Password generator not appearing when I click + and select "password".

friedar
friedar
Community Member

I'm looking for the password generator in the app (I know it is in the extension for Chrome, I get that, I am looking for it in the app).
1Password7 v 7.2.5, desktop app, Mac OS X v10.4.3.
I searched and found out that in 1PW7, you click the + button next to the search blank and select "password" to access it. However, when I do that, all I see is a blank set of fields for me to create a password entry.

Oh, wait, now I clicked the gear icon on the right and it generated a password, with a popup that says "regenerate password" and has the options sliders.

What is up with this? Why hide such a basic function, then make me press the little gear icon? I don't get it.


1Password Version: 7.2.5
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: Mac OS X v10.4.3.
Sync Type: Not Provided
Referrer: forum-search:generator

Comments

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @friedar - because it's not all that common to want to create a password outside of the context of a browser. It does happen, of course, but by far the majority of password-creation scenarios are when at a website, for which you'd use the generator in the mini/extension.

    I wouldn't call the way it's done within the main app "hiding," however -- at least that is certainly not the intent, though I'm sorry if it wasn't clear how to accomplish it. The Plus button is how any new item is created in 1Password (except a Login, which should be done in-browser). If you choose Password, you're essentially getting a blank password-creation form; the reason it's not just a button to generate a password is that it's entirely possible you might have received a password from somewhere else or have one you thought up on your own which you wanted to enter. So, if you click the password field itself, you can type or paste into it. If you want to generate a password, that's what the gear icon is for. Glad you found it! :)

  • c2ckid
    c2ckid
    Community Member

    I completely agree with friedar.
    1Password was very easy and intuitive to generate a password before.
    It was very quick and easy to find the generator as it was right there on the front window and especially if you wanted to generate a password not associated with a web page.
    I have just downloaded Version 7.3.BETA-12 (70300012) and now regret it as the Password generator is not obvious to use and requires more clicking to use and therefore has become very unintuitive to use.
    I personally think this is a backwards step.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @c2ckid - thanks for the feedback. :)

  • dcdesmet
    dcdesmet
    Community Member
    edited May 2019

    I agree with friedar, this is the most unfriendly aspect of 1 Password, and it's based on a very narrow use-case. My use case is creating a login for an iOS app, (not using a browser). Another use case is when I'm asked to create passwords on devices that don't have 1Password app, for example I'm on AppleTV and need to create an account login / password. I have my iphone in front of me and just want to use the password generator on my phone and paste it into the field on my apple tv. It appears your assumption is a linear based "i want to create a new account login and i'm using a web browser.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    Welcome to the forum, @dcdesmet, and thanks for the feedback! :)

  • urabus
    urabus
    Community Member

    Very sad to see the elimination of easy access to Password Generator. Was the best part of the product, and I am not using it for other apps. In using the app, the scariest part is always when a site requires a password to be changed. Will the new password take? Will it be remembered? Will the website accept the new password? Will it accept before or after the app has recorded it? Did the app get it, etc.
    On the flip side: did I just inadvertently change a password? That's what I now worry about with the current browser based 1pw.
    I know there are solutions for all these within the product, but I really think it was simpler before to have ready, clean access to the pw generator.
    Try explaining to the family how to generate good passwords and get them to use the app. It has to be simple and intuitive and I think hiding the generator is a step backwards.
    You have a great product but it can be a bit scary when you think about how dependent you are on it and how much rides on it. That's why I think it's important to keep it simple. Thanks.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    Welcome to the forum, @urabus! I'm sorry you're not happy with the 7.3 update. I've seen a few people talking about this, and I confess I'm still a little mystified. In pre-7.3 1Password for Mac, accessing the Password Generator was a function of clicking either the plus button in the main app and choosing "Password" from the category pop-up menu, or clicking Password Generator in the sidebar of the mini. In 7.3, the main app behavior is unchanged, and the mini has only changed from having to click "Password Generator" in the sidebar to having to click "+ New Password." I certainly understand the anxiety around wondering whether a password change "took" at the site in question, but that's not changed as a result of the 7.3 update.

    You have a great product but it can be a bit scary when you think about how dependent you are on it and how much rides on it. That's why I think it's important to keep it simple.

    We agree -- that's why we place a very high bar on adding yet more toggles/features/sliders/checkboxes/options into 1Password's interface. The 7.3 update was designed to focus the mini in particular on filling and saving -- and the changes to the Password Generator are a part of that. Can you say a bit more about what you mean by "hidden?"

  • urabus
    urabus
    Community Member

    It was just more obvious before. If I am using the browser and I want to generate a password, for whatever reason, I click on +Password and sometimes the site I am on displays there. Or the site at the top of the sorted list displays there. So then if I generate a password, the save button will save it for that site, potentially messing me up or at least making me worry about that site.
    Before, you were just aware you were in a separate area. No big deal, just a little less clear.
    You could leave everything just as you have it but add the generator back into the gear menu. I write programs myself for my company and there have been many times I make a change that I know will save time and be more foolproof, but people sometimes dislike or are slow to adapt to changes, even when it is to their benefit, and I have to leave the old way there for a while just to accommodate the people who are less involved in the process.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    @urabus - thanks for the feedback and additional clarification. To be honest with you, very little is set in stone around here. There is a short list of things we won't EVER do (for various reasons, like write your Master Password to disk, etc), but beyond those we're always willing to iterate and try to improve 1Password in response to either user feedback or the changing security/features landscape of the environments in which we operate. And we're grateful for every bit of feedback we receive from users, good, bad or merely informative because it means a) that people care enough about 1Password to take some of their own precious time to get in touch with us and share their thoughts/wishes/experiences, and b) we might very well learn something -- either something we didn't know, or just a unique perspective we hadn't yet considered. Thanks so much for being a part of that, and for putting your trust in 1Password. :)

  • friedar
    friedar
    Community Member

    Lars, I really hope you folks can reconsider this. The password generator is hidden to the extent that it is an automatic function that is not immediately available to the user. Yes, I click the Plus button to create something myself, but that is very different from generating something from your wonderful application! Further, the gear icon is small, faint, and most importantly, usually indicates access to "settings."

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    Thank you for the feedback @friedar! As Lars wrote, very little is set in stone around here, so while we cannot promise anything, we really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts :)

  • ChrisThompson
    ChrisThompson
    Community Member

    I want to add another voice to this.

    I'm really frustrated with the 7.3 update because you took away password generation as a top level task. If could drop back to and older version I would.

    I'm a systems admin. I used 1Password to generate passwords to paste in all sorts of places. Several times a day every day.

    I don't care for the new visual, but I'll get used to it.

    But having to jump through hoops to get a password is nonsensical.

    I read your blog post about "The mini is for filling". It might be for you, but many of us out here in the world have workflows that might not be limited to logging into twitter.

  • Lars
    Lars
    1Password Alumni

    Welcome to the forum, @ChrisThompson!

    I'm really frustrated with the 7.3 update because you took away password generation as a top level task.

    Can you explain this a bit more fully, because although I've heard it a few times in the last week since the 7.3 update went live, I still don't understand it.

    In 7.2.x and below, you:

    1. Invoke 1Password mini by clicking the icon in your Mac's menubar or browser, or by using the keyboard shortcut ⌥⌘\
    2. Click Password Generator in the sidebar of the mini
    3. Click "Copy" to copy your newly-generated password to your clipboard and create a new Password item in 1Password (or, if in the context of a browser, click "Fill")

    In 7.3, you:

    1. Invoke 1Password mini by clicking the icon in your Mac's menubar or browser, or by using the keyboard shortcut ⌥⌘\ (same as previous versions)
    2. Click + New Password at the top right of the mini window, under the Search bar
    3. Click "Save & Copy" to copy your newly-generated password to your clipboard and create a new Password item in 1Password. (this is different only in the sense that the button is called "Save & Copy" instead of simply "Copy."

    I'm not sure how those two processes make password generation in the former a "top-level task," but not in the latter. Can you clarify?

This discussion has been closed.