Design language

So the question "will you make your 'Mac' app actually work like a Mac app instead of a Linux app" is one that can "only be answered in time"?

Do y'all even understand why your subscribers who care about having real Mac software are upset?

On this forum some AgileBits employees have actually defended a modal, completely unmovable, close-button-on-the-right, can't-even-be-closed-with-Command-W preferences window as "better" than a proper window. Is that supposed to be encouraging to people who want software that works the way it is supposed to?

This is Microsoft Word 6.0 all over again.

Apple just went through this themselves with their botched redesign of Safari 15. They did the right thing about that. Will you?

@rob: "... and the reason we have an early access is to get feedback to guide our next step."
I am sorry, but this is not an "Early Access" version! Early access would have been before Linux/Windows, sometime in spring/early summer. But not releasing it the month before the final version will be released - and more or less all GUI and functionality is "written in stone".
For me it seems that you knew that Mac user will complain a lot (as we can see now), but now it is easier to say that the final v8 will be (more or less) as it is now. No chance to go in another (and better) direction.

On the subject of menus and command discoverability, one advantage of using native OSX menus (vs. in-Electron simulated menus) is that standard OSX menu items are automatically searchable and discoverable using the system-wide "Help" menu. So in 1P7, if I am not sure whether a given command lives under "File" or "Item", I can instead select the "Help" menu, start typing the command's name, and then by hovering over the matching search result, I will be shown exactly where to find the command. I've attached a screenshot but it's not an ideal way to demonstrate the behavior. It's one of my favorite subtle features of Mac OS, though- it's incredibly useful!

Having read this entire thread, I can see that I'm in the minority but I really like new design. It feels cleaner and more modern to me, and if I'm being honest that is probably because my UIs tend to look the same (soft colors, a little extra whitespace, etc).

Obviously that is as subjective as everyone else's opinion.

I can't argue with the Electron opinions though: it is hard to find a shining example of Electron-based UIs on the Mac. On Windows, terrible UIs are so common that most people don't even notice them; Mac users are quite a bit more picky in that regard.

I hope that 1P ends up being one of the (very, very few) standout Electron apps in the world because its really is my favorite password manager but it's going to be an uphill battle. Look at the wreck Evernote made of its Mac user base attempting to do the same thing. What 1P might have going for it, is that it's a simpler application. There are less functions, less menus, less overall complexity.

So here's hoping you pull it off!

Is this really the UX-breaking problem though?

Yes.

I posted this in a different message (probably on a different thread), but there are at least three places where the modals have broken my ability to use features in 1Password 8.

1. Preferences. This is an obvious and easy one, but when I was doing initial setup, I wanted to look at the settings and what was in 1Password. The bonkers decision to make this an in-window modal meant that I could not do so—which is different than pretty much every other macOS app, unless it’s Catalyst (as you’re showing).
2. Add a new account. I have my work 1Password account information stored in my personal 1Password account. When I was presented the “add a new account” modal, I could not use 1Password to fill the information into 1Password without copying the data into my system clipboard and pasting it into somewhere else so that I could copy everything required.
3. Manage collections. OMG this is a nightmare to work with to the point where I can’t possibly see using it because it’s a modal. This is a signature feature touted by Dave and I hate it because it’s a modal and doesn’t let me explore at the same time as I’m working with it. There are other problems with how collections are integrated (no reordering, which means that “all vaults” is always “all vaults”, even though that is NEVER what I want because I have access to my parents’ vault). Not even remotely close to useful.

Seriously:

A modal window is a secondary window that opens on top of the main one. Users have to interact with it before they can carry out their task and return to the main window.

You should use modal windows when there are steps the user needs to do before the task can be completed. Using a modal window instead of a full page allows users to maintain the context of their task

https://uxmovement.com/forms/best-practices-for-modal-windows/

Absolutely none of the three items are things that I should do before anything else. Maybe adding the first account, but that‘s no reason to use modal windows at all and certainly never the garbage modals provided by Electron.

The modals here are a usability nightmare and will 100% hinder my adoption of 1Password 8 and I will be recommending against any of my family upgrading to 1Password 8 if they are on a Mac. The behaviours here are complete regressions and should not be accepted as remotely acceptably by anyone in the 1Password family. Just because Windows and Linux users don’t recognize these modals as wrong and broken does not mean that they aren’t wrong and broken. You have an opportunity to improve the UX for all your target platforms. Why not do so?

@Ben Right you are! Apologies, that one's on me- I missed that part of the menu and didn't check before writing. Thanks!

Wow, I've been out of the party for too long…

I must say that I was unfamiliar with the term Electron App, but upon doing some research, all of the apps that I find that are less than the macOS experience that I have come to love over these 30 years are in fact Electron apps.

Applications like Slack, Discord, and Teams (well that's changing) drive me crazy when I use them.

They don't use Apple's built in dictionaries, spell checker, and grammar checker, so none of my spellings, text replacements carry over, they don't support the Mac's enhanced pasting options and item sharing options. These may not seem like big things but I use these features extensively even in 1Password 7. I have a very extensive dictionary of custom words and text replacements that I use everywhere. When I copy information into my 1P items, I use transformations all the time to get things sections of text to be all lowercase, title-case or uppercase. Oh and Electron apps don't support Apple's Data detectors, Dictionary lookups, searching with your chosen search engine. You think why would I need this, I use secure notes extensively, I work with multiple languages, and I'm always copying content into 1Password and reformatting it to meet my conventions. I use every single category within 1Password 7.

In the areas of accessibility, electron apps fail even more miserably. Speaking selections of text is inconsistent, if even available at all and doesn't respect my settings at all. When speaking text in Discord, I have no idea where it is getting its crappy voice it is using; Slack, I can't speak text at all.

Sharing is an item from 1P7 is so easy, just right-click select share and I can AirDrop an item to another macOS or iOS 1P7 user. So easy.

Yes, I use Slack and Discord everyday for my work and organizations but only because it is better than nothing and better than having to use them in a web browser, but the experience is not that much better than an encapsulated web viewer screen. 1Password a utility application and thus needs to have deep integration with the OS that it is on to it's full potential.

Don't get me started on the insistence that the Preferences window is part of the main display window. I've always been frustrated by that because often I'm wanting to change a preference and see the changes in the live windows and sometimes I like to keep it open depending on what I'm doing. Going back and forth within a single window is so annoying.

Anyways, it looks like you're pretty head strong fixed on this decision which I feel is a great shame. I've been using 1Password since version 2 and have always promoted the app as a first class macOS application and a Canadian one at that.

I can't see how I'd want to downgrade this experience and will be looking to remain on 1Password 7 for as long as I can. Personally 1P6 I must say was the best version ever but I eventually came over to 1P7. However, what I see for 1Password 8 is way too much of a downgrade experience for me. I'm loosing too much of the macOS experience that I expect.

Please when 1P8 is released, release the iOS version of 1P8 as a new software rather than an upgrade so that users can choose which version they want to use.

You know me from my previous posts. I've been a proud beta tester and always provided well thought out and detailed usability reports in the past. But with a move to Electron UI, I feel my ability to be a supportive feedback contributor is coming to a close. I've already paid my yearly dues… I will bide my time on 1P7 for as long as I can and hope that you can live up to your former company name of being AgileBits and pivoting on this decision to support a native macOS app in the future.

At least I still have my standalone license.

Good luck folks, looks like you're going to need it.
Sincerely, skippingrock.