Comment by 8fingerlouie | Hacker News Reader

Comment by 8fingerlouie | Hacker News Reader

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I purchased my first 1Password license when it was version 3, and have faithfully upgraded to every standalone version ever since. These days I’m not so sure I will be upgrading again (and I’m not sure there will be more stand alone versions).

The latest version is a mess on Big Sur, with unlock fields obscuring input fields, conflicting with Apples iCloud Keychain, and just not working like I expect it to.

Furthermore, stand-alone versions are buried deeper and deeper behind a cloud service subscription that brings me absolutely no value over what i already have, and adds the uncertainty of having to synchronize my most secret secrets to a cloud service.

While I can certainly forgive software errors, this has been going on for so long that I’m beginning to suspect it’s either a strangler pattern to get people to switch to the cloud solution, or it’s death by a thousand cuts.

In any case, I’ve begun evaluating alternatives. Bitwarden looks promising (though nowhere as polished), is open source, and allows me to synchronize to a service on my LAN.

Password-store uses gpg and git that also allows me to synchronize locally (though it leaks website names without the vault extension which is not supported on iOS).

Finally I’m evaluating Yubico authenticator for 2FA codes and just using iCloud Keychain for the rest.

I don't understand why people think it's some nefarious dark pattern. It's perfectly clear, the old 1Password app is winding down, the future is their hosted version.

The only way to even download the app is if you already knew about it's existence before. It's not a dark pattern, it's just directing people who sign up for 1Password today into their actually supported product instead of the end-of-lifed one. Your app will continue to work for some reasonable amount of time until some version of macOS breaks it, then you can either pick another one from numerous competitors or go with their hosted version. Sounds to me like you'll need look into the alternatives given your requirements. It is what it is, no need to attribute it to malice.

It is a dark pattern for those who put in massive time investments with the understanding that they could have the control at time went on.

Some of it is not 1Password’s fault (macOS shoves everyone to new versions with new application APIs), but not only do I now pay more for 1Password by having to use the subscription instead of a one-time purchase that could last years, but I’m now nervous about having all my eggs in one cloud basket, so to speak, and more nervous the more the cracks I see in the 1Password UI.

Source: have also been with 1Password since v3.

I still think it's pretty terrible that they previously sold a lifetime license which no longer applies to the latest versions.

You can disable the integration into the form fields. It’s the first thing I did as it never really worked.

Just out of curiosity, as someone who selfhosts Bitwarden, how is 1Password so much more polished?

I’ve never used 1Pass. Just, I’m always amazed by how well Bitwarden works and how there’s not really features I’m lacking.

As someone who switched form 1Password to Bitwarden a year or so ago, there are a few features I miss:

1. The ability to customize keybindings.

2. If try to autofill a form field, and BW is locked, then nothing happens. The same task in 1P will actually prompt me to unlock 1P, then I am able to autofill the field.

3. If create an account for a site not saved in BW, and BW is locked, then I am not prompted to save the login. However, 1P will prompt to unlock itself so that I may save the login. Also, the prompt for saving logins rarely works for me using BW, but worked rather well for me using 1P.

4. BW is not as keen as 1P for auto-filling various form fields

5. I like storing software licenses, wi-fi passwords, bank accounts, etc. in 1P vs. secure notes in BW.

6. I am not a fan of BW's folders for organizing logins.

7. BW relies too heavily on mouse usage for my liking. I felt that 1P had much better keyboard navigation.

There are probably other things I am missing, but with all that being said, I still have not left BW to return to 1P nor do I plan to anytime soon. Though, I will admit I miss many features from 1P still.

Two things i miss in Bitwarden coming from 1Password are:

1. One shortcut for unlocking and auto filling. There is a long open issue[1].

2. Not needing to unlock the extension to add a new login entry. 1Password just detects new logins even when the vault is locked.

Otherwise Bitwarden is really solid.

[1] https://community.bitwarden.com/t/autofill-shortcut-should-o...

There's an open PR for 1. though it's ignored by the maintainers unfortunately https://github.com/bitwarden/browser/pull/987/files

Besides what others have mentioned, there is one feature i really miss from not just bitwarden but almost every other password manager. I basically just want a password manager that can store my secrets (2FA tokens included!) in an encrypted format, integrates with filling passwords on desktops and handheld devices, _AND is able to (two way) synchronize this encrypted storage as a simple file to whatever storage i prefer.

That might be iCloud, OneDrive, WebDAV, S3, or simply just a SMB server on my local network. My main negative point about Bitwarden is that it either requires me to store passwords in a cloud on a subscription service, or it requires me to selfhost something.

Selfhosting is (probably) fine if we're talking a Plex server or something that isn't mission critical, but hosting a bitwarden server suddenly requires me to be a sysadm in my spare time, something i'd rather keep to my daytime job (and nights when operations calls, and weekends when things needs upgrading).

The only password manager i've found that ticks most boxes is password-store (https://www.passwordstore.org/), but it lacks in browser integration, and by default leaks web addresses for the stored secrets. Other than that it works well. It's self contained, and uses git for synchronization, meaning i can be "on the go", add a password, and synchronize it to a local git service on my LAN when i get back home, or in case i need it on another platform _now_, i can connect through VPN and synchronize.

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