Filed under: Cool tools, Security, Snow Leopard
1Password 3 Beta brings a sweet new interface and Snow Leopard support
Most of us have really crappy, insecure passwords. Sure, we tack a couple of numbers or punctuation characters at the end of our cat's name, but that's a far cry from secure -- especially since we also have the equally nasty habit of using the same password on every single site/service/machine/device with which we have regular contact. We're not just asking for trouble, we're offering it a delectable stolen identity sandwich.
As most of us Mac folks know, a solution exists and it's called 1Password. If you've owned your Mac for more than an hour or so, chances are pretty good that you've been admonished to acquire this lovely app (maybe even by more than one person). Several of us at TUAW are big fans of 1Password, and today our pointy party hats are standing taller than ever thanks to the opening of the public beta for 1Password 3.
This new version brings with it a massive list of changes, improvements and new features -- a couple of which have helped me to realize the dream of being able to utilize 1Password data on OSes other than OS X. You see, like many other Mac enthusiasts, I use Windows at work. Obviously, this precludes me from fully embracing Mac-only software like 1Password, but thanks to a brand new feature called 1Password Anywhere, my pain is dulled.
1Password Anywhere allows you to take your 1Password data and open it using any modern web browser. I've tested this with Chrome, Firefox and IE under Windows XP and they all work wonderfully. Your data is still absolutely secure and stored behind the same master password that protects the data in 1Password proper. They didn't spare any detail, either -- 1Password Anywhere looks and feels remarkably similar to the native OSX application. The data is read-only in your browser, but being able to easily the strong passwords and paste them is worth the admission price. The truly enlightened will see the application of a service like Dropbox here -- just move your keychain file into your Dropbox and your passwords are now with you whenever you go.
Gallery: 1Password 3 Beta
Speaking of look and feel, 1Password 3 also shows off an awesome new interface, completely redesigned to help improve the user experience and help you find what you need quickly and easily. One of my favorite bits about this new UI is, after storing a login for a website, the app goes out and grabs a screenshot of the page and a copy of the site's favicon to make it even easier to find the info you want.
There are plenty of other visual enhancements, particularly with respect to the brand new Software section, an ideal home for all of your various software license keys, serial numbers, etc. These, as well as all other data types in 1Password 3, also support file attachments. This is especially handy for Software items because more and more companies are abandoning the idea of the traditional serial number and going with a proprietary license file. File attachments are copied into the 1Password database and encrypted just as thoroughly as all of the other data you give it, so rest easy.
The last improvement that has me really excited is the new syncing interface (you knew you could sync 1Password with your iPhone, right?). Syncing is easier than ever and 1Password 3 offers the ability to sync only specific folders with your mobile device. If I only use a few of my stored logins and secure notes while on the go, I don't need to also tote around my family's social security numbers as well (even though they're totally secure!).
The number of changes included in this beta release is too lengthy to cover in a modest blog post; you can view the complete list of what's new in 1Password 3, including full Snow Leopard compatibility. Also, I'd be remiss if I forgot to mention the Early Bird special going on at the Agile store right now, which will get current 1Password owners a full version 3 upgrade for $20 (which is crazy good deal).
I can't overstate how slick and useful this new version is, particularly because of 1Password Anywhere. If you're ready to get serious about password security, you owe it to yourself to check out this beta. New user licenses and upgrades are available at the Agile Web Solutions store and the companion iPhone app is on sale now in the App Store for $4.99US.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
kelly said 2:21PM on 10-27-2009
Looking forward to 3.
PS gallery image links are all broken
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str1f3 said 2:23PM on 10-27-2009
What happened to 1Password sync over MobileMe to the iPhone?
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David Chartier said 2:47PM on 10-27-2009
Over-the-air iPhone sync using MobileMe is still on its way in a free 3.x upgrade. We want to make sure we get it right, so we're taking a little more time on it.
David Chartier
Chief Media Producer, Agile Web Solutions
Mel Matsuoka said 2:48PM on 10-27-2009
They discontinued official support for MobileMe, because, as it turns out, MobileMe syncing really, really sucks:
http://help.agile.ws/1Password/mobileme_problems.html
sportsmedjosh said 2:32PM on 10-27-2009
How does one get the keychain date in the first place. I understand the process of loading it from your flash drive but how to you get it on your flash drive?
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Brett Kelly said 2:34PM on 10-27-2009
You want to copy the 1Password.agilekeychain file out of ~/Library/Application Support/1Password directory. This file is a package file and will look like a folder to non-OSX OSes. Inside this folder is 1Password.html - just open that guy in your web browser and you're all set.
David Chartier said 2:50PM on 10-27-2009
Like Brett said, only once you move or copy your keychain to a new location, you need to tell 1Password to use it from that location. After you move/copy the file, open 1Password, go to its Preferences > General window, and click the location path under the Data File section to pick your .agilekeychain file from its new location. Close the Preferences window, and 1Password will lock, requiring your Master Password to open the new keychain file (yes, even though it isn't a "new" file to you, 1Password treats it as a new file for the sake of security).
I hope this helps!
David Chartier
Chief Media Producer, Agile Web Solutions
W.R. Minto said 6:32PM on 10-27-2009
Also check out PasswordWallet for iPhone/Mac by Selnizck Scientific.
http://www.selznick.com/products/passwordwallet/index.htm. $4.99 gets a nice native iPhone app, 442-bit encryption, and a companion free OS X Snow Leopard app. Two years ago, the author wanted $27 for the pair. This is a steal now.
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David H. said 9:01AM on 10-28-2009
I don't see a "free" OSX app. It looks to be $20 as far as I can tell...
Murphy Mac said 2:58PM on 10-27-2009
One of my favorite Mac apps. Does its job, stays out of the way, easy to use, secure...
I finally have truly varied and random passwords for the sites I visit. And I can take all the info with me on my iPhone.
Worth the money.
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Robo said 3:17PM on 10-27-2009
1password is a really nice product, though IMO lastpass.com beats it hands down if you need cross platform support with synchronization.
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GroundFighter said 3:43PM on 10-27-2009
This is one of the best supported apps I have ever purchased. The amount of updates and meticulous attention to detail is simply inconceivable. Kudos to the team that works so diligently to keep this app on top!
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SCOTT said 3:44PM on 10-27-2009
this is what really makes me crazy...
first of all...the company made it so that if you wanted to use 1Password with Snow Leopard you were forced to buy the upgrade because they were not going to support the current product with the current operating system
then due to the uproar that kind of password kidnapping caused they seemed to change their tune...and since every mac blog is I'm sure paid off by this company NOT ONE OF THEM wrote an article about it
I mean there are pages and pages of pissed off customers complaints on their web site...and not a single Mac Blog wrote about it...and I know for a fact that they knew about it cuz I sent emails to every single one of them
and NOW I see that if I want to use this program that was held hostage over my head on my iphone I have to shell out another 5 bucks
are you kidding me...I have never and will never purchase an app from the app store that costs more than 2 bucks...it's insanity...and with the economy the way it is now I can barely keep the roof over my head
crock of crap iphone app should be free...since you can't use it unless you are a 1password customer
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NightOne said 4:23PM on 10-27-2009
Actually, we had planned to have version 3.0 released well before Snow Leopard was released. Therefore we really did not spend any time originally working on Snow Leopard support for version 2. However, as the time passed and the 3.0 release continued to slip (in addition to the early release of Snow Leopard) we realized the corner we had painted ourself into in this regard and switched gears to make sure version 2 would be Snow Leopard compatible as well. (albeit not 64-bit like version 3)
So could we have handled this better? Yes. Hindsight is 20/20 and had we known then what we know now then we would have handled things differently. However, in the end I believe we have provided a reasonable solution since both version 2 and 3 work on Snow Leopard for awhile now. All we can say is that we are not perfect and try our best to please everyone.
An just for the record...We have not paid anyone anything to say or not say anything on Mac blogs about this issue.
Thanks
Carl S.
Chief Evangelist
Agile Web Solutions
http://1password.com/
http://switchersblog.com/
SCOTT said 5:05PM on 10-27-2009
@nightone
my total point by this post was that you were trying to hold us hostage with our keychain from 1Password unless we upgraded to 3.0 BETA...and the fact that you were holding us hostage over a BETA in the first place is another matter of anger all together...is that you expect us to pay you another $5 for the iphone application...
I find it appalling that you would even charge anything for your iphone app seeing as it is to go in conjunction with the desktop app...if you have 1Password 3 you get web access thru browsers but to use it on the iphone I have to pay more...
DO YOU UNDERSTAND WE ARE IN A RECESSION????
it was bad enough that you wanted to charge us 66% of the Snow Leopard price for one app that isn't even out of Beta status yet...but you want another $5 from us for use of the iphone app...it's bull crap
you think that because you had a great program...that there was nothing wrong with...but because you want more money out of us...you come up with a bunch of other stuff to add to the program...to weigh it down...most of the new stuff you have put in this program MOST of us don't give a crap about...because a lot of it comes in free apps around the world
you are the ones that handled this situation wrong...you are the ones that dropped the ball...you are the ones that tried to stop supporting the current version of your software (2) with the current OS (SL)...NOT US
and I'm sorry if I am angered by this...but I am...the fact of the matter is...you know how important your program was to many peoples lives and you thought you would be able to get away with raping your customers by making people choose between APPLE and YOU...you thought you could force people to upgrade because Snow Leopard was coming out by not supporting the current version with Snow Leopard and that back fired
we will ALWAYS CHOOSE APPLE over a small time developer ALWAYS
now I have my issues with SL right now but my main issue is with a company that wants to cheat their customers...and that is what you tried to do...granted you back peddled your stance about not knowing if 1Password 2 would work in SL...into here is how to make it work...and then into actually supporting it...but your excuses about being a small time office with limited resources like of crap your company gave me and many others doesn’t fly...
because I am sure...there is a larger company that is chomping at the bit to buy you up and have your IP and actually implement it in a way that the consumer doesn’t have a tinge in their mouths...
thank you
Joe said 5:19PM on 10-28-2009
Wow... someone got up on the wrong side of bed today.
1Password 2.x works fine with Snow Leopard. No one is forcing you to upgrade to 1Password 3.x. No one is forcing you to purchase the 1Password for iPhone product. What's the problem?
And really, if you truthfully "can barely keep the roof over [your] head", then you might want to seriously consider, say, dropping your iPhone service -- that's $70+ per month that you could evidently put to better use.
SCOTT said 6:44PM on 10-27-2009
@JOE
my comments have nothing to do with what side of the bed I got up on today...my comments are facts...just because you don't know what occurred doesn’t mean that I don't know...
and as far as 1Password 2 working fine on SL...that was not the original case...I have multiple emails from the them describing how it was not supported and that they had no idea if it would work or not...and told people to go to the forums to see if it could work or not...
they had no intention of supporting Version 2 with Snow Leopard until the upset by the consumers was more than they could handle...and you can't use Safari in 64bit mode with 1Password 2...you have to change Safari to 32bit mode which makes the progress of Safari a moot point...
and they made it perfectly clear that they were originally going to require the purchase of the Beta for $20 to continue to use 1Password once the upgrade to SL and that is where they were holding us hostage to keep people from upgrading to SL or to make them buy the new version to be able to use the Keychain passwords they already had saved...
NOW...on the iPhone statement...if you know anything about the iPhone contract you have to keep the contract for 2 years or pay an early termination fee...which is way too much...and you end up losing your phone number in the end of that because you can not move your number to a new carrier unless you are up to date with the current carrier and still have service with said carrier...porting isn't a right it's a privilege
now as far as the cost of the iPhone App for 1Password...it should be free or cheap...and as we all know that 98% or so (approx) of iPhone Apps are 99¢ and of the iPhone Apps that are an extension of the desktop app...MOST of the are FREE...as they should be...if I pay for a service of a product I should not have to pay for it over and over again
NOW WHO IS NEXT?
I can go on all day on this topic because the fact that a company stops supporting a current version of their program with the current OS...should not be allowed to get away with this type of thing...Agile tried to compare what they were doing with Adobe no longer supporting CS3 with Snow Leopard...but the fact is the Adobe had the current version CS4 as their current product and that product came out over a year ago and they were supporting CS4 with SL...something that has been out of current circulation for a year is understandable to not be supported with an OS upgrade...not something that was the current released product not being supported with the current OS...like Agile was trying to do...they expected you to BUY A BETA...that was not finished and didn’t even have all of the features that were suppose to be in the finished product...this is where I have issue with 1Password
Don't get me wrong...1Password is an amazing product...that point has never been an issue for me...they have done great work on this product and deserve to be known for that fact...but when you do such as they did with said product that is where it becomes WRONG...
CHRiS said 12:18AM on 10-28-2009
"Ad blockers don't work on the iPhone (unless you jailbreak)." ----- NOT TRUE! Try glimmerblocker, and you can enable it as a proxy for the iphone on the same subnet. http://imgur.com/2ixc7.png
Joe said 4:16PM on 10-28-2009
@Scott:
At this point I can only assume you're trolling. It's pretty ridiculous to complain about what Agile was "intending" to do -- what's important is what they DID, which is make 1Password 2.x work on Snow Leopard. It presumably works exactly as well as when you originally purchased it. If you want the product to do MORE than when you purchased it -- like support a new 64-bit browser -- it's fair to pay for the upgrade. (Now I'm wondering how you even acquired your copy of 1Password -- MacHeist bundle, so Agile didn't even get full purchase price from ya?)
It's also important to note that the 1Password app for iPhone IS cheap. It's $5. FIVE STINKIN' BUCKS. Which you're installing on your iPhone whose effective cost per DAY is around $3, assuming a 2-year contract. It's a shame that you don't feel that the time spent by the Agile developers -- on an amazing product -- is worth five bucks. DO YOU UNDERSTAND WE ARE IN A RECESSION???? Shouldn't the Agile programmers get some fair payment for their hard work?
I'm only bothering to write this in case prospective 1Password users are reading this thread. It's really an excellent product at a fair price, with great customer support to boot.
-Joe (unaffiliated with Agile except as a satisfied customer)
Feedmeister said 3:54PM on 10-27-2009
What happened to the NDA about not talking/posting about the 1Password 3 Beta?
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