Soon To Be Newbie Question for Clarification

Options
JGus
JGus
Community Member
in Mac

Good Day All! (and apologize upfront, I wanted this to be short, but it probably won't be...)

I am getting ready to purchase 1Password for my Mac, and feel after reading the guide and spending a few hours in the forum last night that I am comfortable with the capabilities and functionality of the Mac version. I also read a lot on syncing, I will most likely use the Dropbox solution, even though I would prefer the WiFi solution as all of the mobile devices I plan on sharing/syncing to are on the same network at home, but I do not want the primary vault shared to these devices so it is not an option for me at this time.

So the piece I have been debating in my head about and am looking for clarification on is in regards to the mobile side. I have no issue purchasing the App's for IOS and Android as well, but haven't been able to understand if I really need to.

A quick scenario of what, at least in my head, of what I want to accomplish with the following devices for me and my family:
1. Mac - use my Mac as the primary tool to create the primary vault, which will hold All username/passwords and secondary vaults that will hold certain username/passwords from the primary vault that apply to the user of the mobile devices as we all don't access all of the same sites/apps.
2. I would like to set probably 3-4 secondary vaults, which will be shared/synced to either iPhone's, iPad, and an Android tablet. The mobile devices will only have one vault stored as I want them to act more as child relationship compared to the Mac being the parent (if that makes sense?).
3. The secondary vaults shared/synced will be specific to the sites/apps the user uses, instead of dumping the entire primary vault, which I don't want to do as I want to maintain the primary username/passwords and many of these are not used by the other users. So I don't want the username/password management (i.e., new, changed, etc) to be done on the mobile side, I would like to centralize it on the Mac and the mobile devices just use 1Password for access.

So what I think I know about doing this scenario:

  • 1Password will support this scenario on my Mac
  • Syncing will have to be done via Dropbox (but would really like to see, as many others have stated, the ability to sync only secondary vaults via the WiFi solution)
  • 1Password on my mobile devices will support this scenario
  • Understand that once the mobile devices are synced that there is no "read only" setting on the App, which is an option that would really be nice so the mobile user can't change anything. And I understand that most do want to change things on the mobile devices, but as I am the designated techy in the house, the other users really have no need to make changes. Security and Access are the only things really required

So, to get to the clarification part's (sorry it took so long...), but not knowing the answers have caused confusion in my head.
1. Based on this scenario, does the free IOS and Android App support this based on only hosting one vault? Again, I have no issue with paying for the App, and will most likely buy the IOS one as I use that the most, but since we all have different iTunes account, just trying to determine if I need to buy it for each user.
2. As we rarely login in to webpages on our mobile devices due to most of the things we do have an App for it, does 1Password on the mobile devices actually launch the App or just help set the username/password? Just asking because once the username/password is entered, as long as you don't log out of your account in the App, it doesn't require to be logged in every time it is launched. I guess my question here is, can someone explain how 1Password actually operates on a mobile device, if the app's already have the username/password entered? Or is the thought that you should log out of each app every time you use it so when you go to relaunch the app 1Password sets the data?

Thanks, and apologize again for the short story...

Jack

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

Comments

  • rickfillion
    rickfillion
    Options

    Hi @JGus,

    Wow, what an awesomely written post. You sir have done your research! :)

    Based on what you've written, I don't think you need to buy the premium versions of the iOS and Android apps. The free version should work just fine. The setup you've described seems perfectly reasonable to me.

    As for how 1Password works on mobile.. you're right... you rarely login to websites on mobile as compared to logging into websites. There are two options for apps. Some app developers have done the 20 minutes of work it takes to have proper integration with 1Password. What this means is that these apps have a little 1Password icon next to their login form if you have 1Password installed. You tap it, 1Password comes up, you select the login you'd like to use, and then the app logs you in. Done. For those apps that don't have the integration setup... when you hit the login view, you'll need to manually open up 1Password, find the login, and copy the username/password to the clipboard and paste it into fields. It's typically a short annoyance, for the reason you mentioned... you typically login once then it remembers that you're logged in.

    I don't want to confuse you, because you've done a ton of reading and have come up with a very reasonable solution to the problem that you're trying to solve. I think that solution would work nicely. But I have another solution to propose to you, that I think is worth consideration. If I'm understanding what you're trying to do, it's basically management of iOS devices in your family. Is that right?

    We've recently unveiled 1Password for Teams. 1Password for Teams is an excellent solution for small companies, but it's also a beautiful way of centrally managing a family's passwords.

    With 1Password for Teams you'd get some stuff that you aren't getting in your current solution:

    • No need for Dropbox.
    • Each person would have their own individual account, so you don't need to sign in to the same Dropbox account on all devices.
    • Zero configuration needed on those devices beyond just signing into 1Password for Teams
    • You'd have the ability to mark certain vaults as Read-Only.
    • You can decide who has access to what vaults. Choose on a per-person basis instead of per device.
    • When using 1Password for Teams, you get the desktop app itself for free, and the premium versions of all mobile apps.
    • The ability to recover an account should one of your family members forget their Master Password

    1Password for Teams is really quite awesome, and I think you should consider it

    I can hear you saying "so what's the catch??" 1Password for Teams is still quite new, and still in beta. Which means it's not quite perfect yet, but it's certainly usable. We've been using it for all of our needs inside of the company for quite a few months now. 1Password for Teams is currently free to use during the beta period. We haven't announced pricing yet for family accounts, but we're hoping to be able to announce that during February.

    Hope my answer wasn't too long.

    Have yourself a great weekend.

    Rick

  • JGus
    JGus
    Community Member
    Options

    @rickfillion,

    Thanks for the detailed response, and for the post comment, I never intended it to be so long to get to the point, but as you probably already know, trying to type what you are thinking always seems to be a lot longer than expected.

    And thanks for the explanation on how the mobile app functions, I didn't think about an app having the 1Password icon next to the login screen, at least for those that have integrated, which operationally makes sense for when you login to that app. For those that haven't done the integration, I understand why the required steps have to be taken, and if you log-out of the app, having it safe and secure inside of 1Password I agree is the right thing to do.

    I think my struggle with the mobile side, more for the phone than a tablet, is the fact you repeated, that once you log into an app, unless you log out or you have to reinstall it, you don't really need to remember the login/PW. But I will be the first to admit that if either of them happen, it takes me forever to remember what they are.

    Having login data secured in 1Password for mobile devices, for those going to a lot of websites makes perfect sense, but since I don't do that, other than on a tablet, I have just struggled with the usability of it on my phone.

    With all that said, I did purchase the Mac version this afternoon and have started to enter my data, I'm starting out just entering all my current data and then will update the PWs based on the power of 1Password. So far so good, other than the Gmail login, now that the username and PW are done on separate pages, 1Password doesn't fill both, but understand that's on the Gmail side.

    And no added confusion on the "Teams" solution, I read up on that as well, but just can't get past my struggle with the mobile usability. Not a knock on 1Password or the team behind it, it's my issue based on how I think I will use it. The "Teams" solution I agree is a great solution, I see an immediate need from a work perspective, but not from a home perspective, at least not in my case as I don't want the others to use the app to make any new or changes to accounts. It also makes sense as I have a Mac at home and at work, so the seamless sync via the cloud is a good solution so I can manage my family's data and reach all of my websites from either account instead of syncing via Dropbox or iCloud. I'm not against using a 'cloud' to store the data, but from a personal perspective, I would much rather sync devices via WiFi so the data stays within my own network.

    I will dig a little deeper into the "Team's" solution, but for now I'll probably stick with the normal version as I am just getting started and will only be using my devices for now, until I can master them enough to teach the family how to use it.

    Thanks again for your feedback and recommending another option, I'm sure as I move forward I will have more questions if I can't find them answered in the forum, and will try to keep them shorter...

    Jack

  • rickfillion
    rickfillion
    Options

    The more info the better. I loved your post. Don't hesitate to ask more questions.

    Have a great weekend.

    Rick

This discussion has been closed.