Passkeys are still mostly useless on MacOS. Can 1password just bite the bullet already and implement native password manager support on MacOS? Although I love the autofill shortcut (shift+comand+space) and it truly is the best UX I've used on a password manager, that alone isn't enough to make me cough up 1password subscription fees for eternity when it remains fundamentally broken on the OS I'm using all day. I have a feeling the discussions have gone like this: Should we implement native password manager support on MacOS? It's yet another platform to support. How many points? [Estimates] Hmm, well we've got X that needs to get done this quarter. Next quarter is Y. And we've been putting off Z forever and senior engineers are going to start quitting if we don't fix THAT! Can users live without it? Well, sure. They've got the browser plugins... Great! Let's just table this for now and revisit it when we've got more capacity. Totally understandable! We've all been there. The problem is this really sucks for a few reasons. Here they are: (MAJOR) Passkeys: Unfortunately on MacOS the browser extensions seem to be the ONLY way to use Passkeys. That is problematic for a few reasons. The biggest issue is that browsers are NOT the only place you might need to auth on a computer. Sure it's 80% or more. But even if it were 99%, the software is not called .99password, it's 1password. I've already run into situations with native apps where I'm being prompted for a passkey. Your current solution will never work here. You might be thinking: "WHAT! Native apps using passkeys?! That is so rare and uncommon! We cannot expend engineering effort on a mere 1% of use cases!" Sure, maybe now. But it's happened to me multiple times and passkeys are pretty new. I can't imagine they're going away after all the effort to roll them out. It's only a matter of time. And for people who don't use the browser extensions, they are experiencing this pain every single time they are prompted for a passkey (GRIPE: Browser extensions) You're almost a victim of your own success (almost). The autofill shortcut works so well I have absolutely no desire to install the much less functional browser extensions. I use several browsers (I'm an engineer) and they honestly are pretty mediocre in how well they work and they're frustrating to use. I should need to log into 1password ONE time. Not 1 + N, where N is the number of browsers. They're constantly prompting me for my password, they need to be kept up to date, and frankly the UX just isn't great. I'm sure for various reasons (like non MacOS operating systems) you need to keep them working, but on MacOS they just aren't the best way to use 1password (nor are they a differentiator - every password manager, free or paid, has these, so I'm certainly not losing anything wrt these by switching away from 1password). In case you want to interpret this to mean "make browser extensions better", that is NOT what I'm saying. I'm not going to use them. It's simply more unnecessary complexity, more to keep in sync wrt updates, more surface area for attack, etc. Not happening. Wow. 1password doesn't really support the major authentication initiative that everyone is switching to? Sounds dire! Luckily there is a solution! Unfortunately for 1password, all a user needs to do is stop using 1password. The solution is simple: use the built-in free password manager Apple rolled out recently (alongside the API to actually support passkeys properly, in fact). That works great! I've simply been saving all my passkeys there. I did have it turned off for a while and was using 1password exclusively. But due to 1password's lack of compatibility with passkeys, it's turned back on. Now whenever it asks to save any of my credentials, I say yes. Eventually, I'm sure it will have pretty much everything. And once it has everything, does it really make sense to keep paying for 1password? Just implement the dang API already. Get it on the roadmap. A decent engineer could have that production ready in a month if you just said "go" and got out of their way for a while (tell them they don't have to attend any planning meetings if they can meet the deadline, you'll have people fighting to take it). Sent with ❤️. I never knew a password manager could be so great. If I didn't care and want you to be successful, I wouldn't waste spend my time on this.

I couldn't phrase it any better. The lack of Native macOS Autofill is at best a huge annoyance, at worst completely breaking Passkeys on the system. 1Password already supports this on iOS and iPadOS, and if this is not implemented by the time my subscription runs out, I'm gone. You've had multiple years.Thanks for the post, it is very much appreciated.

Hello brandonfryslie! 👋 Thank you for the feedback! The team is currently focused on supporting 1Password for Safari (the browser extension) and Universal Autofill but I'll make sure to pass along your request to add support for macOS AutoFill in the future. Are you able to tell me which desktop apps you're using that you sign into using a passkey? I can add that to the request that I'll file with the team. As things stand at the current moment, using 1Password in the browser is the recommended way to save and sign in with passkeys in browsers on the Mac for 1Password. You mentioned: I should need to log into 1password ONE time. Not 1 + N, where N is the number of browsers. They're constantly prompting me for my password, they need to be kept up to date, and frankly the UX just isn't great. When you use the browser extensions alongside the desktop app, 1Password should lock and unlock at the same time in every browser that you're using. If you're not seeing that happen then try the steps in this guide: If the 1Password browser extension doesn’t unlock when you unlock the 1Password app Modern browser will update your browser extensions automatically, is that not happening on your end? You can check to make sure that automatic updates are enabled by following these steps: How to keep 1Password up to date in your browser You also mentioned the UX, can you tell me a little more about what you find lacking in the UI/UX of 1Password on your Mac? I look forward to hearing from you. -Dave

tobyx Thank you for the feedback, I can certainly pass your request along to the team as well. Can you tell me a little more about how passkeys are currently broken for you on your Mac? Are you using Safari or another browser? -Dave

1P_Dave — thanks for reaching out!I am using Safari. The behavior is unchanged no matter if I'm using the App Store or Testflight version of the extension. The extension often times will not work at all, making me have to close the whole browser in hopes to revive it again.If it is active and otherwise working, its JS interception of the Passkey flow is flaky. On telekom.com it doesn't work at all, generating an error on the site even when creating the Passkey. Native Autofil paired with Apple Passwords just works fine. On adobe.com I had similar issues, but here it's not the creation, but rather subsequent logins where the extension fails to capture the flow and I'm left with having to login with email and password instead.Just to be clear, when trying to use 1Password, I deactivate all native Autofill behavior on macOS as instructed.Just supporting Native Autofill via Credential Provider Extension API just as you do on iOS and iPadOS would fix the issue.

tobyx Thank you for those details. While I'm not able to create an account to test telekom.com, I do have an existing Adobe account and I was able to sign in using my passkey. I'd like to investigate further why 1Password is failing to sign in, or save, passkeys on your device in certain circumstances and see if you're running into a known issue. Choosing either telekom.com or Adobe's website, can you reproduce the issue and collect a diagnostics report from 1Password for Safari:Send a diagnostics report (browser extension)Attach the diagnostics to an email message addressed to support@1password.comWith your email please include: A link to this thread: https://www.1password.community/discussions/1password/feedback-and-a-feature-request-regarding-passkeys-on-the-mac/153360 Your forum username: tobyx Which website you last reproduced the issue on and whether you were saving a new passkey or signing in using an existing passkey. You should receive an automated reply from our BitBot assistant with a Support ID number. Please post that number here. Thanks very much! -Dave

brandonfryslie

New Contributor

2 months ago

Feedback and a feature request regarding passkeys on the Mac

Passkeys are still mostly useless on MacOS. Can 1password just bite the bullet already and implement native password manager support on MacOS? Although I love the autofill shortcut (shift+comand+space) and it truly is the best UX I've used on a password manager, that alone isn't enough to make me cough up 1password subscription fees for eternity when it remains fundamentally broken on the OS I'm using all day.

I have a feeling the discussions have gone like this:

Should we implement native password manager support on MacOS? It's yet another platform to support. How many points?
[Estimates]
Hmm, well we've got X that needs to get done this quarter. Next quarter is Y. And we've been putting off Z forever and senior engineers are going to start quitting if we don't fix THAT! Can users live without it?
Well, sure. They've got the browser plugins...
Great! Let's just table this for now and revisit it when we've got more capacity.

Totally understandable! We've all been there. The problem is this really sucks for a few reasons. Here they are:

(MAJOR) Passkeys: Unfortunately on MacOS the browser extensions seem to be the ONLY way to use Passkeys. That is problematic for a few reasons. The biggest issue is that browsers are NOT the only place you might need to auth on a computer. Sure it's 80% or more. But even if it were 99%, the software is not called .99password, it's 1password. I've already run into situations with native apps where I'm being prompted for a passkey. Your current solution will never work here.
- You might be thinking: "WHAT! Native apps using passkeys?! That is so rare and uncommon! We cannot expend engineering effort on a mere 1% of use cases!" Sure, maybe now. But it's happened to me multiple times and passkeys are pretty new. I can't imagine they're going away after all the effort to roll them out. It's only a matter of time.
- And for people who don't use the browser extensions, they are experiencing this pain every single time they are prompted for a passkey
(GRIPE: Browser extensions) You're almost a victim of your own success (almost). The autofill shortcut works so well I have absolutely no desire to install the much less functional browser extensions. I use several browsers (I'm an engineer) and they honestly are pretty mediocre in how well they work and they're frustrating to use. I should need to log into 1password ONE time. Not 1 + N, where N is the number of browsers. They're constantly prompting me for my password, they need to be kept up to date, and frankly the UX just isn't great. I'm sure for various reasons (like non MacOS operating systems) you need to keep them working, but on MacOS they just aren't the best way to use 1password (nor are they a differentiator - every password manager, free or paid, has these, so I'm certainly not losing anything wrt these by switching away from 1password).
- In case you want to interpret this to mean "make browser extensions better", that is NOT what I'm saying. I'm not going to use them. It's simply more unnecessary complexity, more to keep in sync wrt updates, more surface area for attack, etc. Not happening.

Wow. 1password doesn't really support the major authentication initiative that everyone is switching to? Sounds dire! Luckily there is a solution! Unfortunately for 1password, all a user needs to do is stop using 1password. The solution is simple: use the built-in free password manager Apple rolled out recently (alongside the API to actually support passkeys properly, in fact). That works great!

I've simply been saving all my passkeys there. I did have it turned off for a while and was using 1password exclusively. But due to 1password's lack of compatibility with passkeys, it's turned back on. Now whenever it asks to save any of my credentials, I say yes. Eventually, I'm sure it will have pretty much everything. And once it has everything, does it really make sense to keep paying for 1password?

Just implement the dang API already. Get it on the roadmap. A decent engineer could have that production ready in a month if you just said "go" and got out of their way for a while (tell them they don't have to attend any planning meetings if they can meet the deadline, you'll have people fighting to take it).

Sent with ❤️. I never knew a password manager could be so great. If I didn't care and want you to be successful, I wouldn't ~~waste~~ spend my time on this.

5 Replies

1P_Dave
Moderator
16 days ago
Hello brandonfryslie! 👋

Thank you for the feedback! The team is currently focused on supporting 1Password for Safari (the browser extension) and Universal Autofill but I'll make sure to pass along your request to add support for macOS AutoFill in the future. Are you able to tell me which desktop apps you're using that you sign into using a passkey? I can add that to the request that I'll file with the team.

As things stand at the current moment, using 1Password in the browser is the recommended way to save and sign in with passkeys in browsers on the Mac for 1Password. You mentioned:

I should need to log into 1password ONE time. Not 1 + N, where N is the number of browsers. They're constantly prompting me for my password, they need to be kept up to date, and frankly the UX just isn't great.

When you use the browser extensions alongside the desktop app, 1Password should lock and unlock at the same time in every browser that you're using. If you're not seeing that happen then try the steps in this guide: If the 1Password browser extension doesn’t unlock when you unlock the 1Password app

Modern browser will update your browser extensions automatically, is that not happening on your end? You can check to make sure that automatic updates are enabled by following these steps: How to keep 1Password up to date in your browser

You also mentioned the UX, can you tell me a little more about what you find lacking in the UI/UX of 1Password on your Mac? I look forward to hearing from you.

-Dave
tobyx
New Contributor
2 months ago
I couldn't phrase it any better. The lack of Native macOS Autofill is at best a huge annoyance, at worst completely breaking Passkeys on the system. 1Password already supports this on iOS and iPadOS, and if this is not implemented by the time my subscription runs out, I'm gone. You've had multiple years.
Thanks for the post, it is very much appreciated.
- 1P_Dave
  Moderator
  16 days ago
  tobyx
  
  Thank you for the feedback, I can certainly pass your request along to the team as well. Can you tell me a little more about how passkeys are currently broken for you on your Mac? Are you using Safari or another browser?
  
  -Dave
  - tobyx
    New Contributor
    15 days ago
    1P_Dave — thanks for reaching out!
    I am using Safari. The behavior is unchanged no matter if I'm using the App Store or Testflight version of the extension. The extension often times will not work at all, making me have to close the whole browser in hopes to revive it again.
    If it is active and otherwise working, its JS interception of the Passkey flow is flaky. On telekom.com it doesn't work at all, generating an error on the site even when creating the Passkey. Native Autofil paired with Apple Passwords just works fine. On adobe.com I had similar issues, but here it's not the creation, but rather subsequent logins where the extension fails to capture the flow and I'm left with having to login with email and password instead.
    Just to be clear, when trying to use 1Password, I deactivate all native Autofill behavior on macOS as instructed.
    Just supporting Native Autofill via Credential Provider Extension API just as you do on iOS and iPadOS would fix the issue.

Forum Discussion

Feedback and a feature request regarding passkeys on the Mac

5 Replies

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