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Forum Discussion
1Password 8 - Non-native feel
Like many Mac users, I was greatly disappointed to read that 1Password is moving to Electron. I firmly believe that Electron is a bad framework for app development, and the 1Password 8 beta does not change this opinion. I’ve compiled a list of issues, as I see them. Some are endemic to Electron, while others are simply stylistic choices by the dev team. I will try to omit complaints that are purely personal preference, such as specific color usage.
- The lack of rubberband/elastic scrolling is jarring and unpleasant.
- There isn’t enough visual feedback that the window is out of focus. In particular, the “New Item” toolbar button should fade to a lighter blue when unfocused.
- Many interactions in the app do not have the animations they should, including list expansions, menu displays, checkbox toggling, and modal dialogue appear/disappear.
- Unnecessary reliance on modal dialogues is antithetical to native Mac app development. In particular, the “Preferences” and “About” windows should be … well, windows, not modal dialogues.
- It is unusual for a Mac app to have the “About” page be part of the preferences dialogue.
- When unfocused, 1PW 8 lacks hover states. In order to copy a field when the app is unfocused, you have to click into the window, then click the field again. 1PW 7 only requires a single click and properly displays hover state when unfocused.
- 1PW 8 no longer shows the number of items in a tag/category.
- There is seemingly no longer an easy way to mark or unmark an item as a favorite.
- The account name at the top of the sidebar has a disclosure triangle in the down position, indicating that clicking it will collapse the sidebar entries for that account. Instead, clicking it brings up a popover menu with various actions. (I don’t know whether this behavior is different when you have more than one account. My point is that this behavior is unusual for this type of UI element.)
- The app uses almost 2x the memory footprint of 1PW 7 and 10x(!) the idle CPU usage.
- The app is noticeably slower. Scrolling a long list introduces a delay in displaying icons that is not present in 1PW 7. Additionally, there is flicker and occasional slow loading when changing filters, vaults, and tags. (1PW 7 also has flicker at times, notably when changing login items. It’s far more prominent in 8, however.)
- There’s too much list padding. With windows of identical dimensions, 1PW 7 shows me 10.5 items; 1PW 8 shows me only 7.5.
Are these things ultimately minor? Yeah. Complaining about a preferences window becoming a modal dialogue is about as first-world a problem as you can get. At the same time, I’m paying money for this, and now it feels like I’m going to spend money on a downgrade.
1Password 8 is probably the most native-feeling and best Electron app I’ve used, but that’s like saying the McDonald’s by Disneyland is the best McDonald’s I’ve eaten at. I’ve been a 1Password user for years (I started with 1Password 3) and always held the app up as the only app I unreservedly considered worth a subscription. Now it’s pretty likely I’ll move to something else.
1Password Version: 80200056
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: macOS 11.5.1
1P_Ben1Password Team
I do not recall anywhere near as much criticism about the user interface/look/feel of previous macOS clients (not to say there weren't other criticisms obviously).
This is anecdotal, and much of the discussion is probably lost at this point (I did find one example, here), but when we launched 1Password 7 a lot of people absolutely hated mini. I'd would say the percentage of feedback we got about it was near the same level as the feedback we've had about our use of Electron.
v6:
v7.0:
But we listened to all of the feedback, made improvements where feasible, and now mini is something we're getting a lot of love for. Here's how it looks today:
I'm sure we didn't make everyone happy, and in the end some folks still preferred the v6 look. Overall it seems to me that we improved the experience. I believe we have done and will continue to do so with v8 as well.
Ben
+1 for rctneil 's comment on the 'X' top right window corner. It's really driving me nuts ;) Top left traffic light controls should be the only way to go.
The following windows have the same problem. So please fix them as well and all other sub windows I haven't found yet:
* Create a Collection...
* Manage Accounts...
* Set Up Another Device...By the way. Why is every single word uppercase? 8-)
- 1P_Ben
Thanks for adding your perspective. Our design team is taking another look at where it is appropriate to use modals vs windows. Stoplights are for windows, and an 'X' in the upper right is for modals (which are more analogous to tabs than windows) even in Apple's own apps. Apple doesn't make extensive use of modals, but where they do, the 'X' is top right (as illustrated in the Home.app, seen above).
Ben
ref: dev/content/design#2179
- 1P_Ben
:+1: :)
Ben
rctneil
Absolutely agree about preferences dialog and the X.
The elastic scrolling is also a big thing on a Mac. Not just the existence of it, but how it looks and feels too.1P_Ben
It is true that Apple does have the X to the right in the Home app, but I'm not sure using a first gen Mac Catalyst app and one of their worst efforts as the bar for good software design is the best way to go.I think looking at Catalyst apps like Messages, Maps and Music is a better idea, since they are more recent and modern.
I was just coming back on here to comment that, the Home app is Apple's first attempt at a Catalyst app and the X at the top right most likely came over from iOS. The Home app is a terrible example of a good Mac citizen to be honest. If I were a Mac dev, I would not be taking design inspiration from that app whatsoever.
I still maintain that the X should be at the top left on Mac platforms and even better, be a proper Mac Preferences window with icon tabs across the top and native stoplight controls top left.
Every single time I try to close 1Password's preferences, I first start to move the mouse to the left and then remember that the "X" is on the right side of the dialog.
PLEASE, use the default macOS close button on the left side as every other native macOS does. No, the Home app is not a good example of a native macOS app...
Have a look at the macOS Human Interface Guidelines at https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/app-architecture/preferences/
Preferences Windows
A preferences window is a modeless dialog that’s used to adjust an app’s preferences. Typically, a preferences window contains a toolbar that includes buttons for switching between groups of related settings, which are displayed in a view beneath the toolbar. These groupings are known as preference panes.The HIG also includes a (slightly outdated) screenshot of a typical macOS preferences window.
