How to synchronise data between PC and Android without cloud?

JohnHind
JohnHind
Community Member

Arghh! just updated to 1Password7 (Windows) only to find that the WLAN server feature has gone AWOL! One step forward two steps back! You are now supporting local vaults (which is good) but with no way I can find of synchronising vaults between machines that does not involve trusting the data to the Internet and third party servers in other legal jurisdictions!

WLAN Server was always a bit clunky, but better than nothing. Better would be a generic way to synchronise between two vaults accessable through the file system. I can mount my phone on the Windows file system over USB, however I cannot discover where the Android app actually hides its data or find any way to control what a vault on the PC actually syncs with (at the moment is is producing Zip file backups, but the feature doing that implies it is capable of more).

Please, if you are going to do something do it properly! Either cease support for local vaults and try to force us all down the cloud/subscription route (good luck with that) or implement the features we need to manage local vaults sensibly.

Meanwhile, can you suggest ANY way I can synchronise between PC and Android without the data leaving my control?


1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided

Comments

  • Hi @JohnHind. 1Password on Windows supports sync using a 1Password membership, Dropbox, or a local folder. While 1Password on Android supports those options, it also supports WLAN server sync as well. We don't currently have any plans to support WLAN sync in 1Password 7 for Windows. However, you can use the folder sync option if it works for you. You'll need to make sure you have the beta version of 1Password for Android installed, so that it can sync the OPVault folder from Windows. However, you can use any alternative sync solution you like, to sync the folder between the two devices.

  • JohnHind
    JohnHind
    Community Member

    Thanks Peri, and sorry if I was a little tetchy in my initial post.
    However I am still tearing my hair out in frustration - it looks like it should be possible, but I cannot quite get there. Here is what I have done:
    1. Updated to Android 1Password Beta 12.
    2. Tried to get Windows 1Password 7 to synchronise to a folder on the phone. Disable sync then re-enable it to present the folder dialog (this is less than intuitive if you ask me - why not just present the folder as a setting and allow it to be changed without disabling and re-enabling sync?). But although the Android file system is showing up fine in Windows Explorer, it does not show up in the folder picker in 1Password. Since it will not let me type the path manually either, there seems to be no way to do this. Have you used some third-party control which looks like the Windows one but does not behave the same? Or are you using the official one, but with some setting or flag that is preventing it showing external file systems?
    3. Copied the '.opvault' folder to the Android file system using Windows Explorer. Could not find any way to get the Android 1Password to change over to use this. In desperation I uninstalled the Android 1Password and installed it again. On first start-up it lets me pick the .opvault. 1Password now seems to be showing the same data on PC and Android. Again, crazily un-intuitive UI design! You've done the work for a vault picker UI, so why only present it on initial install?
    4. Since 1Password will not synchronise the two .opvault folders, maybe I can do it with a third-party file synchroniser? Lets try Beyond Compare. I create a new Safe Note on the PC and run Beyond Compare between the two folders. "Nothing to Sync" - odd, where is that safenote being stored? I check in Windows Explorer, no files in the PC .opvault folder have been modified today! The safenote is still there in 1Password Windows with a 'created' and 'last modified' date of today (but missing in 1Password Android).
    It is so frustrating when a product is so nearly great, but just makes particular use cases needlessly difficult or even impossible!

  • JohnHind
    JohnHind
    Community Member

    I did some more investigating and I am now officially tetchy again! I will be requesting a refund of my licence money and looking for another password manager. I have detailed my reasons in another post, but basically 1Password handling of data (and its opacity about this) is completely unacceptable to me. I discovered that even after physically removing the USB drive containing my local vault AND rebooting the computer 1Password could STILL access my supposedly secure data!

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    I did some more investigating and I am now officially tetchy again! I will be requesting a refund of my licence money and looking for another password manager. I have detailed my reasons in another post, but basically 1Password handling of data (and its opacity about this) is completely unacceptable to me.

    @JohnHind: I think you mean this discussion. If you purchased 1Password from us within the past 30 days and not satisfied, you're entitled to a refund. Just shoot us an email at sales@1password.com and we can help you with that.

    I discovered that even after physically removing the USB drive containing my local vault AND rebooting the computer 1Password could STILL access my supposedly secure data!

    If you can access the data without entering your Master Password, please give us more details so we can investigate, as that sounds like there may be a security issue.

    If, however, you're only able to access the data after entering your Master Password, that is definitely not a security issue: that's very much how 1Password is supposed to work, and, as they say, "what it says on the tin". If you have any questions about that, please let us know.

This discussion has been closed.