Notes from a recently migrated LastPass user

Hi guys,

Thanks for your feedback!

@KevinPhilipsBong,

Inconsistent integration of the main vault and the browser plugin. Sometimes I unlock the vault from the browser plugin and the main 1Password UI unlocks too...and sometimes not. Same vice-versa. (option to unlock browser when app is unlocked is checked)

If the main program was not running at the time you unlock the extension (1Password Helper), it won't be unlocked when you open the program.

The extension itself doesn't have any UI or data, there's a separate process running on your system to be the companion to the extension, it's called 1Password Helper.

Universal unlock occurs when both the main 1Password program and 1Password Helper processes are running and if one isn't running, the other won't be unlocked. It has to do with securing the transmission of the keys between two separate processes. This is something we plan to redesign in the future to simplify the locking system to be more unified and consistent.

Inconsistent timing of locking of vault after unlock. Seems to be completely random. Sometimes it locks a few seconds after I unlock it when I am looking at it. It frequently locks when I change focus from the browser for a few seconds. Annoying. (option is to lock after 5 mins of inactivity. The 5 auto-lock options are check, check, check, uncheck, check)

That's definitely not right. Is it happening in the main program or in the 1Password Helper, or both?

In the General preferences of 1Password, is Show 1Password icon in the notification area checked for you? This does have an impact on how locking works with 1Password Helper but not in the way you're describing, so I need to know what this is set to.

Have you done a complete reboot after installing 1Password? We've seen a few glitches that was resolved after a reboot and I was wondering if you could do that.

There is no 'recent' list like Lastpass has. This is a really handy feature and saves having to manually add sites to 'favourites'. Any plans to introduce this?

At the moment, not yet but it is in our plans. We are not storing any metadata about how you use your items, so Recently Used is not possible yet. There's also the question if it should be sync'ed across devices. In your use of this list, was it sync'ed and do you think it should be sync'ed?

Can't see secure notes in the browser plugin so have to enter password again in the main UI to see them. Issues raised in point 1 make this annoying.

There's no support for viewing Secure Notes in 1Password Helper on Windows, 1Password Helper only show Logins, Credit Cards, and Identities for now. These are the only categories that can be used to fill data into the web sites.

We'd like to build a mini companion to the main 1Password program like on OS X, where it can do a lot of things and shows all of your data but we don't have a timeframe on when it might come.

@attrapereves,

On my Mac, if I unlock the vault in the browser plugin, I can open the full application and the vault will be unlocked. If I unlock the vault from the full application, the browser plugin is automatically unlocked.

The locking system is different on each platform, right now, our Windows program doesn't have the capability to do what 1Password does on OS X. It is something we plan to improve by overhauling the way processes work. On OS X, the locking is only handled by one process, the 1Password mini. On Windows, we have two and if we can find a way to simplify it to one, it'll have the same behavior.

However, on Windows, if I unlock the vault in Chrome, then open the full application, the vault is never unlocked. Additionally, if I unlock the vault via the full application, the vault in Chrome is never unlocked. It's almost as if there are two separate applications running with different rules.

1Password Helper and 1Password are two separate processes with its own locking system. Only the main process have more powerful rights to control the 1Password Helper but 1Password Helper is meant to be a companion to the extension in your browser and so, it is restricted as much as possible. It can only unlock the main program once it is running but if it is not, it can't do anything else.

However, unlocking the main 1Password program should definitely unlock the extension in the browser if your settings are set correctly.

Open the main 1Password program, unlock, and go to the File Menu > Preferences > Browsers. Make sure When unlocking the application, also unlock 1Password in the browser is checked.

After that, try again, it should work now. If not, please let me know. I tried this and it works here.

I like 1Password a lot, but it really is a very Apple-centric application.

That's mostly because that was where our company was born from and for several years, we were only on OS X.

It is not however an excuse, and we're doing a lot of things to change this impression of us and we want to turn into a cross-platform company. Hopefully, it won't take long before we get there.

Hi @KevinPhilipsBong,

Not sure if this makes a difference, but I am unlocking on a secure desktop.

It does, on certain Windows systems, Secure Desktop won't work properly and that can cause issues with 1Password unlocking.

Secure Desktop is a Windows function we use to isolate the 1Password process to a secure desktop that disallow any other processes from listening in. If this doesn't work properly, it may not be able to unlock consistently.

Try to disable the Unlock on Secure Desktop to see if it is more reliable. To do this:

1. Open the main 1Password program, unlock, and go to the File Menu > Preferences > Browsers
2. Uncheck the box next to Unlock on Secure Desktop and press OK to save the change.

Try to test this now, does it unlock more reliably?

Firstly, the main program is always running in my system tray and 'Show 1Password icon in the notification area' is checked.

That's 1Password Helper, the main program is never running from the system tray area. Once you attempt to minimize the program, the main program is closed and 1Password Helper takes over in the notification tray.

Sometimes, the browser extension locks itself immediately after unlocking which is really strange. Whenever the extension is unlocked, the padlock in they tray shows unlocked, but clicking on it a few seconds after unlock sometimes shows the main UI...but sometimes pops up the login box again

When you attempt to unlock the 1Password Helper in the notification tray, did you get the Unlock on Secure Desktop prompt?