the advice of others and maintained a local primary vault synced with Dropbox which only includes my family account keys. Now I only need to remember my 1Password and Dropbox passwords to quickly access a secure copy of the account keys. In addition, now that iOS 9.3 permits secure notes, I also keep my account keys stored there as an alternate secure digital location.
My second concern was with the lack of local backups. I feel much more comfortable with a backup that I control in case of internet outages, server problems, malicious attacks, etc. Of course, that backup must also be in a secure format to protect my data but also be usable when needed. Therefore, I now periodically copy the items from my family vaults to a local vault. That vault is synced with Dropbox, and I regularly zip it up and store the zipped copy in multiple safe places. Then, in an emergency, I'll be able to use a stand alone copy of 1Password with a copy of my backed up vault to regain access to my critical data. It's not an automated process, but it's quick and easy, so it works for me.
But now, I've run into another issue that I can't think of a reasonable solution for. I'm wondering if any of you may have any suggestions. I've discovered that attachments are not supported in 1Password for Families. Instead, attachments are removed from existing items and stored as separate documents with a reference to the main item when moved or copied to a family vault. This causes my custom "backup" solution to fail because the related/referenced documents are not copied back to the local vault when I manually copy an item from a family vault. This means that if I copy a software license item back to a local vault, the associated key file stays behind in a related document. In other words, 1Password for Families separates items and attachments when moving an item into a family vault, but it does not recombine them when moving or copying an item back to a local vault.
Has anyone found a solution for this issue? Or better yet, is the Agilebits team considering adding attachment functionality to 1Password for Families? As I noted above, changes are expected with new products. To lose long term features, however, is distressing.
I've been trying to move to 1Password for Families for several families and groups that I support, but I think this issue will prevent me from switching.
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Comments
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Hi, @blurter.
Thanks for the feedback. Before addressing your main question, I'd like to address your first point about the Account Key. The Account Key is designed to be stored on registered devices, so as long as you have your family account added to 1Password on your iOS device, you can unlock 1Password with just your Master Password or Touch ID, then go to your account to see your Account Key. Of course, you're free to store it wherever you'd like, but I thought I'd bring that to your attention in case you weren't aware.
As for Documents and attachments, Documents (as you've noticed) are a new feature of family accounts. They are a huge improvement over attachments in the way they are designed and managed. They are similar to attachments in that they can be linked to items, but now any two items can be linked together, not just an item with attached files. We do not have any plans to add attachments to family accounts in the same way they exist for local vaults.
It doesn't sound like you really need attachments in your family account, though. It sounds like the problem is simply that Documents are not ending up in your local backups. This can be solved a couple different ways:
- Implement the ability to locally back up a family vault
- Improve item copying from family vaults to local vaults to convert Document items back to attachments on the items that link to them.
I'm not sure which or if either of those is doable, but I will pass it on to my team and see what we can come up with. In the short term, no, there is no way to easily make local backups of Document items, but you can be sure we have backups of backups on our end.
ref: OPM-3966, OPM-3967
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Hi, @rob .
Either of the two solutions you mentioned would be excellent if implemented.
Please note, the reason I copy the data back to a local vault is so it can be saved elsewhere in .opvault format. I like that instead of exporting data because (1) my information remains encrypted, and (2) I can simply use my backup .opvault file with a local installation of 1Password if I'm in an area without an internet connection. That's important in a country with a geography like Canada as there are many remote communities and cottage areas with limited or no internet service. I can just keep a copy of the 1Password installer and my .opvault on a USB drive, and I'm good to go wherever I may be.
Also, I know that many team members have posted about the benefit of being able to access your account key from your iOS device when needed. While I agree that this works in most cases, it's not infallible. 1Password runs on iOS, an operating system that you don't control. There have been occasional problems with iOS releases (including the recent version 9.3) that have rendered some iOS devices unusable for several days (or more). Since you cannot control the operating systems that run 1Password, being able to store your .opvault in an alternate location best decided by each user would make 1Password for Teams/Families a truly COMPLETE solution that works in most scenarios regardless of how unlikely they may be.
While you have implemented excellent backup and redundancy features for 1Password for Team/Families, they are still dependent on the user having an internet connection when configuring a new computer or device. I believe that is why so many posters have requested a local backup solution. We really want that peace of mind knowing that we have access to our data even when disconnected from the rest of the world.
Thanks for considering this issue.
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Thanks, @blurter!
I got a little lost in these sentences:
Also, I know that many team members have posted about the benefit of being able to access your account key from your iOS device when needed. ... Since you cannot control the operating systems that run 1Password, being able to store your .opvault in an alternate location best decided by each user would make 1Password for Teams/Families a truly COMPLETE solution that works in most scenarios regardless of how unlikely they may be.
You started out talking about accessing the Account Key, and then switched to talking about where the OPVault file is stored. You are of course free to save your Account Key and OPVault files anywhere, but I'm not sure what you are suggesting as a way that we can improve here. Could you help me out?
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Hi,
The point I'm making is that while some people have noted that you can easily access your account key from an iOS device ALREADY configured to use 1Password for Families, that may not be possible if an iOS update temporarily "breaks" the device. Even if you have your account key with you in another form (e.g. a piece of paper in your wallet), you then wouldn't be able to sign into 1Password for Families without an internet connection.
To prevent that possibility of not having access to my data in these scenarios, I'd like to be able to keep a copy of my .opvault on a USB drive so that I can use a standalone desktop version of 1Password, if necessary. Of course, I can already do that by manually copying my items from a families vault to a local vault. That's an easy enough process that it doesn't need to be automated. The problem with that, however, is that documents don't get switched back to attachments in the process. Therefore, I suggesting one of the following:
- An improvement to the move/copy feature that re-adds related documents as attachments when moving/copying items from a Families vault to a local vault; or
- Feature parity with respect to documents and attachments between the Families and standalone versions of 1Password so that desktop version of 1Password supports the new document feature OR the Families version supports attachments.
Of course, either of the above would also be helpful for anyone who later decides to move back to using perpetual license after using the new subscription option.
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The point I'm making is that while some people have noted that you can easily access your account key from an iOS device ALREADY configured to use 1Password for Families, that may not be possible if an iOS update temporarily "breaks" the device. Even if you have your account key with you in another form (e.g. a piece of paper in your wallet), you then wouldn't be able to sign into 1Password for Families without an internet connection.
@blurter: That's a great point, but there are two important things to consider here that can help mitigate these risks:
- Have multiple authorized devices (so you can use one to get the Account Key if something happens to another) — this also applies if you store it in a local vault: you'll need 1Password to access it
- Don't do OS updates when you're in a precarious position (traveling, emergency, etc.)
- Save the Account Key in another secure place you can access if all of your devices are lost, stolen, or damaged
And note that without an internet connection, #1 becomes even more crucial...
To prevent that possibility of not having access to my data in these scenarios, I'd like to be able to keep a copy of my .opvault on a USB drive so that I can use a standalone desktop version of 1Password, if necessary.
You're really making more work for yourself than is necessary. Regardless of where you have the Account Key, you won't be able to authorize a new device or use the web interface without an internet connection. Having devices that are already authorized will ensure that you have a cached copy of your 1Password data that you can access offline, so you don't even need to do the OPVault + USB drive dance at all.
That said, we definitely want to improve the way that the Documents/attachments migration is handled. So while it isn't necessary in this case, it's something that we're thinking about ourselves. :)
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