Three usability challenges I encountered today
I set up a new phone line today in a carrier store, and they had me set up a number of passwords, PINs, security questions, and such. Of course I wanted to use 1Password to try and do this as securely as possible, and as I anticipated that I would need at least two long PINs, I set them up before I went in to the store to try and save time. Even so, things didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped.
Password generator lacks ambiguous characters setting
My first challenge was when they asked me to create an account password and enter it on their screen. I used 1Password (7.0 Beta 8) on my phone to generate a random password, but unfortunately, unlike 1Password mini, the Android password generator doesn't have an "avoid ambiguous characters" setting.
Also unfortunately, the random password 1Password created for me used a tilde ( ~ ), a character which looks awfully like a dash ( - ) on the font used on my Pixel 2 phone running the latest Android P beta. After some momentary struggles and (internal to my head) curse words, I solved the "issue" after switching to the "large type" view. Totally my fault, but I really missed the "avoid ambiguous characters" setting in that moment.
It's not easy to add new sections, fields, and then re-arrange them as needed
I was asked to create a number of security questions, and I struggled to create a new section and then multiple password fields to hold the answers to the security questions. In 1Password for Mac, you can create a section name, and then add multiple fields which each have a header/title. Here's an example of a section with three passwords and their respective security question in the header above:
In 1PW for Android, I saw how to create a new section, and eventually how to create password fields within that section, but I couldn't figure out a way to provide a title/header for each password field. Perhaps there's a way and I just didn't see it. I also accidentally created multiple sections and a few password fields in each one. I could find no way of moving the password fields between sections, so I had to delete several of them and partially start over. I also ended up needing to create an encrypted note to store the meaning of each password field as a workaround to not having a title/header for each password field.
Password generator doesn't support words
I try to randomize answers to security questions using 1Password's password generator, and I've typically found that a word-based password (as created via 1Password Mini) is a very effective way of generating answers to security questions. I've also found that multiple words are not only supported by the vast majority of sites, but also relatively easy to give verbally (as is sometimes necessary when authenticating with customer service on the phone). I was disappointed to realize that word-based passwords don't appear to be supported by the Android password generator.
I realize that some of these features didn't exist at all on Android until somewhat recently, and I'm sure they will get more polish in time. None of these are huge issues, but I thought they might serve as useful end-user use cases when considering future design, features, and usability enhancements.
Cheers!
1Password Version: 7.0 Beta 8
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Android P DP 2 (Beta 1)
Sync Type: 1Password Subscription
Comments
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@EnerJi: Thank you for taking the time to write all of this up and share your experience with us. We're in complete agreement: these are areas where we need to do better. And while I'd be sorry that you encountered these issues in any circumstance, it's even more regrettable that you seemingly ran into all of this at once. It's something we'll continue to work to improve. :blush:
To get into the specifics a bit, as I'm sure you know, custom fields are new in the beta with the new item editor, so this is something we're actively working on currently. It's good to know these pain points, and we'll keep those in mind as we continue to built this.
Similarly, while the password generator is not something that has been revamped yet, it's on our shortlist. We'll be modernizing it to fall in line with the new design we've introduced in 1Password X. The bad news is that we're not going to be doing anything with "ambiguous characters" options. That just makes for weaker passwords. But we'll be designing it so the characters themselves are less ambiguous when on display, using improved typography.
Again, I'm sorry we're not ahead of this and you had a bad day as a result, but we'll keep at at so that you'll have fewer experiences like that over time. Thanks so much for your feedback on all of this!
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You're very welcome. I am too! :)
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