Potential Wifi Syncing Conflicts?

Hi @gruffalo,

So there are two distinct levels.

The first is at the level of establishing a connection. At this level the 1Password for Mac acts as a server. It broadcasts its presence and iOS devices connect to it. This is purely about two devices initiating communication and nothing regarding how 1Password syncs once the two are talking. The server-client model is easier to work with rather than a distributed model and the benefits don't really apply to us. So at this particular level the iMac is the master in one sense.

Now with syncing both devices are equal and sync is bi-directional. We don't assume changes are made on only one device so additions (the easier bit) on both devices will sync and appear on the other. Additions and deletions are easy because their presence or absence is enough. Now modifications can be tricky and here's why. Imagine you have an item with UUID 1 on both copies (UUIDs are actually really long so that they are unique but for this example). Now imagine that between syncs you change say the password on both copies but to different things. So 1Password now sees via timestamps that this bit of information has changed since the last sync but it has changed on both copies of 1Password and there's no way to tell which is correct. Here we have a conflict and we create a conflict section to store one version while keeping the other where it should be. At this point only you can tell 1Password which is correct.

If you only change an item on one machine then syncing has no troubles (or certainly shouldn't). The item on one copy of 1Password has been updated since the last sync, the other hasn't so updated wins. We don't even label these as conflicts as this is just typical syncing at work.

If you're feeling concerned at all you can do a backup on both devices prior to initiating a Wi-Fi Sync, which should be automatic if you're running 1Password 5 everywhere and have 1Password 5 open on both devices at the same time.

1. Backing up on a Mac. Launch 1Password and enter 1Password's preferences. Switch to the Backup tab and click on the Backup Now button.
2. Backing up on an iOS device. Launch 1Password and go to Settings > Advanced > Create Backup

That way, even if something goes wrong you can simply revert and ask for assistance. I hope that helps but feel free to ask more questions if you need to.

Hi @gruffalo,

That's great to hear that it went well. Backups on iOS devices are stored in a location accessible via iTunes File Sharing. Unfortunately iTunes File Sharing is one of those features that few people know exist cause it's buried so deep in iTunes. Here's an Apple knowledgebase article about it. Their example is with an ancient version of iTunes. With version 12 it's basically:

• Select the device in iTunes
• Select Apps
• Scroll to bottom of the screen, there should be a "File Sharing" section
• Select 1Password in the list of apps there
• It should show Backups on the right hand side that you can save to your desktop if you wish.

Here's what that looks like here:

Interesting side-note. 1Password for Mac backups and 1Password for iOS backups are interchangeable. You can restore one on the other. Which is really cool if you ask me. :)

Hope this helps.

Rick

Let us know if you have any additional questions, please let us know, @gruffalo.

Rick