Our Verdict
For a security mechanism that has existed since mankind trade places with apes to raise to the top of the food chain , passwords have shown a surprising seniority . Passwords act as gatekeepers to our e-mail , banking , social medium accounts , and just about anything else that we do , irrespective of whether we are online or not .
alas , humanity are not very good at either creating or remembering password . Left to our own devices , we tend to pick watchword that are easygoing for us to recollect , which is good , but also promiscuous for others to guess , which is n’t good . For this reason , Web developer essay to gently coerce us into adopting more good watchword generation habits by enforcing an ever - increase set of rules on their website : Your password must be at least eight characters long , turn back one or more majuscule characters , a symbol , a smiley , and be typed standing on your left metrical foot under a full moon while sacrifice a chicken …
Alas , all these restriction make countersign difficult to think , and our predictably hapless response is to come up with one “ well ” watchword , which we keep reusing over and over again . The job with this approach shot is that anyone who know or learn this countersign can also gain access to all our other accounts — and if you practice the same password to post photos on a social meshwork and do your banking , it ’s leisurely to see where trouble might rise .
This is a very serious trouble ; according toa survey conducted by security measures house CSID , 61 percent of Americans — nearly two out of every three masses — admit to using the same password on different land site . And , to make things worse , many spell that one countersign down and stash it in a wallet , or store it in a plain - text single file on the information processing system , where it is up for grab for anyone bold enough to make a move .
The immovable portable vault
As a researcher once pronounce , the ideal word is one that is unvoiced to think , impossible to write down , and can only be used in one place . This combination of requirements is very knockout for a human to achieve , but AgileBits’s1Password 4makes it an absolute breeze .
1Password 4 is the recent incoming in the company ’s long - running family unit of password management software . As a Universal app , it runs on your iPhone , iPod sense of touch , or iPad , and involve iOS 6 or higher ; it works by creating a practical “ vault ” in which you could bring through many different kinds of raw information — passwords , of course , but also credit plug-in and camber invoice routine , passport data point , software keys , and so away .
Despite being branded as a “ word management dick , ” therefore , 1Password is equal to of safekeeping of every last bit of information that you do n’t want others to see — which is absolutely crucial when you realize that , with an iPhone in your sack or an iPad in your grip , you fundamentally sway your entire digital life around with you in a small packet that is as commodious for you to expend as it is for someone else to slip .
Flexibility and power
concord to Agile Bits ’s press material , 1Password 4 is a concluded rewrite of its forerunner , a fact that is readily seeable to anyone who has ever used previous versions of the software package . Everything in the app has been re - engineered with the destination of making it easier to organize and practice your information .
This shows prominently in the exploiter interface , which is both gorgeous and passing user - friendly . The app is organized in a logical way , and the transition between the various screen are done so well that you ’ll find yourself playing with them just for the visual pleasure that they bring .
Once inside the app , fresh item can be added straight from the Categories tab , where 1Password mechanically splits the data you enter into item-by-item groups . For example , there are pre - defined categories for logins , credit cards , software license , database , passports , and so on . tally and editing items is soft : 1Password uses an interface that is very similar to that of the Contacts app , earn the summons familiar for any iOS user .
In addition to the default categories , the app also give up you to aggroup your secure item in arbitrary folders , which can be useful , for instance , to freestanding piece of work datum from personal information . brochure fall in particularly handy when you regard that 1Password can be used to store more than just passwords — for example , I keep secret information about my client in it , knowing that it will be dependable from prying eye if my iPhone or iPad should ever be stolen . Often - used particular , like credit calling card numbers , banking logins , and the ilk , can also be added to 1Password ’s Favourites screen , which help keeping them within well-off stretch whenever you need them .
Perhaps my favorite drug user - interface feature , however , is a built - in web internet browser that allows you to sail the World Wide Web and allows 1Password to automatically fill configuration for you using your good data point . This is a major step onward compared to the previous variation — which required you to painstakingly copy and paste your data into Safari — and one that dramatically ameliorate 1Password ’s exploiter experience .
Security
All your data is protect by strong encryption and can only be unlock by a single watchword that you choose when you first place up the app ; this make it both very easy for you to carry all sorting of of import info wherever you go , and very hard for anyone else to access it should your mobile twist ever become helpless or stolen .
1Password also employs a phone number of measures to keep your data dependable . For example , even as you pasture through your save items , all sensitive information is discretely blanked out to preclude someone from articulatio humeri - browse their way into your secret . you’re able to , of course , easily reveal a particular man of information by tapping on it , and just as easily re-create it to the pasteboard , but the rest remain safely conceal until take .
you may also set the app to automatically lock your datum overleap as soon as you go forth 1Password , as well as after a sure amount of unused clock time , so that , should your gimmick stop up in ill - intentioned hands without your permission , they wo n’t be capable to access all your passwords just because you forgot to exit the app . Finally , 1Password also offers to automatically clear out your pasteboard after a primed period of prison term , so that other apps do n’t have a opportunity to read your secret data without you make out .
And , if you find the default option preferences a picayune too paranoid for your taste , you ’ll be glad to know that you’re able to easy commute them to suit your needs .
Sync
One of 1Password ’s solid suit has always been the power to synchronize your data across multiple gadget , and its latest release does not let down , with accompaniment for both manual sync through iTunes , as well as reflex sync through either Dropbox or iCloud .
There is piddling to be order here , other than the sync characteristic reallyjust works . In my tests , both with a completely unexampled datum data file and with my existing vault , the process worked cleanly on the first try , and modification propagated from one gimmick to all my others in record fourth dimension .
One thing that has been removed from this version is the ability to sync topically over Wi - Fi . This seems to have disappointed a number of users , and is the source of much angst in App Store reviews of the software , but I think it was the veracious move . Wi - Fi sync was a little too picky , easily broken , and inherently less redundant than swarm - base solutions . For my part , I am happy to know that , if my star sign goes up in flames alongside all my electronic gimmick , my digital vault wo n’t go with it .
Strong password generator
An often - block feature of 1Password is its strong parole generator , which can be used to make — and store — word made up of pseudorandom characters ; these are much toilsome to crack than anything a human could come up with , and can therefore improve the security of your logins dramatically .
Used right , this source work password direction on its head : Instead of storing your parole , the app can automate the entire authentication process from end to oddment , pull in it well-off to avoid many mutual security pitfalls , like reusing passwords or inadvertently come up with passwords that are too soft to check .
Bottom line
1Password is , quite simply , an first-class dependable data direction solution for every user , regardless of their worldliness or the complexity of their needs . Its writ of execution is much flawless , and a important improvement over premature releases on all fronts .
Pricing — the app costs $ 18 , although it is on sales event for $ 8 until the final stage of the year — may seem a little steep at first , particularly considering that survive customers will have to buy 1Password 4 anew .
This Leontyne Price , however , is utterly reasonable when you consider two things . The first is that a somebody who start out hold of your parole can essentially ruin your entire life , both socially and financially . The second is that 1Password throw you a big backup in case of emergency : If your wallet get steal , and you have save all sorts of item about your various identity cards and financial bill in 1Password , getting out of a sticky situation will be much easy .
