Changing WLAN synch setup from Windows<->iPad to Windows<->Android Phone
Hello,
currently, I synchronize 1Password between Windows PC and iPad via WLAN. This works great.
I now also want to have the passwords on my Android phone. I seem to understand that one vault on Windows can only be synchronized over WLAN with a single device. Correct?
Given that I cannot have Windows as the master and synch to the iPad and the Android phone, I want to drop the synch to the iPad and instead synch to the Android phone.
How can I have 1Password on Windows to kind of forget the synch connection to the iPad and instead accept a new connection to the Android device? Note that the vault in the Android is still empty. I want it to be filled by synching with Windows.
Regards
Peter
1Password Version: most current versions
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Windows 7 / iOS 10 / Android 7
Sync Type: WLAN
Referrer: forum-search:synchronizing from windows with new android device
Comments
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@phunsoft: You can sync between a single computer and multiple mobile devices using WLAN Server. So there's no need to do that; just set it up on your Android device too:
How to use the WLAN server
I hope this helps. Be sure to let me know if you have any other questions! :)
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Hi Brenty,
Your answer astonishes and confuses me. I seem to remember to have discussed jsut this a while ago, but coud not find the discussion again.I had a look at the link and found the following among the restrictions:
o The WLAN server can’t sync two or more mobile devices directly.
To be clear, what I'd like to do is to have the vault in Windows be kind of the master. Every change I make there suld be synched to my iPad and then to the phone, one after the other. And change made to one of th mobile devices will be synched to Windows at next syncgh, and eventually synched to the other mobile device some time later, at next synch.
The above restriction seems to say this is not possible.
Peter
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@phunsoft - sorry for the confusion! That's not at all the case. What brenty was pointing out was that if you do not have 1Password installed on at least one computer (Windows or Mac), you cannot use WLAN to sync together ONLY mobile devices. Because the WLAN sync in 1Password works on a server-client model, you need a computer running 1Password to act as the WLAN server, to which you can then sync any number (theoretically) of mobile devices (Android and/or iOS). All devices will remain synced with one another, assuming you remember to keep 1Password running on the PC or Mac at the same time that the mobile devices have 1Password opened and connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Hope that clears things up, but if not, ask any follow-ups you may have.
By the way, if you click on your own name in the header of our forum, you should be able to see a listing of past threads in which you've participated. Just a tip if you want to be able to access them in the future for any reason. :)
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@Lars: Thanks. I do have 1Password running on Windows 7, which is cable-connected to the WLAN router to which the moile devices connect. Synching between Windows and iPad work nicely: I open 1 Password on both devices, then select File -> WLAN Synch on the PC and the synch happens.
1Password on the Android phone does not synch. I just deinstalled 1Password on the Android, then reistalled it. I selected to prime 1Password on the phone via WLAN from the PC, and this worked indeed. However, thereafter it doe not synch again, no matter whether I change an entry on the phone or on the PC. Synching with the iPad still works w/o problem.
So, the Android instance was able to connect and talk to the PC instance. But only once, it seems. In the settings, the checkbox "synchronize automatically" (Automatisch synchrinosieren) is greyed and unchecked, if that matters. Setting "WLAN server" is "on", and "Notify" (Benachrichtigung) is checked.
This is still the test version, the Pro feature is not bought yet. Does this matter?
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Hi there @phunsoft,
That sounds really weird, as Pro-features in Android should not affect WLAN Server sync. Please try to do the following to sync your data:
1) Unlock 1Password on both your computer and your Android device while they are on the same wireless network.
2) In 1Password 4 on your Windows PC, choose File > WLAN Sync.
3) In 1Password on your Android device, pull to refresh while viewing your data, or tap Sync in the overflow menu.
Let us know if it works. Thanks!
Cheers,
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Hi Greg
I just did not think of "pulling to refresh". This is unexpected, especially since there is no action to be taken on the iPad version. But once you know the trick, it works. Great! (Tapping on the Synch in the Overflow menu works the same.)Why is the setting "synchronized automatically" not enabled? Would this avoid the refresh action? Just curious.
Another interesting detail: When synching with the Android, I have to enter the master key on both the PC, and (after refreshing) on the Android. When synchng with the iPad, The master key is only asked for on the PC. Again, not a problem, just interesting.
On the Android, there is a hint pooping up saying "Passworthinweis:_%PASSWORD_TOKEN%", and this disappears after a while. What is this? I meant, I understand what it wants to tell me, but this hint does not appear when prompted for the key when unlocking 1Password initially, so why when synching. And, where woud I set that a hint?
In the end, I can do what i wanted: Keep 1Password in synch between Windows and two mobile devices. This is fantastic. Thanks for all the help.
Regards
Peter0 -
@phunsoft: @brenty puts me to shame with his WLAN expertise, so I'm sure he'll have more to share when he's around, but I wanted to take a first stab at your questions so we don't leave you hanging too long.
Why is the setting "synchronized automatically" not enabled? Would this avoid the refresh action? Just curious.
While I don't know the technical rationale behind this, it actually makes a fair bit of sense to me and here's why. In the case of WLAN sync, we need some sort of action from you that triggers the sync to start. It has some setup involved (setting up the WLAN server on your PC, unlocking your vault on your phone, getting on the right WiFi network and looking up your password for that network, etc. Or maybe that last bit is just me ...) and this is a bit smoother when you can handle these things in whatever order you'd like and, when you're ready, tell 1Password to sync. The refresh action works well here, though I do think 1Password for Windows could do a better job of telling you how to trigger the sync. What it says right now is just plain wrong on Android. Something to keep in mind for 1Password 7. :chuffed:
When synching with the Android, I have to enter the master key on both the PC, and (after refreshing) on the Android.
This one is interesting and I'm hoping Brenty will have a more definite answer for you, but I suspect it has to do with how the information is transferred between the two devices. Apple has some cool ways to secure data transferred this way (think AirDrop) that just doesn't exist on Windows or Android. I'd bet differences in operating systems play a role here.
On the Android, there is a hint pooping up saying "Passworthinweis:_%PASSWORD_TOKEN%", and this disappears after a while.
This, I'd bet, is unintentional. I know I've never set a password hint for my vault, but it still pops up and even if I had set one, it should only pop up when I enter an incorrect Master Password several times. I've left myself a note to ask our Android team about this and see if it might be a little bug. Thanks for passing it along!
I'm glad you were able to sync properly in the end and I'll leave you with a hopefully helpful tip to make up for my less helpful answers. When you are syncing two mobile devices, it's a good idea to limit the changes you make on mobile. You mentioned we say WLAN is designed to sync one computer and one mobile device. Here's why:
You have three data sets: Android, Windows and iPad. These are all different because you've made changes on each, but it's time to sync. You sync Android and Windows so these two have eachother's changes, but not the iPad's changes and the iPad has no changes. No big, just sync iPad with Windows. Awesome. iPad has all changes, Windows does too, but wait ... you changed things on the iPad that aren't on your Android. Now you have to sync Android and Windows again and you're finally in sync across all three. Three devices isn't too awful, but it can be tough to keep track of and there is a slight risk of sync conflicts. With frequent backups, you're in pretty good shape, but you can see how it might be easier to limit edits on your mobile devices where you're able. Hope this saves you some future frustration and let us know if we can do anything else to help. :+1:
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@phunsoft: We have different ways of doing things on iOS and Android, both for technical and historical reasons that you shouldn't have to worry about as a user. So it is a bit confusing, and I'm sorry about that. Truth be told, we get complaints about both, so we haven't decided to scrap one method to make them both work the same...but we do want to make them more consistent in the future. Thanks for your feedback about that, and I apologize for any confusion I may have caused earlier. Cheers! :)
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@brenty: That's all fine. I understand Android and iOS are two different beasts, both with pros and cons.
Having taught about the two mechanisms to start a synch, I think I'd prefer the Android way, despite more typing being necessary. Why? Well, firstly, it may add to the overall security. Secondly, it allows for more than one mobile device to have 1Password unlocked at the same time, yet still giving me full control over which device I want to synch. With the iOS automatism, I don't have a chance to select the Android device, because iOS will be quicker.
Thanks fot the excellent support, to all of you.
Cheers, Peter
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@phunsoft: On behalf of brenty and everyone, you're most welcome. A lot of things do come down simply to differences in operating systems and seemingly random things they can and can't do. We aspire to a truly unified experience, of course, but we still have to settle for "close enough" at times. Still, it's good to have something to work towards. :chuffed:
Thank you for all of your feedback and working through this with us, too. It's always much appreciated. :+1:
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@bundtkate: I forgot to thank you for your comment regarding synching multiple devices. Very valid consideration. I'll keep that in mind.
Regards, Peter
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Glad to hear Kate was able to help! And thanks again for your feedback on the different sync mechanisms. Cheers! :)
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