Reivew: 1Password 8 -- password security with an improved interface

I'm excited about what Apple and others are doing to move us into a future in which we no longer need to use passwords, but it is going to be a long transition.  For now, you cannot avoid passwords.  And that means that you need a system for managing your passwords.  Sure, you could just use the same password everywhere to make it easy to remember, but I don't need to tell you how dangerous that is.  Sure, you could write them down on a piece of paper, but that has security risks and it isn't very convenient because you may need a password when you are far from that paper.  The best solution is to use password manager software.  And for almost a decade, I've been extremely happy with 1Password, which I believe is the best password manager on the iPhone and iPad and an excellent password manager on the PC and Mac. Last week, a new version of 1Password for the iPhone and iPad was released: version 8.  This is a brand new app, so you will need to download it from the App Store even if you are already using the (prior) 1Password app. But since 1Password is now a subscription product, you don't have to pay anything extra to use the new app.  You can even keep the 1Password version 7 on your device if you want, but you should set the Safari browser extension and autofill (in the Settings app) to point to 1Password 8 instead of 1Password 7.  (If you use the 1Password app on the Apple Watch, you will want to keep 1Password 7 on your iPhone because 1Password 8 does not yet have an Apple Watch app.) New look The app has a new interface.  The new look is great.  Layouts are improved, text is easier to read and, in some cases, larger, and everything has a modern look to it.  Here is an entry in 1Password 7, followed by an entry in 1Password 8:   Note that in 1Password 8, just like 1Password 7, you can choose whether you want to have a password visible or protected by dots that you can remove by long-pressing on the entry. One nice addition in the individual item view concerns icon images.  1Password has long been able to automatically associate an icon image with an entry when your entry includes a website and 1Password can determine the icon from the website.  A new feature in 1Password 8 is that you can add a picture for any 1Password entry.  This makes entries stand out more whenever shown in a list. Vastly improved Home screen The navigation bar at the bottom of the app now provides easy access to the Home screen, Items screen, Search screen, and Watchtower.  The real hero is the brand new Home screen. In prior versions of 1Password, instead of a Home screen there was a Favorites screen.  In 1Password 8, the Home screen is much more versatile because it can show lots of different types of information, and you get to select what you want to see and in what order.  First, you can show your favorites, just like before.  Second, you can show pinned items.  A pinned item is a part of an entry—the part that you really need.  For example, I frequently need to use my Apple ID password.  In the old 1Password, I would tap on that entry in my favorites and then tap on the password field to copy that password.  In the new 1Password, I can pin that specific password so that it shows up right on the Home screen.  When I want to copy that password, it is right there, so I can just tap to copy it.  Thus, this saves me a step.  And you can pin whatever you want.  Do you want an easy way to copy your credit number?  Pin it.  You can customize the Home Screen to show or hide any of the following: pinned fields, favorites, recently created items, frequently used items, recently used items, and recently modified items.  And you can arrange those in any order that you want.  As a result, for most of your 1Password use, you can likely just stay on the Home screen.  On the rare occasions that you want to get a password or other information that you rarely use, then you can go to your Items screen to see everything listed or your Search screen to search for something. Easter to read notes Although the built-in Notes app is sufficient for most of my notes, for information that is more private, I prefer keeping it in the 1Password app.  That way, even if someone else was using my iPhone (which is rare), they wouldn't be able to snoop around and see my secure note.  I like that the text in notes is larger and much easier to read in 1Password 8.  Here is the same entry first in 1Password 7, then in 1Password 8:   As before, you can use Markdown to format text if you want to have parts of text in bold, underline, italics, bulleted, etc. The improvement in note legibility is going to encourage me to use the notes feature in 1Password more often. Improved large passwords Often, I can copy a password from 1Password and paste it where I need it.  But sometimes, I need to type a password by hand for one reason or the other.  When I have done that in the past, I enjoyed taking advantage of 1Password's large password feature which displays the numbers, letters, etc. in a large text.  In 1Password 8, there is a new interface that uses the entire iPhone screen to make it even easier to see a password in the large password mode.  Here is 1Password 7 on the left, then 1Password 8 on the right:   1Password 7 did a nice job with a large password display.  But 1Password 8 is more clear and, thanks to the numbered grid, easier to use. Faster Face ID and more Using Face ID to open 1Password 7 takes me almost three seconds.  I didn't consider that to be slow until I started using 1Password 8, where Face ID now works in just over one second.  And when using the app, everything has a lot more pep to it—which I presume is a result of the app using a lot of SwiftUI, Apple's new and faster programing language. Watchtower The Watchtower feature is new to the iPhone/iPad app, but it has been around on the Mac for a while.  Tap this feature to get advice on how to improve your passwords.  For example, the app will warn you if you are using the same password on multiple websites, if there is two-factor authentication available for a service that you haven't used yet, etc.  It is nice to be able to scroll through all of the suggestions. iPad The pictures above are from the iPhone, but the new interface on the iPad is also fantastic.  With the large increase in screen real estate, you can see even more items at once.  I'm not sharing an image here because I would have to redact so much of it, but trust me when I say that it works quite well. Conclusion If you have been waiting for a good excuse to purchase a password manager, I recommend that you let this update be your impetus to download the 1Password app and subscribe to the service.  A subscription costs as little as $2.99/month, or for a better deal go with the $4.99/month family plan that covers five family members.  As I've noted in the past, the family plan is not just cheaper, but it is also more useful because you can share designated information with other family members so that, for example, everyone always has the latest password for Netflix.  1Password has always been a fantastic app, but with the new interface and other improvements in 1Password 8, it is better than ever. Click here to get 1Password 8 (free, but requires subscription): 

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