Difference between 1PasswordAnywhere and sharing a vault using DropBox

Hi @stegor,

Thanks for reaching out to us for help with this!

Just to make sure I understand, do you mean your colleague would go to dropbox.com in a web browser and open the 1Password.html file inside the .agilekeychain? If so, that's a feature we called 1PasswordAnywhere. Unfortunately, 1PasswordAnywhere will no longer work on dropbox.com, and you can find more information about that here: Moving Beyond 1PasswordAnywhere

Just to be clear, syncing/sharing your vault via Dropbox will still work, and your colleague can still access that vault by using the 1Password app. But viewing that vault's data by opening the 1Password.html file on dropbox.com no longer works.

I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you about that. If you have more questions about that, please don't hesitate to let us know. Cheers! :)

Hi @stegor,

No, they would go to our shared dropbox on their computer's hard drive. They would click the synced .agilekeychain file inside. Clicking the file opened a web browser interface that allowed them access to the 1Password Vault by entering the vault's master password.

Ah, thank you for clarifying! Opening the 1Password.html file from the local hard drive is another way to access 1PasswordAnywhere, and wouldn't be affected by the change on dropbox.com.

In that case, it sounds like the problem your colleague is running into is that modern web browsers have local file restrictions which prevent 1PasswordAnywhere from working. Essentially, the 1Password.html file needs to read/connect to other files stored within the .agilekeychain - but browsers restrict that behavior when loading files locally (i.e. loading files stored on the local hard drive instead of from a server) because they consider it a security risk. Browsers have been enforcing local file restrictions for years at this point, so I'm surprised your colleague hasn't run into this problem until now.

Some browsers allow local file restrictions to be disabled, but some don't (and those that do usually hide that option). Those restrictions are there to protect you (they prevent malware from accessing files on your local machine) so we don't recommend disabling them.

Is there a reason your colleague isn't using the 1Password app on their Mac? They can get a copy of it from our download site. That would allow them to create their own personal Primary vault, and also add your shared vault from Dropbox. They would also be able to install the 1Password browser extension so they could have it fill Logins on websites (as well as other web forms, including addresses and credit cards). 1PasswordAnywhere was an old feature with a lot of limitations, and using the 1Password app on their Mac would give them access to a lot more features.

I've only ever seen the featured referred to as "Sharing a Vault Using Dropbox" I've never heard of "1PasswordAnywhere", are they the same thing?

No, they're very different features (although they both involve the sync file 1Password creates in Dropbox). Sharing a vault using Dropbox is simply a way to sync a 1Password vault with someone else's Dropbox account as well as your own. It's basically the same thing as sharing any other folder with someone else's Dropbox account. Dropbox explains how to share a folder on their own support site here: https://www.dropbox.com/help/19

In other words, you put something in your own Dropbox folder, then you use Dropbox's folder sharing option to share it with someone else, and then that person can access the same thing from their own Dropbox folder. On our own site, we explain how to do that as well as open the shared sync file in the 1Password app.

Sharing files/folders via Dropbox has nothing to do with 1PasswordAnywhere - your colleague just happened to also be using the 1PasswordAnywhere feature for the vault you shared with them. 1PasswordAnywhere was a way to access data in a 1Password vault from a computer that didn't have the 1Password app installed.

The support link I provided above is what I used to initially set it up, and it makes no mention of "1PasswordAnywhere", nor the feature it explains being discontinued.

That's because the "Share a vault using Dropbox" article has nothing to do with 1PasswordAnywhere. As I explained above, they're different features. The steps on that sharing page explain how to access the shared vault from the 1Password app on another Mac, but it sounds like your colleague had been following old steps to use 1PasswordAnywhere.

I'm sorry for the confusion, but I hope this helps to clear it up! If you have more questions or if your colleague needs help to set up the 1Password app, please let us know. :)