Sync 2 Macs 2 iOS Devices.

ucs308

I need to sync 2 macs over wifi. Is that possible? I used to do it by using my iPhone as a hub. But with the latest update that does not seem to work.

Thanks

littlebobbytables

Hi @ucs308

I've just tried syncing a second Mac with my iPhone and I discovered one quirk but it was only to do with Secondary vaults. To assist I think we'll need a little more information regarding what is happening (or not). Like before, you still need to disable Wi-Fi Sync with one machine and point it to the other.

The quirk I found was you can't simply have a secondary vault with the same name, the vault IDs have to match. I restored a backup from one machine to the other and even secondary vault syncing worked at that point. The primary synced with no issues though.

As I say, if you're not finding this it will greatly assist in the troubleshooting if you can detail the steps you're taking and where it goes wrong.

ucs308

I get an error on the iPhone saying 1Password could not find a PC or Mac to sync with. In another thread somebody noted you - AgileBits - removed the capability to sync an iOS Device with multiple Macs. I don't know if that is so.

littlebobbytables

Hi @ucs308

We've never had the ability to natively sync two Macs with an iOS device, it has always involved disabling Wi-Fi Sync with one Mac and then setting it up with another and repeating this manually for as long as you wish to use Wi-Fi Sync in this setup. It still works though.

If it is a matter of visibility, that you can't see the two Macs in question when you go to set up Wi-Fi Sync that would be another matter.

The first thing is a sanity check, do both Macs have Wi-Fi Sync enabled? In 1Password 5.1 for Mac Wi-Fi Sync has moved from the Sync tab to its own tab titled Wi-Fi Server (all still in 1Password's preferences).

If Wi-Fi Sync is definitely enabled I would suggest rebooting all three devices to see if it's a Bonjour issue.

If there is still no joy it might be also worth checking the Bonjour names of your devices.

iOS: In iOS Settings > General > About make sure the Name of your iOS device doesn't look odd at all e.g. no (2) at the end or anything like that, edit if needed. If it looks normal go ahead and reboot your iOS device.

Mac: In System Preferences > Sharing do the same as above, make sure your Computer Name is normal looking and doesn't have anything like (2) at the end, edit if needed. If it looks fine go ahead and reboot your Mac.

The number one issue with Wi-Fi Sync is Bonjour throwing a hissy fit. Correcting the Bonjour names where necessary and rebooting should take care of most causes.

Let us know if that makes any difference.

ucs308

I came back here to see if you had fixed the problem. Apparently not. It is very hard for me to hear that you never supported something I did almost daily. Successfully. To answer your questions..

Wifi Sync is enabled.
1Password 5.1

All the other stuff you mention is a ok.

Can we look at from a different perspective? For that I am going to create a different thread...

rickfillion

Hi @ucs308,

We supported connecting 1 iOS device to multiple Macs...we just don't recommend it. It won't provide you with a good syncing experience. Especially with 1Password 5 where we changed things so that you didn't have to open up the Wi-Fi sync window on the Mac to do the sync, and it just remembers that you'd like to sync to the Mac. Now that it remembers that Mac, getting it to sync to another Mac is a matter of disabling sync to the first Mac and connecting it to another.

If there's one of the Mac's that's making itself hard to be discovered on your network, then that's probably a separate issue.

Rick

ucs308

I can see the macs. But the experience is less than stellar and much worse than it was.

I confess to not really understanding why this is so hard. Many other companies with less talent than yours manages this. I can only think that your use cases are wrong. You are making assumptions about your users that simply aren't true, at least not with the people I know. It is not a 1 Mac 1 iOS device world. I have three macs all used every day in different ways and locations.. and 2 iOS devices. I used to be able to keep them all in sync. But now it is really hard to do that. I just don't think it should be a master slave world anymore.

I have asked in the iOS forum if I can just have the iOS device run the sync server. At least then I can keep my macs sync'ed. Though that method precludes keeping the iPad and iPhone easily sync'ed.

I just feel like you are trying to push everybody to dropbox and trust me anybody that truly reads the DropBox terms of service is not gonna want their password data on DropBox servers for even a split second. imho.

ucs308

Oh.. and I think it is really dangerous to sync a device with a mac and not actually state, clearly which mac it is syncing with. It took me a little time yesterday to determine which mac my iPhone was syncing with.

littlebobbytables

@ucs308,

I'm sorry but asking in the iOS forum won't help with this particular matter. The Mac is the server and the iOS device(s) are the clients in regards to the Wi-Fi Sync option. I shall your voice to those wishing for direct Wi-Fi Sync between Mac/Windows machines.

For cloud sync we support two services, Dropbox and iCloud.

We do realise that not everybody wishes to use a cloud service though and for that there is the intended mixture of Wi-Fi and Folder Sync. It's true that we have a few users that go through the steps of enabling and disabling Wi-Fi Sync to use an iOS device as a bridge. What used to work before still does but as I learned recently from one of the Mac devs, each time you disable Wi-Fi Sync the iOS device throws away the sync meta-data for that connection. In fact this holds true of all the sync methods, if you disconnect and reconnect from Dropbox/iCloud/Wi-Fi/Folder 1Password cannot know what was true before still holds and so treats it as a new sync. This can mean potential merging and conflicts. Given Wi-Fi Sync wasn't designed to with this situation in mind the Folder Sync option was always intended to fill this gap. Folder Sync can be used concurrently with Wi-Fi Sync and the idea is one Mac acts as the server for your iOS devices while Folder Sync is between the Macs.

Since the first Wi-Fi Sync it has always been a server-client model with the Mac as the server. It may change to become a decentralised sync service or simply allow a Mac to behave as a client - I don't know what the future holds there. I do know that Wi-Fi Sync has slowly improved over time, which as a Wi-Fi Sync user myself I'm happy for.

For the moment though, Folder Sync using a pen drive is what we would recommend for the handling Mac to Mac syncing.

ref: OPM-2091

ucs308

Wifi sync has been the cloud for 1Passwords silver lining. Wifi Sync originally worked and worked great. Then you decided to force everybody use the cloud, a silly strategy, and it took Edward Snowden to change your mind. Now we are back to this utter chaos and for fun you have added the feature that 1Password WiFi sync may actually, overtime, corrupt all of our data. I don't know what happened to the developer that originally wrote the sync stuff, the stuff you threw away, but that you should find him or her and get them back asap.

Stephen_C

for fun you have added the feature that 1Password WiFi sync may actually, overtime, corrupt all of our data

I am bound to say, for the benefit of anyone else reading this thread, this is complete and utter nonsense. If you use wifi sync in the manner intended—instead of trying to make it do something for which it was not intended—there is absolutely no evidence at all for your statement. I've used wifi sync ever since it was released to sync 1P data between my MacBook and my two iOS devices and there has never been any corruption of data (or, indeed, loss of data).

Please don't mislead others by making unfounded allegations.

(By the way, I don't work for AgileBits but am merely a volunteer here on the forums.)

Stephen

littlebobbytables

Beyond being a depressing insight into what some governments are up to, I don't believe Edward Snowden's revelations influenced any of our design decisions here at AgileBits.

If you're corrupting remark @ucs308 is in reference to sync conflicts then you misunderstand. Whenever there is a conflict both versions of the information are kept and stored in the item. While conflicts can mean a certain level of manual tidying up nothing is lost or corrupted. Furthermore, this has always been the case, all the way back to 1Password 3 and maybe earlier but I know nothing of the earlier versions.

Wi-Fi Sync couldn't sync attachments, it can now. We can also now sync secondary vaults. Wi-Fi Sync is improving as I've said. I'm not saying mistakes aren't made, everybody here at AgileBits is human so has the capacity to err, saying that we are continuously working to improve 1Password.

lhume

I too would like to be able to sync multiple Macs and IOS devices using one method and entirely over my LAN, i.e. no cloud storage. I'd be quite happy I think for one Mac to be a server and others like IOS devices to be clients. Ideally the synch would be bidirectional of course. WiFi is my preference as the setup seems simple. My second choice was iCloud storage but I read that is restricted to 1Password purchased via iTunes.

littlebobbytables

Hi @lhume,

You are correct that iCloud sync is now limited to the MAS version of 1Password for Mac. When Apple introduced iCloud Drive in iOS 8 and Yosemite they started enforcing restrictions regarding the iCloud frameworks. CloudKit, the iCloud Sync framework is one of these and as a result only MAS applications can use it. That's the quick overview of what happened and if you want more details this announcement by Dave Teare may be useful, iCloud Changes in the Website Version of 1Password 5.

We know people would like to see Wi-Fi Sync between Macs and I'll add your voice to the request. For now though it is a combination of Wi-Fi Sync for one Mac to multiple iOS devices and then Folder Sync between Macs. Just so you're aware, all of our sync methods are bidirectional, even when we refer to a Mac being the server in a Wi-Fi Sync that is in terms of the protocol and initiating communication. Once the sync starts all copies of 1Password are treated equally.

Does that help at all?

ref: OPM-2091