Disabling browser autofill animations, in 1Password 7

craig_francis · December 2018

There used to be a method to disable the animation when filling out login details.

This was originally in the extension:

https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/12954/how-to-disable-animation-in-the-extension

And in 1Password > Preferences > Browser.

https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/24519/how-to-disable-animations

I think the setting is still there (my old computer has 1Password 7.2.2 installed, and doesn't animate)... but now I've just done a fresh install of 1Password on a new computer, and there doesn't seem to be a way to switch it off any more.

1Password Version: 7.2.2
Extension Version: 4.7.3.90
OS Version: 10.14.2 (18C54)
Sync Type: DropBox

Lars · December 2018

@craig_francis - thanks for your suggestion/question. You're correct, the option to disable animations has been removed in 1Password 7 for Mac; it's no longer a user-selectable option.

craig_francis · December 2018

Is there a way I could set it, maybe via defaults write in the Terminal?

Lars · December 2018

@craig_francis - not at this time, no.

craig_francis · December 2018

Dam, it's quite annoying... I assume someone thought animation would help with something, but didn't realise it can cause problems.

Ben · December 2018

Thanks for the feedback. What problems is it causing?

Ben

craig_francis · December 2018

While I'm not effected by this (I just find it annoying)... superfluous animations can cause issues for some people:

https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/animation-from-interactions.html

WCAG 2.1, Success Criterion 2.3.3 - Some users experience distraction [...] from animated content. Where I personally opt for avoiding unnecessary animation. But if not, you should "provide a control for users to turn off non-essential animations" or "take advantage of the reduce motion feature in the user-agent or operating system".

Ben · December 2018

Thanks @craig_francis. We're trying to balance recommendations like that against adding complexity to the product. We're very resistant to adding additional preferences. Not only do they make the codebase more difficult to manage and less agile but they also have a tendency to confuse people and make the options they are looking for more difficult to find. If less than, say, 20% of people would utilize a preference, we try to make the most widely accepted option the default and not offer a preference. I'd argue we currently have too many preferences, not that we don't have enough.

That said we'll continue to evaluate the balance on this particular point.

Ben

Lars · December 2018

@craig_francis - I agree with Ben -- the struggle is real! ;) We really, really don't want to end up like this, but if I had $1 for every time a conversation here on this forum or in email ended with me receiving a suggestion that we "just add a toggle/checkbox/preference," this is where we'd be headed (assuming we said yes to them all):

craig_francis · December 2018

Fair enough...

Just a shame that I know the preference is still in the code, where the 'executeFillScript' message sets a.message.options.animate = true, whereas my previous install had set that to false.

Or to take it to the background script, the decrypted payload from 1Password Mini contains scripts[0].options.animate = true

Ben · December 2018

:+1:

Ben

Zr40 · January 2019

I previously had this animation disabled, but I had to reset all 1Password data (through Help > Troubleshooting > Reset All 1Password Data) because of a mistake I made when trying to import an ancient agilekeychain vault found on a backup disk. 1Password 7 for Mac doesn't understand this format, and I was trying to use folder sync to get it to import this vault into a blank local vault. That didn't go well. Then I found backups (.1p4_zip), restored those, which made the app forget about my 1Password account...

So to prevent any damage to my primary vault, I've reset all data and signed back in to my account. At least that part is fine. But now the field zoom animation is turned back on and I can't find the setting to disable it. I know it's still there, because it was disabled before I did the reset.

I'd really like to turn this off again! If the setting isn't exposed in the app anymore, I'm happy to turn to the command line or edit files if that's what it takes.

Lars · January 2019

@Zr40 - that setting has been disabled. It depends to some degree on what version of 1Password for Mac you're using, but if it is version 7, then you won't be able to turn it off.

Zr40 · January 2019

It was in fact turned off before I had to reset everything, which turned the setting back on. I would really like to restore the previous setting. I could restore from a Time Machine backup if absolutely necessary, but it would save me a lot of effort if I could at least identify where this setting is stored.

craig_francis · January 2019

Hi @Zr40,

I don’t work for 1Password,

But looking at their code, I don’t think you can change it. I think it’s part of an encrypted setting, that’s stored in the main 1Password app/vault.

If you look at my previous comment, I’ve been able to follow the setting though the browser extensions JavaScript code, to the message that’s sent to it from the app... I don’t think I can go back any further.

Craig

Zr40 · January 2019

I've found where the setting is stored and I was able to disable the animation.

For future reference: it's a plist at ~/Library/Group\ Containers/2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits/Library/Preferences/2BUA8C4S2C.com.agilebits.plist and the animation is disabled by adding a key named animateFill with an integer value of 0.

craig_francis · January 2019

Thanks @Zr40

I completely forgot to check the Group Containers folder; and using the XCode editor, setting it to the "number" 0, works perfectly :-)

Lars · January 2019

Glad you guys got things sorted out to your satisfaction. To be clear, this is an unsupported modification of preferences (which is why it's not visible/changeable through the UI), but you're of course welcome to do what you like with your own devices.

SAHDaehriu23 · April 2019

I think this option should be there and here is why:

All other major operating systems and applications and browser extensions have the ability for people to disable animations.
A modern design trend is to reduce the number of friction and use animation only when it serves the purpose of the functionality.
Moving away from skeuomorphism, which is still used in 1P in some cases, I don't know why, made people move away from animations as well.
That one option is not cluttering the interface, it's a crucial point of the functionality and it doesn't make sense for you to remove it.
It's in the options, it is not in the front window, it doesn't clutter anything.

Personally I disable any animations possible, they are non-practical and does not' serve any purpose. It looks just old fashioned. If you want to remove that option, just remove the animation altogether, along with the unlock animation, which is like 10 years old design trend.

No other password filing extension have animations, the built Chrome autofill including. That animation has no purpose other than cluttering your brain.

Also if you are looking into cross platform consistency, like all other major services are doing, especially with the way Microsoft, Google and Apple are planning to integrate UX and applications across devices, and even OS in future, it means that you should look at the majority of the usage of the app, which trends towards mobile, and on mobile you have no animations. So it would make sense to align your desktop application with the way it behaves on mobile - no animations.

If you don't put that option there, please turn that off by default, I am not a geek to have to edit a config file each time like I am on Linux, I don't use Linux for a reason, I have too much things to do, other than configuring files.

Lars · April 2019

@SAHDaehriu23 - thanks for the feedback. :)

johnclay · April 2019

I'd had this disabled before migrating to a new system, and this absolutely should be an option. The autofill animation is cheesy, and annoying.

Lars · April 2019

@johnclay - thanks for taking the time to share your views. :)

johnclay · May 2019

It looks like as of 7.3 beta 14, this is can no longer be disabled with the plist approach. OTOH, the new suggestions in 1P mini are much appreciated. AgileBits giveth and AgileBits taketh away.

Please, please add an option to disable this stuff :(

ag_ana · May 2019

Thank you again @johnclay for letting us know your thoughts about this :+1:

TMEI · May 2019

+1
I'd like to disable fill animations as well. I find it distracting.

TMEI · May 2019

Suddenly 1Password started to animate the autofill process. How can I disable the animation?

1Password Version: 7.3
Extension Version: 4.7.4.90
OS Version: 10.14.5
Sync Type: Not Provided
Referrer: forum-search:autofill non https

Ben · May 2019

Thanks for the feedback @TMEI. We don't currently have a way of disabling this. Perhaps something we can offer in the future. :+1:

Ben

P.S. Please try to avoid posting about the same subject in multiple threads. It causes a duplication of efforts on our part which slows down support for everyone, including you. :)

finadeon · June 2019

One vote for option of disabling animations from me.

ag_ana · June 2019

Thank you for your feedback as well @finadeon :)

SAHDaehriu23 · June 2019

Section 508 is an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act that requires federal departments and agencies to make their websites (and other “electronic and information technology”) accessible to persons with disabilities.

That is why reduced motion is in the softwares and websites, browsers, OSes etc.

I personally have a motion sickness of some sort which is why I disable every animation I can.

The developer could get in legal trouble in the United States for not being compliant with the law!

Why don’t you add animation disabling on filling in Options > Advanced?

People are looking to align behaviour of their apps in different OSes, yours have the following:

iOS - yellow, no animations
MacOS - normal color, animations

Why don’t you align that to have the same UX?

I was reading https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/comment/487381/#Comment_487381

Can you tell me what is the EXACT line that I should copy and paste in the file to disable the animations?

I see the file is binary and I don’t get it.

SAHDaehriu23 · June 2019

Section 508 is an amendment to the Rehabilitation Act that requires federal departments and agencies to make their websites (and other “electronic and information technology”) accessible to persons with disabilities.

Personally I have a motion sickness of some sort and I reduce the animations wherever I can.

That is why softwares, sites and browsers, along with OS have the ability for people to disable the motions, it is not just a preference of taste, it is about the law.

Please add that option for the sake of the law and the the accessibility of the software by people with motion sickness.

You are really turning it very bad for our health!

The software developer which doesn't provide the ability of people to turn off animations could potentially be targeted by the law in the United States.