Is it possible to use the browser plugins without having the desktop application installed?
Working in a locked down corporate company I will never be allowed to run the desktop applications on my computer in the office, and if I'm honest I find the Windows 7 version of the app not too much fun to use. I have however convinced them that the website is safe to have unblocked and so I can now use 1P for Teams at work which is great for my productivity and security. Ideally I'd love to be able to use the browser plugin for Chrome too, but at present I think this is only available as a part of the installed desktop app. Is there change afoot here? It would be very helpful to be able to use the plugin just as at home.
Thanks,
Tom
1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Not Provided
Sync Type: Not Provided
Comments
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Hi Tom,
Glad to hear that you are able to access 1Password for Teams in the office :)
You are correct, at the moment, the browser extension does require the desktop app to be installed. Now that there is a service, we should be able to create an extension that can talk directly to it. That would require quite a bit of work and will take some time though.
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Hi all,
I work in a Citrix environment using windows and Safari. the browser extension requires a helper and from what I have read in one of the posts is that it requires the main application for security and vulnerability reasons. Is this stil the case ? if so, why isn't that bothering me while using LastPass ? I am not in a situation to have the main application installed and would nevertheless like to use the browser extension.
Thank you,
Ed
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@WhiteAppleBee: Yes. Browser integration requires that the app be installed and running in the background. The 1Password extensions are incredibly useful, but they depend heavily on the main app, both for security and efficiency.
When we developed the (current generation) 1Password extensions, not storing all of our sensitive information in the browser was a priority, both for security and data integrity. Another consideration is that the main 1Password app is able to independently verify the browser's code signature to determine if it is genuine, unmodified, and supported before it will even connect.
Additionally, while most of us have faster machines with more memory now, browsers have taken advantage of this too, so that they have comparatively larger resource footprints. And while a given browser extension on its own is probably not burdensome on current hardware, having each of them load for each window and tab means that this increases significantly with usage. So having the "brains" of 1Password's filling in the app has similar benefits today.
We don't have any current plans to rearchitect the 1Password extension so it runs entirely in the browser, but it's certainly something we'll continue to evaluate as the APIs and browsers themselves develop. The convenience of not having to install the app isn't the only consideration however.
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Thank you @brenty This would then render 1Password unusable for me in our citrix environment where I cannot install the main application. It is not as much as a convenience thing, but simply impossible to use, whereas LastPass does work with similar safety sets of rules as far as I know.
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No problem. It does seem odd to me that using an extension to store sensitive information in the browser would be allowed but installing a signed app would not. I'm sorry that wasn't the answer you were hoping for, but I guess we don't make the rules. :lol:
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