I don’t mind paying for a subscription if I believe it is worth it. I have many subscriptions and I reevaluate them from time to time to make sure I’m still getting the value out of it that I want. And this is one of those times, I’m transferring data and apps to a new computer and so it is time to make sure the software I install is still worth my money and attention.
To my way of thinking a password manager is something that is naturally provided by the OS. It has always been that way on the Mac, but iOS was lacking at the beginning and 1Password filled the void. But over the years Apple has improved the iOS password manager to the point where I don’t think it is worth paying the extra premium for 1Password. I know they have features that go beyond what Apple offers and that’s fine, just not worth it to me.
Another issue I have is that I have a number of passwords in Keychain, mostly stuff I don’t care that much about like News subscriptions, etc. I then have another set of passwords in 1Password. I’ve had an issue of these two systems competing with each other. 1Password and Safari are both trying to offer to login or provide a strong password. I know this is my own laziness and not doing the work to consolidate. I have to commit to one or the other, so that is what I’m doing now. I could’ve gone with 1Password, but I made the assessment above and don’t consider the price worth it. All my passwords will go into keychain. The few secure notes I have in 1Password will end up as a locked note in Apple Notes.
I make a living as a software developer, so I certainly sympathize with your sentiment of supporting good software. But I also don’t consider my purchase of software or paying of subscriptions as charity either.
I plan to continue paying $0.10/day for 1password. Keychain while good, isn’t Apple’s primary focus and it’s reassuring that companies like IBM and Apple have chosen to roll out 1PW to their employees.
Subscriptions aren’t going away. And I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot fewer standalone applications for sale from single developers and smaller companies. Part of my software selection process is insuring I have a way to export my data from any program I use. That’s more important than ever, IMO, because we are likely to see more volatility in pricing and turnover of developers in the future.
Hi TJ, I know what you mean, but I think you misplaced the comment because I don’t think it really applies in this particular thread and the OP stated some good reasons for the switch that were not related to your caricature.
Personally, I switched to 1P, deciding its subscription was worthwhile.
At about the same time, I switched from Overcast to the Podcasts app, deciding that subscription was not worthwhile for me. In both cases, I am paying software developers for their hard work, either through a direct payment or through hardware purchases.
The OP has purchased a lovely new computer and hence paid Apple for a new version of Big Sur that comes with great software, which includes a pretty nice password management app that even checks vulnerabilities now IIRC. There’s no need to feel bad about it.
You’re right. My response was judgy and dismissive, and I apologize for that. What I read is that 1Password solves all my problems, Mac keychain solves many of those, but leaves some gaps. I’d rather not pay for software if there is a solution that sorta works for me, and it’s free. I have no problem with voting with your dollars, and paying (or not paying) for the product that works best for you. But, if you acknowledge that a product provides the best solution for you, and sneeze only at the relatively modest cost, I think you’re doing a disservice to yourself, to the Mac/iOS community and to the developer. For me, the highest cost I incur is the time and energy I invest in learning a program and making it part of my workflow.
BTW, the Mac and iOS Safari teams are doing remarkable work. They’ve created a genuinely great password management function that makes it possible for the vast majority of users who never think about password management to be safer on the internet. 1Password is just better for me, and adds functions that the built-in tools do not provide. I’m very happy to be able to pay the developer a fair price for those efforts.
I purchased the V7 1Password and that worked great, syncing with Dropbox. However, when I changed firms and couldn’t install the Windows version, I switched to the subscription software, to use the online 1Password X plugin and that works well. The Apple Watch app for 2FA was also dead handy (less so now that the auto fill seems to work).
The cross platform aspect is something that I have to consider.
I have to disagree there. Keychain’s been somewhat of a mess for years - and it still is. And I’m not even talking about the hot mess that Smart Cards have been recently.
Apple’s Keychain Access fails at the most basic things:
For instance, I So I’m browsing the web and I’m saving a web password in Safari. It gets saved in the “Local Items” keychain (I don’t have a choice to save it elsewhere).
It can not be exported from that keychain again - or be backed up either.
Unless… unless I manually look it up by opening the entry in keychain, typing my Mac user password and copying the saved password or noting it down. And yes, I’d have to repeat that for Every. Single. Password.
A password manager that’s unable to bulk export passwords and doesn’t provide a simple, user-friendly way of backing up the password database? That is missing basic functionality.
That’s the one, yes.
Also, I only really listen to well-produced podcasts from Relay and BBC these days, and I’ve found I actually like the occasional natural pauses etc in conversations. And I play in normal speed because I don’t feel the need to rush through with entertainment.