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Forum Discussion
Former Member
5 years agoConcerns About 1P 8 for Mac from a Web and Software Developer
So I briefly tried 1P 8 and then noped right back to 1P 7. Here are some of my concerns, I hope they are fixed before general public release:
- Mini. This is how I use 1P daily. Seems that 1P Mini has been reduced to a search field. Fine, I guess. May be nice. But that I cannot change its keyboard shortcut. I mean, with 1P 7 I use a 2-key shortcut that is deeply engrained in my memory and prime at my keyboard alongside other key system shortcuts. You have to allow us to "import" that into 1P 8. Such customizations is critical on macOS. Also, does Mini require the menubar option be shown? Why is that? I don't show 1P 7 there because the keyboard shortcut is all I need on my desktop with 2 large displays. All that considered, it was in my testing nearly impossible to just bring up Mini from any app.
- Safari. Why require a separate app again, like was needed in the past and for Chrome? And it seems that it was not sensitive to showing logins for sites I am on like all 1P versions of the past did. Why? Will this be fixed? While the search is great for straight-up use, 1P in browser must be able to surface what it thinks will be needed most. Does it, too, need to be in the (about to be ever weirder, thanks Apple, but that is another issue not for you all) status bar? Because I also don't show it in 1P 7 given the keyboard being how I invoke 1P.
- Biometry. I use my Apple Watch multiple times a day to unlock 1P. In 1P 8 Mini the main 1P window always had to come up, and then me click a button, to trigger it. In 1P 7 Mini it just initiates the biometry itself. Why is this so much more user-intensive now? This, too, must be just as simple as it is today. Unlocking the main window was equally button-heavy. This is just untenably annoying.
- Electron. I mean, really, maybe it can be made to look more like the existing macOS app and other Mac apps. But that is way too heavy for a password manager. Please reconsider and go back to Cocoa. Maybe I'm needlessly harsh on this point. But given my others, this is a compounded concern. I use VS Code almost daily. I've grown used to it. That is Electron. But one of the main reasons I use 1P is its nativeness. Regardless the tech underneath, 1P 8 does not feel native. This is a serious disappointment.
- Preferences. As I alluded to above, all existing 1P 7 preferences must be present in 1P 8. I have 1P set up how it works best for me. Not just keyboard shortcuts being all custom, but nearly every preference I likely have tweaked at one time or another. These must stay customizable. All of them.
I truly am sorry if this feels harsh. As 1P support staff may know, I post here often with questions and answers. I've used 1P since it used the Mac OS X keychain for storage and now use Families. I write software (web, iOS, Mac, etc.) and manage websites for organizations for a living, so have some idea of what feedback should be, but also how critical my password manager is in my line of work. It and its speed and stability are critical. 1P 8 truly saddens me and makes me wonder if my longtime support of you all was misplaced years ago until now.
I am more than willing to continue this conversation here or in another venue. But I will not be trying 1P 8 again until it is finalized. This is unlike me, as I have used 1P betas in the late-summers for years. Kind of feel it is a role I as another developer should play. By general public release, I sincerely hope for all of us that my concerns, and the many concerns expressed by others here, are taken seriously. Or that you do as Apple themselves are with iOS and keep 1P 7 fully supported and getting updates even after 1P 8 ships.
1Password Version: Not Provided
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52 Replies
- Former Member
@chadseld
Do you all have any sense of openness to feedback or just a firm belief that what you created is perfect. I just imagine your leadership sending internal memos right now saying "HOLD THE LINE!!!!"
This part rings significant to me: "1Password 8 represents a ground-up rewrite for us, one in which we have gotten serious about sharing core functionality between all platforms (Mac, iOS, Linux, Windows, Android)."
You're basically explaining why this makes it easier for your team but not better for users. Before you respond touting feature parity across platforms, at least acknowledge that a lot (probably most) aren't using 1Password across 3+ platforms. Secondly, you ignore the single biggest consensus feedback so far which is that folks want the app to feel native to each platform they use.
I hope you will read and think about this feedback.
- Former Member
Thank you for your honest feedback. Many of the issues you mention are expected to be addressed. But some, like the number and kind of preferences will be different in version 8.
1Password 8 represents a ground-up rewrite for us, one in which we have gotten serious about sharing core functionality between all platforms (Mac, iOS, Linux, Windows, Android). Another aspect of this goal was a more unified UI design between platforms. Originally, we were writing the Mac version in Apple's new SwiftUI framework instead of Electron. I think if we had continued along that path, many of these same issues would still be present - because it's a new code base, there are a lot of parts missing, and a lot of parts without polish.
Mini is a good example where we lost our way a bit with version 7, and many saw it as a downgrade from version 6. I can tell you that the team working on mini v8 (now named Quick Access) is all about user experience, user testing, optimizing navigation flows, etc... It's a rethink of what 1Password mini should be. And it will be better to use. It's just in a _ very early_ form right now.