Fingerprint Reader on Windows via iOS

Hi @supersushi,

Thanks for writing in.

It is definitely something we're always thinking about, speeding up your entry into 1Password but at the same time, we're also always reviewing the security impacts. The reason we like Touch ID is because there's a hardware enclave storing the keys to unlock your data, it hasn't been breached once and it requires you to be in person to break into the enclave.

The first question we have to ask, is it worth exposing your encryption key (master password) over the air that anyone in the range of your wireless network can capture? If yes, how much can we protect against this without slowing you down? For an example, you would need to pair the device and enter a secret code, so that both devices would know how to talk to each other securely. We also have to change it every once in a while. Is it really that much faster than entering the password? Maybe, it requires a lot of custom work to make this happen, not enough to justify not finishing other features in 1Password 6 at the moment.

We could reduce the range by using Bluetooth instead but we had experience with this before and it isn't a smooth process.

There is a lot of think about and at the moment, it is not something that's high on our priority for the desktops because it is much easier to type in the longer password there. Keep in mind, you don't need to use 20 randomized characters with symbols and digits, a word-based passphrase works just as well, meaning something like inceptor styli ruffian tad gesture would be much faster to use without reducing the strength of your password too much.

By the way, we do support Windows Hello for the Windows Store version of 1Password but it is not in store anymore as we've pulled it late last year to rebuild it. It only exists for the current customers who've downloaded it once. We will bring this back in the near future.