combine mac keychain and firefox databases and sync from mac to android

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scwtech
scwtech
Community Member
edited June 2015 in Mac

I used to be a mac (safari, chrome, firefox) / iphone (safari and Mercury/ghostery) / ipad (same as iphone) person but switched to an Android phone about a year ago. I have a significant number of passwords in my mac's keychain which I was slowly moving over to firefox (which is now my daily driver) and the two databases then became scattered, with older passwords in the keychain (that I still use) and newer ones only in firefox (which I then have to manually move over to Android). This all seems like the perfect use for a password manager.

I know there are many discussions about 'syncing' keychain passwords with 1pw (and the discussion is further complicated by icloud syncing, icloud drive usage, etc). But what I really want to do is completely eliminate the use of my mac keychain, combine all passwords into 1pw's database, and then sync that all across all my devices and apps. I'm not sure how the other things the mac keychain stores (like wifi keys) will be handled by 1pw if it's able to import them.

Let's say I achieve all that. Will I need to buy a separate license for each device? Mac, ipad, android? where does the password database live? in a secure cloud? how does each device access the database?

Thanks!

1Password Version: Not Provided
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: 10.10.3
Sync Type: Not Provided

Comments

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni
    Options

    Hi @scwtech,

    I'm really happy to hear you're considering switching to 1Password! It sounds like you have your passwords and other information scattered between the Mac OS X Keychain and some browsers, and I think you'll enjoy having those all saved in 1Password instead.

    I have a significant number of passwords in my mac's keychain which I was slowly moving over to firefox (which is now my daily driver) and the two databases then became scattered, with older passwords in the keychain (that I still use) and newer ones only in firefox (which I then have to manually move over to Android).

    You can import your OS X Keychain data into 1Password with a conversion utility which is explained here: MrC's Convert to 1Password Utility

    As for Firefox, I'm not sure if there's a similar way to import your password data from there into 1Password. @MrC (creator of the conversion utility from the above link) might have some ideas for you, although I can't guarantee that. If there's no way to automatically import data from Firefox into 1Password, you can continue to log into sites using Firefox, and each time you do that, 1Password will prompt you to save a new Login item for that site (assuming you don't already have a matching Login item in 1Password). Doing this would help you become acquainted with 1Password and how it works, and would make sure the Logins are set up properly to work as expected with those sites.

    I'm not sure how the other things the mac keychain stores (like wifi keys) will be handled by 1pw if it's able to import them.

    You probably won't want to get rid of your OS X Keychain completely. I'm pretty sure you need one and will be forced to create a new one if you do delete the current one. It's very integrated into the operating system and holds data such as certificates (needed for confirming https), NAS passwords, info about Safari extensions, some other apps may use it to store passwords or other data, and so on. You can certainly minimize your OS X Keychain use (especially as far as website form filling), but you probably won't be able to eliminate it completely.

    Will I need to buy a separate license for each device? Mac, ipad, android?

    1Password is licensed separately on each supported platform, which means the Mac, iOS, and Android versions of 1Password are sold separately. You can find more information about how 1Password is licensed here: What licenses do I need to use 1Password on all my devices?

    1Password 5 for Mac is available from the AgileBits Store or the Mac App Store. The main difference is that iCloud sync is only available in the Mac App Store version, but since iCloud sync doesn't work with the Android version, that's probably not a concern for you. We have more information about the difference between the Mac App Store and AgileBits Store versions here: Should I buy 1Password from the AgileBits Store or the Mac App Store?

    1Password 5 for iOS is a free download, and offers free basic features. If you would like to unlock the Pro Features in 1Password 5 for iOS, you can do so with an in-app purchase. That purchase would allow you to activate Pro Features in 1Password 5 on all your iOS 8 devices associated with your Apple ID.

    1Password 4 for Android is available from the Google Play Store and can be used absolutely free and unrestricted for 30 days. Your free trial begins when you first open 1Password on your Android device. After 30 days, its Reader functionality will remain free.

    where does the password database live? in a secure cloud? how does each device access the database?

    Each device will have a local copy of your 1Password data. You can sync your 1Password data between each using Dropbox:

    The data in Dropbox would be used for syncing purposes, so even if a device is offline, it can still use the locally-stored 1Password data.

    Hopefully that answers your questions, but please let us know if you need anything else. We're always happy to help! :)

  • MrC
    MrC
    Volunteer Moderator
    edited June 2015
    Options

    @scwtech,

    The Firefox passwords can be exported using the Password Export extension (version 1.3.1.1), which you can add via Firefox's Add-ons mechanism. It is simple. It will export your passwords as CSV or XML. Using the CSV format, you can arrange the data in a spreadsheet to suite 1Password's requirements and import it.

    I suppose I could create a converter for its XML format.

This discussion has been closed.