Taking a Look At 1Password
With a social networking culture fast immuring in our society, we all have lots of very different passwords that we need to remember unless we want our digital life to crumble. We also fill in many other types of webforms that require us to consistently fill in identical information that doesn’t change (name, email, address, phone number, passwords etc). Many companies have attempted to solve this issue through centralized web services or desktop applications. In my opinion, the closest to “a perfect solution is the latest version of the Mac OS X app called 1Password. Before launching in to my thoughts, I just want to give you a quick disclaimer in saying that I bought this product entirely under my own steam and personally use it on a day-to-day basis.
User Interface
Although features are the reason for having an application, it can sometimes be easy to get sucked in to the features that an app has and forget to consider that a graphical interface is what you will see when trying to utilize the features. I think that this version of 1Password only goes to augment the brilliant existing foundations. It looks proud to be a native mac-only product and doesn’t deviate from the default OS X shell. The developers have understood that if someone buys a Mac, it’s likely because they love the stock UI. In my mind, the attention to detail in everything about the app is what truly differentiates it from other software like it. For instance, when you enter your master password in order to gain access to all the other password, you are presented with a fantastic animation and sound effect as if you were unlocking a real briefcase. Just one of the many other examples of fantastic design is the way in which the screenshots for the websites that the selected details correspond to are integrated in to the interface. As can be seen in the image above, the screenshot is shown on a gorgeous, paper-esk graphic. This high-class theme continues throughout most of the app with the only exception possibly being the Firefox extension which I think is a tad rough around the edges.
Features
Now we’ve established that it looks amazing but, if we can’t do anything with it then that’s all academic. The software has many features and the only when to do them justice would be to examine them all individually:
- 1st-rate password storage - From the name, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to realize that the main aim of the software is to be a great password storage system. While the core desktop app doesn’t disappoint, I think the built-in extensions provided to add in support for saving passwords and filling forms with the info you’ve previously saved could be vastly improved. My biggest bone of contention with it is the way it asks you whether you want to save a new form you’ve just filled in so that it can be done for you next time. You get a dialog in the middle of the page that interrupts your browsing and almost seems to demand a response. This is behavior that makes no sense to me because the rest of the app is so fluid and appeals to those who don’t want to constantly enter the same information. Having to interrupt the experience like this is so out of character.
- Identities - The next feature is one of the best selling points of the software. It’s a feature allowing you to input information about yourself that is needed for common forms (address, email, phone and even credit card information) for quick usage in any form. This is all secure and is wrapped and an amazing UI. You can also have as many separate identities in the software as you need. The algorithms they used are really smart because, when you input the data you want to be used and the form you want to fill doesn’t use exactly the same naming conventions, the software will make intelligent choices about what information ought to go where.
Conclusion
I think this is software for anybody who has many social profiles and forgets their passwords a lot or needs to fill in a lot of forms.
RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5
Developer’s website
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Comment Posting Guidance
For the benefit of every non-spambot visiting, following a recent site restructuring I have some rules with regard to etiquette for comment posters. As well as making a better experience for all, they help to distinguish real people for automatic evil machine spam. Due to this, any comment that fails to follow any one of them will be considered spam and removed as soon as possible.
With thanks, Tom
- Coherent English must be used.
- This form has multiple fields for a reason. Only enter a real name or nickname in the first box i.e. "Boats For Sale" wouldn't make it. Similarly, the "Website" input is a pre-determined place to post one link so there is no need to have them in the body area. This is a common technique used by spammers and marketers and, as such is not allowed.
- Your comment must be directly related to the post to which it is a response. The idea of a post commenting system is to further the conversation that began in the given article. For instance "great post" is not a comment. My contact form can be used for suggestions or general communications.
- Responses to other comments must be civilised.
- No sexual reference or content is allowed.
- Duplicate comments are a no-no.
Cool program, though I prefer to use external HD. I save all my passwords in word document. I have about 15 or so LOL
hey thnx for the report very interesting !!:)