1Password V7 – The Best Release Yet

Dr. Mac’s Rants & Raves

Episode #280

I’ve been a fan of the 1Password apps for the Mac and iOS for a long time. I’ve tried others, but always end up going back to 1Password. In fact, I like it so much, the last time it went on sale I bought a one-year family subscription. (Now, I’m trying to convince my family that 1Password is faster, easier, and more convenient than the macOS Keychain and Keychain Access app.

And, of course, it’s much more secure than the Post-It™ Notes on their monitors.

And, even as great as the Mac version is, the version for iDevices is even better since iDevices don’t have anything resembling the Mac Keychain Access app, so there’s no easy way to find, view, and edit stored passwords on iDevices.

The good news: A new version for the Mac—1Password 7—arrived last week, and it’s easily the best version of yet.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself.

For those who don’t know, 1Password manages your passwords (and any other information you wish to protect) securely. It’s named “1Password” because there’s only one password you have to remember—the password that unlocks your encrypted database. That’s fortunate since my database (known as a “Vault” in 1Password parlance) has nearly 2,000 username and password combinations, plus serial numbers for hundreds of hardware and software products, credit card numbers and other personal information that requires protection.

Anyway, the first thing you’ll notice is the sidebar, which is now cleaner and more compact making it easier to manage and organize stored passwords and other information in your Vault.

The new sidebar is cleaner and more compact…

Two New (and Appealing) Features

1Password 7 introduces a pair of alerts I find exceptionally useful.

The first one is an alert for sites that offer two-factor authentication that you haven’t (yet) enabled. Sweet!

1Password 7’s new alert for sites with 2-factor authentication that you haven’t yet enabled.

The second new alert is even cooler—it’s now integrated with haveibeenpwned.com, so it can alert you if a password has been exposed in a data breach and urge you to change it.

1Password 7’s new alert for compromised passwords.

Finally, an existing feature—1Password mini—is better than ever in 1Password 7 on the Mac, automatically detecting the app or website you’re using and filling in the proper login and password automatically. Or, you can summon 1Password mini at any time via keyboard shortcut (Command + Option + Backslash), its menu bar icon, or its icon in your browser’s toolbar. Once open, 1Password Mini lets you search, copy, or drag and drop items from your Vault without launching the main 1Password app.

Buy or Lease 1Password 7?

1Password 7 for Mac is available as a 1-time purchase or by subscription. You can buy it and deploy it on all of your Macs for $64.99 (currently $49.99 for the launch).

The subscription option lets you use 1Password on all of your Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows devices, as well as sync your data among them for $2.99 a month (single user) or $4.99 a month (family of up to 5).

A 30-day free trial is available for all platforms. So, if you have more than a few dozen logins and passwords, try it. After a few days, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.

Resources:

1Password 7 for Mac. AgileBits, Inc.

Share this post