Bring back the old search functionality, please! (Even tough I know you won't)

Before 1password8, the search field was a filter, filtering the list to only those items that contained the search value. You know, how you would expect a search function to work when searching at a very long list of items.

It appears now, the search field simply takes me to the first item that contains that search value, and highlights it. if I am sorted by name, then I may see more items with that value, but if sorted by date, I see the first. Unlike some search functions that work the way 1Password8 works now, there is no "find again" (or Command-G typically) to find the next search result. Makes search now mostly useless. (Yes, I see the pop-up of search items, but that is insufficient info much of the time.)

And that highlighted item is right in the middle of the full list of unfiltered items that have nothing to do with search. For example: I want to search for 'apple'. In previous versions, the list would be filtered to items that contain the word 'apple'. The first thing I see is "Adobe (Apple)" followed by a number of Apple entries, and a few other items that contain the word 'apple' in them.

In 1Password8, I get the first item you decide to find (and I am not sure how you decided which one), which in my case was "Apple Card Login". Right above that highlighted entry is "app.asana.com", which no where in that entry does it contains the word "apple". Neither do that hundreds of other items that are still being displayed in the list. And if you scroll away, you loose your search.

Can we please, at the least, get an option to make search a "filter" again. This search is basically useless as is. I have found myself switching to LastPass to find a password that I cannot be bothered to deal with 1Password's search field to actually find it. This gets worse as the list of passwords gets bigger, and I have been a 1Password used for a VERY LONG TIME, and have a VERY long list.

I thought about not providing feedback, because I find you guys do not really seem to care what your users are saying. I would like to continue to be a customer, but finding it more and more difficult to get through a day without swearing at your product for some brain dead change that makes the product less usable and more difficult to navigate.

Sorry, but 1Password8 is a disappointment in my daily use.


1Password Version: 1Password for Mac 8.8.0
Extension Version: 2.3.3
OS Version: macOS 12.3.1

Comments

  • dgbeecher
    dgbeecher
    Community Member

    I agree with everything you wrote, and also really dislike the way search works now, which is at odds with how search works in every other app I use. But, I did want to make sure that you know about the "Show All Matching Items" option at the bottom of the search drop-down. This requires extra clicks and still does not present results in the way I'd like, but it is closer. Reading your post, I'm not sure that you've seen and used this feature?

  • viswiz
    viswiz
    Community Member

    Couldn‘t agree more. The new search is inferior in every aspect. After many complaints they‘ve added ‚find‘ (cmd + opt + f) that is more like the previous search. For a reason unknown it‘s well hidden and it‘s placement in the UI is less than ideal.

  • Hi folks, thanks for your feedback here. I know it can be tough to hear "we're still working on it," but - we're still working on it, and bringing many other improvements to 1Password 8 too.

    To @majorhavoc's question:

    Can we please, at the least, get an option to make search a "filter" again.

    As @viswiz mentioned, we did recently introduce the find feature, which works similar to what it sounds like you're looking for. cmd + opt + f is indeed the hotkey for that. Give it a try and let me know what you think! And as I mentioned, other improvements will be coming to search going forward too.

    I can't provide any specifics on release dates, because we announce improvements and fixes when they come out, but I can tell you that we're listening, and I hope the many improvements, fixes, and features that have already appeared - a lot of which have been driven by customer demand over the course of the Beta period - show that we do indeed care about your experience.

  • viswiz
    viswiz
    Community Member

    @dmitriid in my opinion someone has decided that it must be totally different than before at any cost and now no one wants to admit the mistake. Technically it shouldn‘t be difficult to fully replace the broken, unusable search with the reimplemented find.

  • MajorHavoc
    MajorHavoc
    Community Member
    edited August 2022

    I agree with PeterG. But I noted recently (maybe in a recent upgrade) that there was a change to search. When searching, you are offered a menu click (or Command-Return) to show all matches. Ok, a LITTLE better, but I still think that should be the default search, as I see zero advantage or functionality to the new way. But at least it is little easier to get to, because I for one can never remember that key stroke to get the old search.

    So while you continue to patch about this issue, can someone on the team please share with us what you were thinking with the new search? I am serious, I do not understand that functionality. Thank you

  • PeterG_1P
    edited August 2022

    Hey folks, a few updates here on the search feature, including some points which you've touched on here and a little extra besides 👋

    1. We have introduced a revamped approach to substring matching in a recent Nightly build (80901013). If you haven't tried it yet, we'd love to have your impressions of it! 😃
    2. We have an open feature request for an option to make "Show All Matching Items" the default, if you prefer that experience. I have added votes on behalf of everyone in this thread who has expressed a preference for seeing all results by default.

    We're going to be taking feedback on the new substring implementation going forward, and especially want to know things like:

    • Are you now finding the thing(s) you're looking for?
    • Are you encountering any bugs or unexpected weirdness with search?
    • Any suggestions on how the experience could be further improved for you from here?

    (I'd also be curious to know if you find find to still be useful, given the revamped approach to the main search feature now).

    Regarding future releases: the current Nightly search feature will be going through a substantial amount of testing internally here before a Production release. We want to make sure it's super solid and performing optimally and predictably. User feedback will be an important part of that process too.

    We will likewise continue to iterate on the search feature as a whole, and look for ways to make it maximally useful and relevant to you. That will likely be an ongoing process. 👍

    Thanks for the ideas, suggestions, and critiques. I hope you find this revision a benefit to your experience. Best regards from our team! 😄

    ref: IDEA-I-289

  • MajorHavoc
    MajorHavoc
    Community Member

    I will check this out. Thank you. And correct, you have my vote! :-)

  • Thank you @MajorHavoc! 🙏

  • rocko8888
    rocko8888
    Community Member
    edited August 2022

    you have to bring the old search function back ie ability to search any part of any/multiple words - current search is almost completely useless - please!

  • viswiz
    viswiz
    Community Member

    I finally found some time to try it out and compare it to 1PW7. The results are now identical or almost identical. Searching for letters ("wea") both versions found 5 results. Using numbers ("018") 1PW7 found 13 elements whereas 1PW8 found only 11. The two missing item contained "018" in date fields. So yes, the new implementation is a huge step into the right direction. Thank you!

    But on top of that my test revelead how much superior the whole search UI/UX in 1PW7 is.
    In 1PW7 I start typing and the results are immediately shown - all of them and within the main list. I could even sort the results by choosing the sorting option in the header.
    In 1PW8 I start typing and get only a part of the results in a separate window on top of the list - this reduced list rarely contains what I'm looking for. Sorting is not possible. In order to get all results I have to use the cumbersome shortcut CMD+Enter.
    The search UI/UX of 1PW8 is a really huge step backwards. It literaly gets in the way. I have looked at how search is done in different applications and haven't found a single on that uses such a strange workflow.
    So please completely revert the search UI change in 1PW8 and bring back 1PW7's search UI.

  • MajorHavoc
    MajorHavoc
    Community Member

    I agree with viswiz. There is some improvement, but agree that this is not an improvement for all the reasons he mentions above. My plea is that you stop doing what so many software developers do these days. To prove they made an upgrade, they change the UI, requiring more steps than previously without actually adding real functionality. Microsoft and Adobe are the worst offenders, but you have joined the ranks here. Not only search, but the steps required to have to create a "collection" to be able to select some vaults and not others is 10 steps too many, when before, it was a simple click of a check box. How was that an improvement, and was this something that people were really looking for?

    But this search...I would really like to understand from the designer what they were thinking? I do not mea that in a bad way, I just want to understand their reasoning behind the new search, as maybe I am just missing something.

    But please, changes for change sake? Do not be like Microsoft and Adobe. I want to use a software product, not spend more time trying to figure out how to use the product.

    Thanks

  • rctneil
    rctneil
    Community Member

    Hi,

    I've been trying to use the beta versions of 1Password in my daily tasks for a while now. I find it's better to test features as I require them rather than trying to fake "real use" to test a specific feature.

    I today found myself to be searching quite a lot in 1Password and have to say I did get quite frustrated with the UI. It's not the quality of the results that annoyed me, it's the fact that the results show in a small overlay dropdown menu.

    Surely it would be better to just update the contents of the main scrollable list of items to show the results of the search does in the box at the top?

    I just found the overlay menu a bit surplus to requirements if that makes sense?

  • rocko8888
    rocko8888
    Community Member

    just bring back 1PW7 search - all of these comments are right - too cumbersome, loss of functionality etc etc....again, please!

  • Teki
    Teki
    Community Member

    It seems like you've tried to implement "Spotlight" or Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky"... but you've made this the primary search method.
    It should surely be secondary, or at least have two clear buttons for it.

    Not sure what the UX thought was behind the filter text search either, right below the main Search input above.
    It's become so fragmented.

  • esquared
    esquared
    Community Member

    @MajorHavoc and @viswiz have it just right: The functionality was (near) perfect in 1P7 and terrible in 1P8. Like many things in 1P8, the rationale for changing behavior that worked properly before is entirely inscrutable. IMO, the most likely reason for the innumerable backwards changes was a decision to rebuild the UI from the ground up on a web-oriented UI framework (Electron) and dumb-down the interface in the name of "simplicity" - instead, what we have now is unusable for any user, not just sophisticated, experienced users. For my 50 person company, I'm the only one on 1P8 because of the backwards changes that were made. I'm suffering daily so my employees don't have to. When (actually, if) I deem it ready, we'll upgrade, and not before.

    Sadly, I'm not sure the right people listen the feedback we give here,and are in their own little silo thinking that the new UI/UX is great, which it is most certainly not. I'm increasingly tired of waiting for the return of all the features that we had in 1P7. As the decision maker for these sort of solutions for my company, I'm reluctantly evaluating alternatives.

    If you want to keep users like me and the rest of my company, PLEASE, AgileBits, stop treating your users like they don't matter and aren't smart enough to understand the difficulties with software development. Instead, provide a real road-map of goals and (returning) features, even if you can't provide exact dates. Thus far, the release notes imply that effort is only going to cosmetic improvements. Furthermore, hiding behind "vote tallies" and words intended to placate users is infuriating. We are vocal advocates for a good product, which 1P7 was, and will be equally vocal in our opinions to AVOID 1P8 entirely.

  • wagnerone
    wagnerone
    Community Member

    I concur with and sadly am on the same track as @esquared (well said, BTW).

    "For my 50 person company, I'm the only one on 1P8 because of the backwards changes that were made. I'm suffering daily so my employees don't have to. When (actually, if) I deem it ready, we'll upgrade, and not before."

    This is me. I'm also suffering daily so our work staff doesn't have to. I'm also suffering so my friends and family don't have to.

    When I saw 1Password v8 for iOS came out, I nearly fainted as I can't be hamstrung on both Mac and iOS.

  • MajorHavoc
    MajorHavoc
    Community Member
    edited August 2022

    Nice to see it was not only me.

    And one more plea to fix the damn login nonsense. It is infuriating to be asked for a password on the mini interface, then get the wrong result, and then be asked for the password again every single time, even when used in a row. And I tried logging onto the main program as someone suggested before, and no difference. I’m asked every time for my password again.. I see this behavior in the web extensions too. At the least, give me the option to unlock for n seconds (say 30 to 240 maybe?) where unlocking ANY 1Password interface unlocks them ALL for that period of time. Today at work I wanted to delete the program and start using something else, 1Password kept failing to fill in a password correctly, and when I would try again almost immediately, it would require the password again. This is just poor or lazy or sloppy programming. When the usability becomes so annoying and cumbersome, like unlocking, vault selection now requiring multiple steps to get what used t be a few clicks, and now search, I will start looking for alternatives. I am really hating 1Password8, and may consider rolling back, if that is even possible. FYI: I used to buy this program for people as gifts because of they way they saved their password. I have not bought it for anyone in over a year. I miss the well functioning program it used to be.

This discussion has been closed.