1Password

I love the design. The software interface makes it a joy to use. Having the option to create multiple vaults for different areas of your life, and then enable or disable them based on the browser instance you're in is super handy for keeping logins seperate, but in the same account.

Another great feature is the in-built two factor authentication. When I log into an application, it fills in the 2FA along with the username and password and saves me a heap of time - without compromising my security.

Finally, the biometrics login (using your fingerprint, Face ID, Apple Watch etc.) to login to 1password is super handy. Makes for a quick and simple accessing experience.

Couple of things. I came from LastPass, which had two features I miss. Firstly, it's hard to share logins in 1password. It sorta forces you to either send a one-use clunky link via text or email, or setup a (paid) shared vault. LastPass just allowed you to invite someone and it would drop into their account.

The other thing is saving logins the first time you signup for account, or access an account you haven't saved yet. With LastPass, even after putting in your details, clicking sign up/sign in and landing on the next page of the website, a little popup in the corner would prompt you to Save the login. Super handy. However, with 1password, I have to physically click Save Login on one of the fields as I enter them before I sign in or otherwise it doesn't give me the option to save them. It's a small thing, but was a great, common sense feature that I do miss with 1password.

1Password is a solid password manager that's available pretty much everywhere. It's been my manager of choice for quite a while after my last job covered licenses for the whole company. In addition to passwords, it also manages identities and payment methods, which makes filling forms out a breeze.

Since leaving that job, I went ahead and sprung for the individual license. Things have been fine up until recently, with their push to 1Password 7. They are clearly trying to move lifetime licensees to a monthly subscription, and it's breaking the software for me in critical ways.

Despite having a license, the Chrome extension still only runs in "read-only mode" i.e. completed nerfed password tool. Recent updates has made this significantly worse than other password managers on the market. I would have given up long ago had I not already paid for it.

Here's an example: Want to create a 1Password account on desktop to sync and save passwords? First sign in on web! Oh, you'll need an account to sign in. Don't have an account? View this FAQ. The FAQ says, enter your secret key. Oh, the Mac version doesn't have a secret key? Looks like you have the wrong version! You need the membership, which costs a monthly fee. And, surprise, now your extension is in read only mode, hope you don't mind we took that away.

I don't know if it's their weird decision to fork the Mac app store version from 1Password 6/7 (a move done to extract more money from monthly subscriptions, I'm sure), how they are handling the vault syncing with external services or WHAT, but this once solid tool is growing stale, fast.