I’m looking for the considered thoughts, opinions, and advice of current 1Password 8 users – specifically those who use Safari as their browser, running on the latest official releases of macOS, iOS, and iPadOS (my devices are an M1 Mac mini, iPhone 16 Pro, and M2 iPad Pro). In reading many of the threads here, it seems that 1PW has quite a few supporters, so here’s your chance to shine. ;-)
I’m looking to migrate from Strongbox to a new password manager, as the former was sold to a company whose reputation is somewhat lacking. My preference is to use a 3rd-party PM app – not Apple’s Passwords app and/or iCloud Keychain. I’m perfectly content to pay anywhere up to $60 or so for an annual subscription.
While I’m well aware of the top 15 or so PM apps that support my devices (including free/low cost, open source, etc.), the 2 leading contenders for me are 1Password and mSecure, with 1PW being the strong frontrunner.
My primary concern is using 1PW with Safari. Based on App Store reviews and some other comments I’ve read, it seems the VAST majority of people using the 1PW browser extension for Safari regularly run into failures and mounting frustration.
So what has your experience been?
Can one lead a happy 1PW life with Safari, using just the main 1PW app and either “Quick Access” or “Universal Autofill”?
And what about passkeys – do you need the Safari extension to store and use passkeys in 1PW? Or can you accomplish this with the 1PW extension for Firefox (my backup browser)?
Hello, as an user of Strongbox, I wasn’t aware of the sale. Thanks for letting us know. I found out that it’s the same company that bought Bartender. Will do more research before making any decision, but for me a subscription is a no go. This was one of the main reasons for me to leave 1Password.
I almost never use Safari, so I can’t offer any insights into whatever people are complaining about with 1PW/Safari integration. I’ve had no issues with it in Opera or Firefox.
What I can tell you is that to save and use passkeys with 1PW, you need to have its extension enabled in whichever browser you are using that passkey in, the same as autofill of passwords. (You can copy and paste passwords from the main 1PW app or the menu bar icon without a browser extension, but that doesn’t work for passkeys.) If you use only the Firefox extension, you will be able to use 1PW for passkeys only in Firefox, not in any other browser you use. So if you want to use passkeys saved in 1PW in Safari, you need the Safari extension.
iOS / iPadOS it’s flawless - Safari on macOS I use occasionally it’s been fine. I think it’s more to do with the plugin handling rather than 1PW itself.
I use 1Password with Safari and Chrome, and generally use the extension in both browsers, but if it’s balking for some reason or if it’s fighting with MacOS’s password manager I sometimes use the 1Password menubar icon or Quick Access hotkey and that works fine to fill in passwords in Safari or Chrome. I generally don’t have trouble using the browser extension in Safari, so this doesn’t come up a lot for me.
I do use a Passkey for one of my regular logins in Safari and I think that requires using the extension—I don’t see any way to tell Quick Access to use a passkey. I am fairly sure you have to use the extension in order to save a passkey in the first place, too, since passkey setup is managed via a browser standard.
I’m current on my iPad and iPhone and using Sonoma on my Mac mini M2. Safari is my main browser. It works fine with Safari on most sites, but some require manual cut/paste from the 1P browser extension or app. I would not say I have any failures or “mounting” frustration; there’s just a low level of annoyance, but tempered by the fact that it does meet my needs and I’ve never had a serious problem.
I looked around for a new app before upgrading from 1P7 to 1P8 but didn’t find anything that met my needs - I store notes, documents and images in 1P. I do not trust iCloud - based on personal experience - and I wouldn’t use an Apple app for something as critical as passwords. I have not tried a passkey, so no comment on that.
I use 1Password with its extensions for Safari, Firefox, and Brave. And on iOS.
I also use 1Password to store notes, passport images, etc.
There are a couple of sites for which I have set up a passkey, which 1Password supports. (Sometimes it is a bit convoluted. I can’t remember if it is different on different sites.)
Sometimes there have been things that didn’t work immediately, but I blame internet glitches, website bugs, and so forth. That is the world we live in.
I have looked at alternatives to 1Password. I didn’t find any that completely satisfy me. 1Password works as I expect it to work almost all the time. Keep the app and the extensions up to date for best results.
Since 1Password 8 forces cloud storage and uses Electron, that’s not an option for me. Enpass looks nicer than most and supports local syncing and cloud too. I wish there was a clear choice.
I use 1Password 8 across all of my devices (iPhone, iPad, Macs, and Windows PC) and all of my browsers (Safari, Brave, Firefox, and, previously, Chrome). Although the 1Password Safari extension occasionally crashes and reloads itself, it doesn’t happen very often and it isn’t a big deal when it does. I am very pleased with 1Password as my primary password manager and strongly recommend it. That is especially true if you share a password vault with anyone (spouse, kids, colleagues, parents, etc.) because 1Password’s use of a Secret Key (see: About your Secret Key | 1Password Support and discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/1Password/comments/104vuko/please_explain_secret_key_to_me/). Basically, the Secret Key means that 1Password vaults are cryptographically secure even if someone (you or someone you share a vault with) chooses a weak or reused password.
I also use Strongbox (with a lifetime license for Strongbox Pro and Strongbox Zero) and was not happy to learn about the sale to Applause. That said, my concern is primarily that development will stagnate (as happened when Applause bought Bartender 5) rather than them introducing backdoors or security flaws. In any case, I primarily use Strongbox Zero as a backup password manager to store exported copies of my 1Password data in KeePass format (.kdbx).
I’m a longtime 1Password user and I use it on Safari (and occasionally other browsers) on both the Mac and iOS. I’ve been using it for a long time, and I would describe myself as currently frustrated regarding its autofilling of passwords on both the Mac and iOS.
Because of that, I’ve currently turned off autofill by 1Password, and I maintain both Apple Passwords and 1Password in parallel. (When I get to a site that isn’t yet stored in Apple’s Passwords, I copy/paste from 1Password and say yes to saving the password in the Apple Passwords app. It’s tedious, but over time, I’ll get most of my passwords transferred.) I find Apple Passwords absolutely bulletproof as far as filling in passwords on websites. 1Password is getting increasing worse in that regard.
I really like 1Password’s other abilities, namely the ability to store a much more complete set of things, such as images, answers to security questions, email attachments, etc. Apple’s Passwords just isn’t there quite yet.
But, let me tell you, for daily filling in of saved passwords, Apple’s Passwords is blazingly fast and rock solid.
This of course is your choice, but fwiw, I completed the transition from my last third-party password manager (Enpass) to Apple Passwords. It’s been about three months now, and I have to say I mostly like AP better. It’s better integrated with the Apple ecosystem (one would hope!), lacks no features that I need, and it’s free. The only downside is that it is much stricter about how long the password vault remains unlocked. Enpass had a preference for that; AP does not.
Thanks, Doug. I’m, of course, well aware of Command-\ from all of the years of 1Password on the Mac, but maybe I haven’t yet figured out the secret sauce of disabling the 1Password extension but still using that key combination. I’ll dig in a little further to see if I’ve missed something.
Sad to say, it just points out that Apple’s solution will probably always work better because they have access to the Mac and iOS’s internals that 1Password will never enjoy.
My primary concern is using 1PW with Safari. Based on App Store reviews and some other comments I’ve read, it seems the VAST majority of people using the 1PW browser extension for Safari regularly run into failures and mounting frustration.
So what has your experience been?
Long time user of 1PW, never had a significant problem using it with Safari. Currently using mostly with Brave.
Can one lead a happy 1PW life with Safari, using just the main 1PW app and either “Quick Access” or “Universal Autofill”?
It’s worked for me.
And what about passkeys – do you need the Safari extension to store and use passkeys in 1PW?
Haven’t really used passkeys yet.
Or can you accomplish this with the 1PW extension for Firefox (my backup browser)?
I have used 1P since its inception and have had very few issues over the years. The few issues I have had are mainly due to re establishing it on a new machine or a newly wiped machine. That has not been an issue with the newer server based version of it.
I run it on Vivaldi, Safari and Chrome both on my deskop and iPad.
The only other one pasword like app I would consider is BitWarden.
I use 1PW on all of my devices. I find it really good. There is an occasional glitch in Safari, but overall, I like it and it stores everything that I need, credit cards, passwords, passkeys … you name it. Just keep up to date and you should have no problems. I cannot consider using another PW manager.
My husband and I use a group/family vault: His, Hers, Shared. He uses Safari. I use Brave.
He regularly forgets to update his changed passwords in 1P. Why? I have no idea. I am sure it’s the UI and the strangeness of how the browser settings are different from the application settings.
I HATE the UI for both the browser and app. I regularly file bug reports, because the difference in the UI from 1P7 is so different from 1P8. I do not understand why all my devices (Mac app, iOS app on iPhone and iPad, and the browsers have different settings and there is no way to take the settings from one source of truth. Every single device and every browser appears to have its Own Truth.
As to my bug reports: there is always some sort of setting that is new in 1P8 that appears to be hidden in my browser that allows me to do what I want to do.
They took a perfectly good app and made it impossible for this long-time (decade?) user to use it easily.
I have tried v8 and am sticking with v7 until it no longer works although I do have a subscription. There were a bunch of issues for v8 with me…but the only snow stopper was the lack of an ability to backup and restore independent of their server. Their claim that the Secret Key makes it the best ever…well…that’s just a second password to get in and if one uses good master passwords it provides no meaningful security increase. I would rather sync via DropBox…but eventually will likely move to v8. I have conducted a fairly exhaustive survey of 5he alternatives…and if you use all of the features in 1PW…Secure Notes being vital for me…there are zero other alternatives that can replace it. The company has IMO largely moved on from individual users as a business model…and their VC investors are driving the train no matter what Dave says…and while it is t as perfect a macOS/iOS/iPadOS app as it used to be…it’s still better than anything else I’ve looked at. Nonetheless…I’m sticking with v7 and DropBox sync as long as I can. I believe the company has basically sold out users in the effort to please their VC masters…and while that sucks it is what it is. Apple Passwords is woefully under-featured at this point as a replacement. But…I haven’t switched because there isn’t anything to switch to as a viable replacement.
I keep looking at Proton Pass (I have a Proton Visionary subscription, although it’s available in other plans). It seems to be getting closer to feature parity, and incorporates the SimpleLogin email alias functionality as well.
It supports multiple vaults, sharing with others, and the following entry types:
Login (for app or website)
Alias (via SimpleLogin)
Note
Password
Payment Card
Identity
I’ve been using 1Password for over 15 years (remember when they were “Agile Web Solutions”?), and it’s still my primary tool, but I’m keeping an eye on alternatives.