Yeah, I noticed that. I don't like subscriptions, but in some circumstances I find that I get value out of the deal.
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Password Managers - what are you using?
- Thread starter maflynn
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People who read and post in a Mac Apps subforum of an Apple focused site are more likely to be the kind of people who are willing and interested in finding non-default solutions. If this survey were conducted on a broader range of Mac/iPhone users, I think you'd see Apple Keychain being the dominant solution chosen.
I saw that yesterday. The funny thing is I sent Jeffrey an email on Wednesday about a product roadmap and a public blog since overall sentiment about Minimalist appears to have waned. I can't say whether I like the new icon all that much, however.
The app that has the loudest complainers, not necessarily the most complainers. And I’m one of those complainers! 😂
Minimalist is a good straightforward app. I bought it for $24 a good while back. They had a lot of sales before they removed the lifetime. I expect that will probably happen again.
If the Apple users prefer using non-default solution, then I'd say that the apple keychain metric of the poll would be a lot lower. That is after all the default password manager for macOS and iOS.
What do you mean broader range of mac/iphone users? I posted in the largest apple fan site on the internet, outside of going to reddit which is a dumpster fire, MR is pretty much the best site for this sort of thing
Yup, I mean there are members in the migrant thread that have likened Agilebits move to a subscription based model to The HSBC Money Laundering Scandal.
I've never used a "password manager" -- at least not a standalone app.
I DID create my own password storage file, using a small app named "iData" (which is now free).
Just checked, and right now there's about 143 entries in it.
On my desktop, it's just a "hidden file", buried deep. It still takes a moment to find and open it.
On my laptop, I created a small (10mb) password-protected disk image file (dmg) and put the password file into it. This remains unmounted until I need a password. Then, I enter the master password to mount the dmg, and can open and find the site password I need.
I had a friend who was in "password hell" because he'd just jot down a password (in Morse Code, no less), and then couldn't find it later, or he had changed it.
So I created for him a document in Pages which is just a big "table". He can click and enter sites/usernames/passwords into, and again protect the entire document with a password. It helped him quite a bit !
I DID create my own password storage file, using a small app named "iData" (which is now free).
Just checked, and right now there's about 143 entries in it.
On my desktop, it's just a "hidden file", buried deep. It still takes a moment to find and open it.
On my laptop, I created a small (10mb) password-protected disk image file (dmg) and put the password file into it. This remains unmounted until I need a password. Then, I enter the master password to mount the dmg, and can open and find the site password I need.
I had a friend who was in "password hell" because he'd just jot down a password (in Morse Code, no less), and then couldn't find it later, or he had changed it.
So I created for him a document in Pages which is just a big "table". He can click and enter sites/usernames/passwords into, and again protect the entire document with a password. It helped him quite a bit !
What I mean is that Mac Rumors forum posters are a self selecting population of people who are interested in Apple above and beyond the regular population, including the total population of Apple device purchasers. And then the amount of people who are posting in the Mac Apps sub forum specifically are yet another self selecting smaller population of the larger Mac Rumors population. That creates a sampling bias. I’m saying if we did a truly random poll of all Apple device users, we would see a much higher skew to Apple keychain because you’d have many more people in the sampling population that are happy to use the Apple default solution.
As to why Apple Keychain is still well represented in this poll, I never said that just because someone is posting here means that they will use an alternate solution, just that the population being sampled here has a higher likelihood of researching and using alternate solutions. It’s also possible that many of the respondents here did research other solutions and consciously chose Apple Keychain because they felt it fit their use case the best. It’s also free, with no features hidden behind a paywall, which makes it an attractive choice even for people who do research alternatives.
If I could use Keychain with Firefox, I would have switched from 1PW7 to it a long time ago.
I use Strongbox Pro because I can sync locally in my private cloud (or iCloud or Google) w/o paying a monthly rental fee. And, frankly, the # of ways Apple ties user IDs to devices and accounts -- and the general reliability of its cloud services -- gives me pause if something happens and I get locked out of everything. (This morning's iCloud incident is just the latest example .... there are times when I think iCloud is held together only by duct tape, bailing wire, the chanting incantations and lighting of incense.)
TBH, the only thing I wish StrongBox would do is sync with folders on Sync.Com.
I use Strongbox Pro because I can sync locally in my private cloud (or iCloud or Google) w/o paying a monthly rental fee. And, frankly, the # of ways Apple ties user IDs to devices and accounts -- and the general reliability of its cloud services -- gives me pause if something happens and I get locked out of everything. (This morning's iCloud incident is just the latest example .... there are times when I think iCloud is held together only by duct tape, bailing wire, the chanting incantations and lighting of incense.)
TBH, the only thing I wish StrongBox would do is sync with folders on Sync.Com.
To me, the inclusion of Keychain distracts from the voting due to the selection biases already identified by @Supermallet and others. Ignoring those votes:
What I find interesting (surprising?) in the votes is that 1Password has 1.7 times the votes of all the other third party apps put together.
Given the self selection sampling biases and the recurring moans (in macrumors) about subscriptions, I would have expected that the technically interested/savvy would have disclosed greater use of non-subscription 3rd party products.
Just goes to show that subscriptions are not a barrier for quality products.
I am not surprised that Bitwarden leads the pack of followers - just that it is so far behind 1P.
(I am a 1Password subscriber.)
Edit:
I must admit I initially thought this thread would be a waste of effort - but wrongly!
What I find interesting (surprising?) in the votes is that 1Password has 1.7 times the votes of all the other third party apps put together.
Given the self selection sampling biases and the recurring moans (in macrumors) about subscriptions, I would have expected that the technically interested/savvy would have disclosed greater use of non-subscription 3rd party products.
Just goes to show that subscriptions are not a barrier for quality products.
I am not surprised that Bitwarden leads the pack of followers - just that it is so far behind 1P.
(I am a 1Password subscriber.)
Edit:
I just discovered I repeated much of what you said. I am not really sorry - it bears repeating because the level of support for 1P is so surprising given the histrionics elsewhere. Clearly just a vocal minority.
I must admit I initially thought this thread would be a waste of effort - but wrongly!
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What is your definition of a password manager and why does keychain fallout of it?
Here's what it does:
- The passwords are stored in an encrypted container,
- it requires authentication to access,
- its multi-device, i.e., Mac, iPhone, iPad,
- it generates passwords
- We receive warnings on compromised passwords.
Bitwarden. It's 100% free, but I pay the measly 10 dollars a year for the 2FA functionality, among other things. And to protect Bitwarden itself, I use 2FAS (also free).
1Password is horrible compared to Bitwarden, in my opinion, and I used (and paid for) 1Password for years. I'm not sure why it's so popular in this poll. If you go on the App Store for iOS, it's the absolute worst-rated password manager on the entire App Store. Their phone app is pure garbage.
1Password is horrible compared to Bitwarden, in my opinion, and I used (and paid for) 1Password for years. I'm not sure why it's so popular in this poll. If you go on the App Store for iOS, it's the absolute worst-rated password manager on the entire App Store. Their phone app is pure garbage.
Exactly, The popular 1password migrant thread was the reason why I was curious and wanted to see what others were using.
I suspect that thread is filled with small core group of people who just talked about password managers not named 1Password
There's a handful of folks, like myself use 1Password and are active in the thread offering our opinionsNo problem with it being a password manager. But I think that the other products is where the (my) interest lies. Just my view. I have come to appreciate this thread for what it has turned up.
Oh I see, I thought you were making the argument that the keychain ought not be included because it was not a password manager.
Yes, I think having a finer definition of some of the password managers, i.e., 1PW7, 1PW8, subscription, no sub, etc is fine. I just went with the very high level of what are people using. Spending too much time in them migrant thread led me to think everyone was abandoning 1PW, so I was curious to see the state of the union, so to speak
My family has been using 1Password for years and I love the subscription version. Whatever it takes for me kids to take only safety and security seriously, I’m all for it.
Who’s the 1 person using Lastpass? And why?
I feel like iCloud Keychain is a glorified browser password manager. If it ever got a standalone app, I think it would be more of an actual password manager.
Wait, a company is evil for changing how they charge people?
I thought it would be wait higher seeing its free. We tried it, I didn’t like it that much. I felt it wasn’t as smooth to use.
Yes, there are some members who are extremely angry that they went to the subscription model.
I’m not a fan of subscriptions but I feel that 1pw is a good app and I get value
There are also some who seem to suggest that all software should be open source. People do need to make money and open sourcing all their work makes it almost impossible. Bitwarden works around that by selling subscriptions to make money.
Much of open source work is done by companies who make money on their own software, but utilize the code from open source projects they contribute to. Even 1Password contributes to open source related activities and probably directly on some open source projects. They have a significant vested interest in the quality of the open source software they use.
A while ago, I noticed 1Password's involvement here - https://www.w3.org/TR/webauthn-3/. A 1Password employee is a contributor.
So that’s what the whole 1Password migrants threat is about, someone got mad and spent years complaining about it? Wow. I originally thought it was just people looking for other password managers 😂
I’m not a huge fan either if subscriptions, but some are worth it.
It’s both. There is some good info in there if you wade through the hyperbole.
Same here, not using any password manager. Hidden protected volume mounted as needed. For on-the-go access, I store sensitive info in a simple PIN protected notes app called Teka.
On a separate note, I do miss Blackberry password manager, I used it for a long time. No cloud, no sync, just secure storage of sensitive staff.