Don’t worry, when you get as old as @Bmosbacker…
@tgara Now now, let’s be nice. I’m only 30, it’s just a stressful job! 
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I’m a little confused how they’re doing this? Wouldn’t those users discover it when they go to upgrade and the only option is a subscription?
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I don’t know about others but I doubt I’m in the 1Password app more than a few minutes every week or two. So the performance or resources used by the electron app shouldn’t be a factor.
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I don’t see anything unethical about the email. I didn’t follow the links so I don’t know exactly what is covered there. You can’t expect the entire T&C in a marketing email. That’s why they have links to other locations. As to the Electron issue, companies change the technologies they use all the time. Does a company need to let us know that they changed from Objective C to Swift for programming their apps? Or change their backend database?
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Generally I would agree, but it’s worth noting that Electron as a framework breaks integration capabilities with a bunch of other software that hook into the Mac framework, and essentially creates an abstraction layer between the software and the OS. For example, I ditched an Electron-based web browser because Moom wouldn’t work with it.
Might not be a huge issue for 1PW - but a move to something like Electron is definitely different from switching between Objective C and Swift, or changing a database engine.
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Thanks for the previous comments, and all the others. I will however not heed the “warning” by one user about libel. Perhaps, and I apologise for this, I did not make myself clear. I will try again:
1.- I know it is a marketing email. I believe I mentioned it from the beginning. As such, I deplore they are abandoning the “native app” element but I have no quarrel with this which I could not live without.
2-. What I do consider unethical is, that having read another OP on this forum tell his story about how he upgraded and only then found out he had unadvertingly opted in to a subscription model, when he complained to 1PW support and asked to be allowed to go back to his old model, he was bluntly told “NO”. In the email I got, and that has been quoted here there is ABSOLUTELY NO REFERENCE to the fact that upgrading means changing to a new relationship altogether with Agile Bits as a company. That is unethical, and I welcome their libel demand if they so wish.
Millstone’s Third Law of Forums: The likelihood of changing perceptions of reality approaches zero after the 5th reply to a thread.
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I don’t know if that is real thing but I love it!
Added to they it’s just not the underlying technology. They are going Subscription all in. Totally fine. TextExpander did it. Ulysses did it. So nothing wrong in it. It’s their business decision. But I would love them more should they have older versions available for download for those who don’t like version 8 and just want to stick to what they have. Just don’t sell them going forward. Agreed that they won’t be supported for ever. But it works as long as it works.
Alternatively they should allow both versions to coexist so that people can try out if it makes sense to really upgrade to Version 8.
Hang on, that email is promoting 1Password 7 for iOS 15, and an early-access, development only, all new 1Password 8 for Mac.
So, whilst I agree with those saying it’s not unethical, I’d go further. As far as I can see upgrading based on this doesn’t even mean moving to the new model on iOS, and on Mac it’s not meant to be commercial use.
That’s the beauty of the Internet - it is now. 
I love when companies do this. “Not using the current version? Stuck on an OS that the current version doesn’t work on? Here’s the old stuff.”
I’ve seen companies that have old software available for download that works all the way back to early, early versions of OSX.
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Hi Can Antoine elaborate on this „on longier LocalTalk vault“ issue mentioned Serversoftware times ins thie Thread? Would be helpfulfor me to Unterstand the change happening
1Password in previous versions allowed two types of data - “local” vaults (synced from device to device with iCloud or a sync platform of the user’s choice if desired) and “cloud” vaults that are stored on 1Password’s servers.
1Password 8 has completely removed support for the “local” option, which - effectively - means that users of 1Password now are required to upload their password data to 1Password’s servers. There’s no option to have a local vault.
This also means that instead of the initial premise - “one password to unlock all your data” - you need a password that you’ve come up with AND an encryption key from 1PW that you don’t control and that would be virtually impossible to memorize. If you lose that key, you’re completely hosed.
I won’t rehash all the reasons people don’t like this, but there are some threads on these forums if you search. 
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That makes sense for some software like BBEdit. Providing old versions may keep previous customers in the fold which can lead to new sales. But that’s not the case for security software, if it isn’t worth supporting get rid of it. Out of date security software isn’t good for the user or the reputation of the company.
There are other password managers available. Some good, some not so good, And some newer ones from developers that appear to have no previous experience with security software. So people need to choose wisely.
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Saw the e-mail as well, it’s a marketing e-mail, I don’t see anything wrong with it even the gimmick of ‘life-changing’ is just a way of grabbing attention and marketing. Not to get too controversial, but in most Apple keynotes (I didn’t watch the last one). Each time a new iPhone comes out, the same line is repeated, ‘this is the best iPhone ever made’ or ‘it is X times faster than whatever it is’. Not a big deal, just marketing.
In regards to native vs electron, it’s still on my mind. But I am trying to break down that process.
- Does the app still do its job? (generating secure passwords) Yes
- Will it break my workflow and prevent me from goal 1? No
Then, so be it. Just upgrade.
But it’s a subscription……that’s nothing new in the world. We saw this coming years ago in the software and hardware world. At the end of the day, one-time pricing is no longer sustainable for a developer. If you factor in how many updates or upgrades a person does in their digital life. I can speak for myself when Microsoft Office was first released decades ago. I held on to that for as long as I possibly could until I was forced to buy the new version. Now, it’s just much easier to subscribe to when I want something or don’t want something.
Just my two cents
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1Password faces ongoing costs for maintaining an internet-facing server farm that undoubtedly is the target of any number of bad actors. This, against the backdrop of an ever-changing security environment that requires security providers to always operate in catch-up mode. Seems to me that a service like 1Password’s more than justifies a business model built on a subscription.
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I haven’t seen that thread, so it’s likely there’s context I am missing, but I am very confused how they inadvertently ended up on a subscription model —doesn’t that require signing up for the subscription (and providing a credit card) — and why they can’t go back?
If 1Password as somehow confiscating people’s licenses and signing them up for a subscription without consent then that would be very very concerning…
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Oh just to clarify, I don’t mind subscription. I probably should have rephrased “but some complain its a subscription”
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I believe the initial subscription rollout had a yearly up-front pricing that was similar to what one might be otherwise expected to pay for a license - so the purchase could’ve potentially been confused for an upgrade.
As for the upgrading, I do remember a point a couple years ago where I downloaded a new version, installed it, and my data was “upgraded” in such a way that I couldn’t revert to the previous version even if I wanted to. I was able to restore from a backup in that case, but there was no way to roll the database back without replacing it from the backup.
I do find it hard to believe that “NO” was the sum total response from 1PW though. Their customer service has always at least been helpful for me.
It definitely does. The issue that most people have when they complain about 1PW going subscription-only is that 1PW used to offer an option where you wouldn’t be using these services that incur 1PW monthly costs to maintain. You could just have your local vault, which was superior to the online version in a few notable ways. The online version is superior in others.
Each option fits a different use case, and they used to give you a choice - but they’ve taken that choice away. That’s the gripe.
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