Thinking about switching away from 1Password to Apple Passwords

I’ve been a faithful 1Password fan for a long time, but it seems like there is less friction with Apple’s Passwords app now that it’s available across all its platforms. Has anyone else made the leap? What’s missing in the Passwords app compared to 1Password?

That depends on the user’s wants/needs/comfort level, etc. BGR published one reporter’s thoughts on this last month:

I’ve been using 1PW for years and like that 1PW isn’t a built in feature. Securing a single app isn’t as complicated as securing an operating system. YMMV

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Not a chance. 1PW is the only sub I pay for. I need this app so badly and Apple passwords while OK for basic use is no where near 1PW

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As @Bmosbacker put it in episode 767, “if I use Apple, I get Apple, Microsoft and Google all with that I can use on my devices. So I have the best of everything available”.

I pay for multiple subscriptions, one of which is 1PW, so I can put together a hardware/software package that works best for me. And when someone asks my opinion I will tell them what I use, and why. But I will also try to provide them with enough information so they can make an informed decision on their own.

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We just moved my wife from 1Pass to Apple Passwords over the weekend, as she was running in to sync issues (1P v7 Dropbox Sync) between her iPad and iPhone.

Move was pretty straightforward, but does need a Mac to do, so we needed to create an account on my Mac temporarily, as she’s iPad/iOS only and the hardest part was getting the passwords in to 1Pass to export them out, as v7 wasn’t accepting Dropbox for whatever reason as a sync. Managed it in the end, and so far I’ve had no complaints so works well here so far!

Already discussed here I think?

1PW v7 was discontinued in 2022 (macOS Monterey) when 1PW v8 was released.

I already mentioned that above :wink:

I did not recognize that, because the link was displayed as a preview in your post and a URL in mine…

:person_facepalming:

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I moved several years ago. I moved because 1pw was constantly “competing” with apple’s password manager - getting both to show when a pwd dialog showed up etc. I found Apple’s handling of passwords more straight forward and more than sufficient. I did miss the ability of 1pw to create protected notes, a place where i held software licenses and such. I keep those in devonthink at the moment - its not the same but it is not bad either.

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My 1Password subscription was due recently, and it gave me the motivation to implement a trial run of using Apple Passwords instead. I renewed my subscription but moved everything into Passwords and Notes. I had been concerned about the potential friction of having to retrieve credit card information from Notes when online shopping until I realized that Safari’s autofill is actually very good for populating credit card fields. And while 1Password has better organization for non-password items, like bank accounts, my need to reference those is occasional at best, and so having them stored in Notes instead should be fine.

I’m in the nascent stages of the experiment, but since I’m not on a timeline, I can ensure that I conduct a prudent evaluation. My very early impression is that I am extremely satisfied with Passwords. Adding and updating entries is just fine, if not as elegant as 1Password, but the experience of filling passwords is so much better for my use cases. I have been fighting with 1Password for awhile now–strange behavior from the browser extension and confusing UI elements–and it’s ramped up during the 1Password 8 releases. In general, I have found myself exerting more effort to make the program simply work as it had done for me in the past. Previously, it was like a silent utility, running in the background and doing its job, but it turned into something I needed to actively manage.

Another motivation for the experiment: I serve as household IT because my better half is less tech-savvy, and I thought that Passwords might be easier. I moved him to Passwords, showed him how to unlock it and look up passwords if needed, and explained that the popup menu should fill in everything, making website login very easy. So far, my help desk has received zero tickets. :slight_smile: Again, early stages, but it’s been a smooth start.

I understand the concerns around putting all eggs in one basket, and I continue to ruminate on that topic. It has prompted me to implement a more robust periodic backup of passwords, including hard copies for secure storage, which I frankly probably should have been doing before. I also know the security implementations between the two are different, and I will continue to research and consider those points as well.

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I moved away when Agilebits completely changed everything I loved 1Password for. They ditched local vaults and while also Apple doesn’t have local vaults I feel more safe to not give a third party company every important part of data I have. If Apple wants to it could have my data anyways. I can’t be 100% sure if Apple uses some kind of backdoor. But trusting all my data with a 3rd party I’m not so sure.
They ditched their native app for an Electron one and although everyone is claiming it is not 100% Electron and it is nice I still don’t want it to use more battery on my Macbook than is needed. Apple password is integrated and needs the least amount of resources possible.
They changed to a subscription only model. Which I just don’t want. It’s ok. But I don’t like it.
And the one reason that made me switch to Apple passwords was that they are downplaying all the concerns users had back then.
You cannot state that a server side vault is more secure than a local vault. The keys to my house aren’t more secure with a company than in my pocket. Local vaults are just more support intense because of user errors. So they are more expensive to give support to.
The subscription model isn’t mandatory for devs to survive. I have discussed this in several posts. It just isn’t. They are a blown up password company with several hundred people doing the job others do with a handful. They have got 100s of millions of investments and investors want their investment to grow. That’s the reason for subscriptions. Not because devs would hunger.

I am very happy with Apple Password. I even was before it got an app. I don’t miss 1Password in any way. There is nothing that can’t be done with Apple’s software. You can password lock notes, you can create every imaginable kind of note and protect it. And you have the best password integration that can be instantly unlocked with biometrics.

I’m very happy with Apple Passwords. But I never used a password manager app, so I have nothing to compare it to. I moved my authentication codes from Google Authenticator to Apple Passwords, and that’s been working well.

I have been a 1Password subscriber for several years and have an active subscription until February 2025. This summer I deactivated 1P and switched to using only Apple Passwords. I’ve kept 1P on one iPad as a backup in case I found I didn’t transfer all of my passwords.

I’ve been very pleased with Apple Passwords. It’s simpler and quicker to use than 1P. I had some additional info in 1P but that is all in locked Apple Notes now, so no loss of function there. I won’t be renewing my 1P subscription.

I understand that 1P has some advanced features that a few users need, but I’m not one of them. Apple Password includes the sharing of passwords with family members, so I’m using that feature with my wife for the same subscription fee as Apple Passwords: FREE. No need to pay extra for a “family plan” as in 1P.

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I’m doing this experiment myself. I exported my 1 password library as a csv and imported to Apple Passwords. Import was smooth and there were only a few accounts it had trouble with. It even imported my TOTPs without issue.

For accounts where I had created Passkeys, I did have to recreate those in Apple Passwords which was a pain, but hopefully a onetime thing.

Biggest issue for me is no Firefox support, and the lack of different data types (notes, software licenses, etc.) that 1password has.

So for now I’m running them both, but with the 1Password extension disabled in my browsers. As I’m on a family plan with multiple family members as part of the subscription, this will be a multi-year process to migrate people over - IF things continue to go well for Apple Passwords.

I’ve also made the switch, slowly and first and then fell over the cliff. Like others the key incentive was to get my family on the same system. In addition, I have finally made the switch to going full shadow IT at the office, so no longer had to worry about cross platform compatibility. Apple Passwords provides everything that I need. There are a few things that I miss about 1Password, including saving documents such as Passports, but I’ve been able to use Apple Notes for these. I think that for individual/family use, there is really no longer any reason to use anything other than Apple Passwords if you’re fully in the ecosystem.

What are people planning to do if there is a security vulnerability with iCloud, or your iCloud account is compromised? How will you access your passwords if everything stays with Apple? That’s the only thing keeping me with 1P.

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My plan is to periodically create and securely store hard copies that I can use in a situation like this.

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I use security keys to minimize the chance of this happening.

But couldn’t you have the same issue with 1Password?

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