Changing password in iOS questions

Hello - I have two questions regarding changing a password using iOS. I have read and follow the instructions in the https://support.1password.com/change-website-password/ post.

So, I go to the change password page of the website I want to change the password on. I tap the info button, copy my current password, and fill it in current password field. I then go back into extension and tap info again, tap edit, and tap generate password, then tap done. Extension tells me the password has been copied to my clipboard. I go back to the website, paste in the new password in the two fields (new and confirm), and I'm done.

My question: it seems like if the 1password app had already been opened in the past and is in the background (like almost all iOS apps, it is open in the background somewhere because I don't bother to go back and swipe up to exit apps unless there is a problem), if I then go to the 1password app and look up the item I just changed, the password field still has the old password. I at one point thought the extension wasn't feeding the new password over. But what I've found is that if I swipe up to kill 1password app, then reopen it, it seems to update then. Do others see the same behavior? Is there a reason it doesn't update right away?

My second question: when doing the above once in the past, I didn't realize I needed to kill and relaunch the app, so I thought the new generated password had been lost. Having read that I can find generated passwords in the "passwords" section where they are apparently auto-saved, I went there to look for it. I couldn't find it at all. I was running my test on Bloomingdales.com. I'm not positive it wasn't there, but I couldn't find it because 1) where was nothing under www.bloomingdales.com, and 2) it appears I can only sort this category by name alphabetically, and not by something else, like time created... if I could sort by time created, I would see the most recent on top and know it was the one I just created. Is there a way to sort these in the iOS app and I just haven't found it yet?

Thank you - love the product, just signed up for families.


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

Comments

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hello @Gebo,

    I don't know where else you may be using 1Password but on the chance that you're using either 1Password for Mac or 1Password 6 for Windows you've probably found 1Password is quite different on iOS. For a number of reasons the iOS platform does result in differences from the desktop version of 1Password and one of those areas is definitely that of changing a password.

    On the Mac and Windows you can make use of a Password Generator from directly inside the 1Password helper process. As it generates and fills a password for you it creates a Password item as a safety net in case anything should go wrong in the next stage. The idea is 1Password recognises the submission of the change password form and asks if you wish to update an existing Login item. If it does and if you say yes the Password item is deleted as it has served its purpose. We can do this on Mac and Windows because the extension is always running as is the helper process.

    On iOS the extension only exists for as long as the share sheet is open and iOS reserves the right to discard the extension from memory if it sees fit. So one of the goals is to make sure it is as small as possible and as atomic as possible - we don't want to leave anything in limbo if at all possible. So you end up going through this convoluted route of editing an existing Login item, saving the change (which means that temporarily the Login item contains the "wrong" password) and then you paste and submit the new password to the site. Once submitted the changed password is now the correct and current one.

    So this is why you're not seeing Password items, they're not created by 1Password when you edit a Login item in this manner and the same is also true on Mac and Windows, 1Password only generates the Password items when you use the Password Generator in the helper process.

    What I can't explain at the moment is your observation that you need to quit 1Password to have it display the new password. As soon as I've edited a Login item the new password shows up in both the iOS extension view and the main app view.

    Can you check to see if you have any pending iOS or 1Password updates and do so if available please. Next, can you quit all apps and restart the iOS device. If you do this do you continue to see the same undesirable behaviour when you next update a password?

    It's just my own opinion but if you do use 1Password for Mac or Windows you may find it much nicer to change passwords there instead of iOS. Don't get me wrong, I find and have always found 1Password for iOS invaluable but there are certain things which are just so much easier on a laptop with the desktop version.

  • Gebo
    Gebo
    Community Member

    Hello thank you for the help

    I agree, it is much easier in the macOS version, and that's where I normally do it. I do however occasionally find myself in a situation where I only have an iOS device with me (such as when a site forces me to change a login and I am not near my laptop or am traveling or something). So I just wanted to learn how to do it since my alternative is to save a less secure password (or worse not to put it in 1pw at all at that time) and then I have to remember to go back and fix it (which I rarely remember to do).

    If needed, I can do the extra step of going back into the app and editing and pasting it to make sure I got it.

    Just to clarify though please - if I understand what you wrote correctly, generating a password with the iOS extension does not also put the generated password in the passwords list, it just updates the main login entry in the app, is that right?

    I will follow the steps you described and test again to see if I still get the other problem I described - all my apps are latest but I will restart and test

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Gebo,

    When you edit a Login item and alter the password directly it will replace the existing password with the new one and it will add the existing password to the password history list that is part of each Login item. What it won't do is create a Password item.

    To help see the difference on your Mac click the 1Password Browser Extension button in your browser's toolbar and navigate to the Password Generator in the 1Password mini menu. Copy the password and do nothing else. You'll find the 1Password mini disappears and if you now look in the Password category in the main 1Password window you'll find a new entry whose title reflects the page that was open in your browser and it will contain the password you copied. As this was just to highlight you can safely delete it. You can do this when you next change a password too. After instructing the Password Generator to fill the password fields if you look in 1Password before submitting the change password form you'll see the new Password item and if 1Password asks if you want to update an existing Login item you'll find it's deleted automatically when you confirm the 1Password update query.

    In 1Password for iOS though, as soon as you finish editing the Login item it should reflect the new password. So after the extension disappears you should be able to bring the iOS extension back and see the new password instantly as well as in the main iOS app view, all without quitting the iOS app and relaunching it. I'm hoping what you're seeing is a blip ad that the round of updating and restart cause the bad behaviour to disappear.

  • Gebo
    Gebo
    Community Member

    Great thanks, that's helpful. I will test this last bit as soon as I can and post the result

  • Gebo
    Gebo
    Community Member

    Ok, I was able to repeat the problem but can be more specific.

    First, to test, I closed all apps on my iPad and rebooted the iPad. I am using the new iPad Pro 10.5, but I'm guessing that doesn't matter.

    First, I opened the iOS 1pw app, and opened the login item I was interested in just to view it.
    Next I went to Safari (so now 1pw app is in the background)
    I changed the password via generating a new password using the extension in Safari using the share sheet.
    After I finished, I then immediately double clicked the home button to switch to the 1pw app.
    I used my touchid to open it up.
    It showed the login I had left it on previously, which still showed the old password.
    I found I was able to navigate away from this login, view another login, and then navigate back to the original login and it updated.
    So, it appears to be that whatever view 1pw app is on when you switch to another app, doesn't update even after unlocking the screen, unless you give it a reason to refresh by navigating around (or at least that's what I see).
    I expect it was the same before and I just thought I needed to close the app and reload when I really just had to navigate away and back.

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Gebo,

    That's some nice work and thanks to your complete description I should be able to easily reproduce. It's also a sequence I didn't try as when I tested I had to first navigate to the Login item in question in the app view so didn't stumble on the stale data. I would hope that is something we can address as I don't think it's unreasonable to have it display the updated data without leaving and returning to an item.

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Confirmed and bug report filed :smile:

    ref: OPI-4102

  • Gebo
    Gebo
    Community Member

    Great, thanks very much!

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    :+1:

This discussion has been closed.