Disenchanted with Agile Bits
I've been using 1Password on OS X and iOS, mostly due to the fact the company I work for uses it. I quite liked the browser integration, and ended up buying my own licence. However, there's a few things I've noticed recently that I find really rather disappointing:
- Support only seems to be via the forums - there's not a word of a support email on the website or the product. For a relatively expensive product, I just can't believe the audacity of this.
- I realised to my horror that iOS Dropbox sync is not accessing the files via Dropbox on the phone (as is possible, and how it works on a computer), but actually granting access to my ENTIRE Dropbox! There's several threads about this, and they just keep getting closed. For example, this one was in May 2013, and we're now in 2015: https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/13001/please-use-dropbox-app-api-rather-than-full-dropbox-permissions
- The more I used the software, the more I thought it was quite clunky, and lacking serious attention. Just as an example, it takes 6 clicks just to add a secure note.
Anyway, came here for a whinge. I've disabled Dropbox syncing for now, and considering KeePass. It seems clear to me AgileBits are resting rather heavily on their laurels.
Comments
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Be prepared for some acrobatics if you choose to go with Keepass on OS X though. There's no real native KeePass 2 solution, you have to use mono on Mac which doesn't seem stable and most native clients developped by third parties are in beta / alpha like MacPass for example (very nice start anyway). There's also KyPass but it raised some concerns because the dev took the sources (open) and made a closed-source paid program. I think it's the only one to somewhat provide some brower integration thanks to PassiFox / ChromiPass extensions. These are rather crude extensions by the way (no menus or whatever).
On Windows, KeePass with KeeFox is quite a nice combination, KeeFox being the best extension for KeePass for sure.
Anyway, i agree on the fact that relevant email adresses should be displayed so people can use them although you can find most of them with a little forum search.
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The Dropbox issue doesn't bother me because I made a Dropbox just for this application. My wife and I have our own Dropbox counts and we have a shared one just for 1Password. I did this so there isn't any "oops I deleted that folder by accident", and that's the only thing in that Dropbox are 2 1Password vaults that are both encrypted.
I never noticed the no email on the page because I found the forum right away. Not sure about posting a secured note. Including unlocking my phone, it's about 5 steps...
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First one word about #2 Dropbox on the phone (iOS for sure and maybe Android) doesn't sync your entire Dropbox down. Therefore it cannot sync through the app per say and use's the API to sync. Due to shared vaults full access is needed for 1Password in order to be able to access those vaults.
Unlike the Dropbox desktop app, which constantly checks your files for changes, the mobile app usually syncs on demand only. This prevents Dropbox from consuming all of your bandwidth and space.
From here https://www.dropbox.com/en/help/82
There are many topics on why exactly Dropbox requires full access. One from the last couple of days https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/comment/171052/#Comment_171052
Until Dropbox changes its internal policy or makes a third type of folder, it just doesn't seem possible to move away from full access. I for one would quickly run to someone else or forever be locked into a version which supports full access due to so many shared vaults.
If 1Password did not have access to my full Dropbox. I would not be able to share vaults between my 4 kids, the wife would not be able to share them between her employer and herself. The list keeps going on and on...
Dropbox does not allow sharing of Apps folder's ... aka restricted access
Dropbox does allow sharing of folders using the Full model.
As to #3 well my muscle memory at this stage, it just doesn't even register it any longer.
As to #1 The staff do participate here and they do offer support via email. You can always ask for an email address even we lowly moderators will provide it to you.
Hopefully this has shed some light on the subject for you. If you have questions feel free to ask. Myself and many others are here to help, including those friendly staff types.
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Thanks for that info @thightower, I'm going to read that info tonight just to learn more on this subject.
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Thanks for taking the time to write in, I'm so sorry to hear that you're feeling disenchanted with 1Password.
Support only seems to be via the forums - there's not a word of a support email on the website or the product.
At this time, we have been encouraging users to come to the forums first for support. Our email queues have been slightly overwhelmed since the launch of 1Password 5, and it has meant longer wait times for users than we would like. Posting questions in the forums gets users a faster response. There are multiple benefits to discussing issues with users here:
- We are able to help multiple users with one post: common questions can be grouped into one thread and we can provide a single set of steps to solve the issue
- The search function allows many users to find the solution to their issue without even needing to write a post
- We have a fantastic group of community moderators who help out here, so users can often have a solution (either from our team or the moderators) within hours of posting.
I realised to my horror that iOS Dropbox sync is not accessing the files via Dropbox on the phone (as is possible, and how it works on a computer), but actually granting access to my ENTIRE Dropbox!
The situation described in the post that you linked to is still accurate: using the Dropbox API requires significant changes to 1Password across all the platforms that we offer 1Password on, and these changes must be executed in a coordinated manner ... which makes it no easy feat to implement.
Additionally, there's a lot of history and established behaviour that will need to be considered, and planned for. The main sticking point is that users have been allowed to store their 1Password data in any location within their Dropbox. In 1Password 3, the default location was Dropbox/1Password/1Password.agilekeychain, but many users requested more flexibility so that they could keep their Dropbox organized the way they chose. Allowing this meant that 1Password needed to have the ability to see the entirety of Dropbox, in order to be able to access keychains that have been stored in a non-standard location. Changing to the Dropbox API, would mean that keychain data can only be stored in the /Apps folder. So you can see how a change like this would need to be well-orchestrated, and done in such a way that users have the opportunity to move their data to the appropriate location in Dropbox so that they do not lose access to their data.
Despite the fact that I don't have news for you about development on this front, I can assure you that we are listening to users' feedback on this matter, and our developers are investigating solutions here.
The more I used the software, the more I thought it was quite clunky, and lacking serious attention. Just as an example, it takes 6 clicks just to add a secure note.
Could you please describe the steps that you are taking here, and on which platform? When viewing 1Password for Mac, I can access my Secure Notes with just a few clicks:
- Switch to 1Password for Mac
- Click on the 'Secure Notes' category
- Click on the Secure Note I wish to view
If you know the title of the Secure Note, it's even simpler: use ⌘F ( Command- F ) to bring focus to the search field and start typing the title.
The same applies to 1Password mini: the search field is active when you invoke the mini, so you can simply start typing the title of the note (or any other item) that you wish to access.
We do our best to ensure that 1Password is both secure and convenient, so I'd be curious to hear a little bit more about the areas of 1Password that feel 'clunky' to you - we'd love to try and smooth things out. :)
I hope this helps, but we're here if you have any further questions or concerns.
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dito dude. not the most tech savvy person and can't even get it set up on my mac & no support. so much for 5 stars
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