Differences between website and Mac App Store versions of 1Password 4

geckopelli

Used to be that 1password3 purchased from the Apple App store was "sandboxed" compared to the version purchased directly from agilebits.com. Is that still the case with 1password4 or are there any differences with the latest version? I am on 10.9.

Uno_Lavoz

Yes, it's sandboxed.

All App Store apps are subject to Apple's approval and may be rejected.

All App Store apps must be sandboxed, limiting their capabilities on the system (often breaking vital functions so that they can't even exist on the App Store, or need separately-downloaded "helpers" to do their task).

All App Store updates are subject to review by Apple, delaying them for days or weeks.

All App Store apps are forever locked to your iTunes account and can never be sold to anyone else (whereas many web-vendors permit license transfers).

Apple takes 30% of the income that sales generate.

That is why I bought 1Password from https://agilebits.com/store/ and why I buy all my software from the web. I think extremely hard before ever buying anything Mac Store-exclusive, and usually avoid it even if it's the only way to get a certain app. As a result, I only have 5 App Store licenses and about a hundred web-licenses, and out of those five, three are by Apple themselves.

The only good aspects of the App Store are that it gives developers a bit of extra exposure, and that it helps people easily install software.

As someone that doesn't need to be coddled, I'd rather give 100% of the money to the developers by purchasing via the website, and using 1Password ( hint, hint ;)) ) to manage all of my license keys/license files/download URLs so that it's super easy to re-install software in the future.

As for updates - OS X already has the wonderful Sparkle framework (http://sparkle.andymatuschak.org), developed by some genius who decided to give it to the world for free and made the Mac a wonderful place for people who want the latest updates and security/bug fixes. That's the "Check for Updates" / "An update is available, click here to install now!" popup you see all over Mac software, and it works perfectly and consistently. ;-)

Those poor Windows users still don't even have a consistent Update notification system, hehe.

I'm glad to be on a Mac. We have so many options.

I suggest that you choose the web version. That way you know that you always have the latest version and that it will never be limited by sandboxing restrictions.

AgileBits are doing a great job working around the restrictions, but it's still nice to give them 100% of the income as opposed to making them split it 70/30 with Apple.

mikebore

All make sense, BUT....Agilebits are saying that only the MAS version supports iCloud syncing.

This is not true at the moment, the store and beta versions (beta is only testing store version as far as I can see) do sync using iCloud at the moment, but since Agilebits say that for iCloud use MAS, I have got to assume this is a temporary anomaly.

Uno_Lavoz

The belief that only App Store-apps can use iCloud is a misconception I've seen before.

Any Mac app can use iCloud storage, as long as it uses the "entitlements" of any valid app submitted to the App Store. The entitlements are basically the approval that say "yep, 1Password by AgileBits is allowed to use iCloud to store settings / documents."

There's no requirement that only the App Store version can use iCloud. However, there must exist an entitled App Store app by the same team (doesn't even have to be the same app, just the same development team, but obviously makes more sense that way), so that the Web Version can use that app's entitlement ID (identifier) to store data in iCloud.

More details:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/General/Conceptual/iCloudDesignGuide/Chapters/Introduction.html

Entitlements are key-value pairs that request capabilities for your app—such as the capability to use iCloud. Your iCloud entitlement values define where your app can place data and they ensure that only your apps are allowed to access that data. You request separate entitlements for document storage and key-value storage. When you code sign your app, these requests become part of your app’s code signature
Note: iCloud entitlements are available only to apps submitted to the App Store or to the Mac App Store.

And about using those entitlements in non-App Store apps:

https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/General/Conceptual/iCloudDesignGuide/Chapters/iCloudFundametals.html

Its identifier string must be the bundle identifier for the current target, or the bundle identifier for another app of yours that was previously submitted for distribution in the App Store and whose entitlements use the same team ID.

There's no reason 1Password for the Web can't use iCloud. They just have to use the same entitlement ID.

And yes, everything points to AgileBits knowing this since they have enabled iCloud in the web version using the entitlement ID of the app store version. This is perfectly valid.

MikeT

Hi Uno_Lavoz,

There's no requirement that only the App Store version can use iCloud. However, there must exist an entitled App Store app by the same team (doesn't even have to be the same app, just the same development team, but obviously makes more sense that way), so that the Web Version can use that app's entitlement ID (identifier) to store data in iCloud.

The very nature of the however exception is the reason that there's strong language we're using that only the Mac App Store version of 1Password can officially support the iCloud sync.

We're trying to get an answer from Apple to clarify this as soon as possible. Until Apple clarify this properly, we cannot officially say that the website version can use iCloud forever. Apple have been known to be vague with their rules and restrictions, as well as changing them, so we'll see what they say.

Uno_Lavoz

@MikeT Glad to see I'm not the only one frustrated with how vague Apple is in their rules and restrictions.

Oh and I forgot something in my rant against the App Store:

Upgrades. There is no mechanism in the App Store for offering discounts to previous buyers. So developers have two options: Loyal customers pay the full price, or loyal customers get a free MAJOR upgrade that really should have been paid for. It's noble that AgileBits went for the latter, but most other companies do not.

Example:

Will there be a discount for current owners of OmniFocus 1?

Yes, on our online store we’ll be offering a 50% discount to current customers of OmniFocus 1, whether you originally bought directly from us or through the App Store. This means that current customers will be able to upgrade to the Standard edition of OmniFocus 2 for $19.99, or to the Pro edition for $39.99.

We would love to offer the same deal to people who wish to purchase OmniFocus 2 from the App Store, but unfortunately the App Store has no mechanism for offering selective discounts to different customers based on their previous purchases.

App Store customers get to enjoy paying $79.99 for an app they already paid $79.99 for. All hail the mighty Apple, eh!? :D

Other advantages offered by the web are: Trials/demos and betas, volume discounts, educational discounts, etc.

I don't like the App Store. I really don't. It's too inflexible from both the developer and customer perspectives. Worst of all is that apps must become crippled ("Sandboxed") on the App Store to pass regulations.

Apple are doing many great things for convenience with their store, but they're missing so many opportunities to implement things that we all rely on, such as upgrade pricing. It would be trivial for Apple to make it possible to edit your App Store products to add a data field that says "If [customer] [also owns] [OmniFocus 1.0] then [set price to] [50%]."

They could literally knock things like that together in one afternoon. The fact that Apple doesn't care, is why I don't like the App Store.