In Part 1 of this article we identified 5 Scenarios covering a variety of devices, operating systems, apps and web browser combinations. We then set 5 Objectives to examine how our Password Manager, 1Password, stood up against these Scenarios.
We next proceeded to signup for the 1Password service followed by the installation of the relevant app or browser extension on each of our devices. As part of the installations there were also configuration steps carried out.
Here in Part 2 we will continue to test 1Password by looking at the following areas:
- Importing login credentials into 1Password from our existing web browsers and operating systems.
- Testing the usability of 1Password whilst using apps and surfing the web.
- Investigating the highlighted problems and questions raised in parts 1 & 2 of this article.
Importing Login Credentials
Most people who start using a Password Manager already have plenty of logins for both apps and websites saved in a keychain or web browsers. Chances are that these are spread over different devices too.
To manually enter these into a Password Manager would at best be inconvenient but more likely be rather tedious and time consuming. We will examine how 1Password handles importing existing logins.
You can import data into 1Password from Chrome, Dashlane, LastPass, RoboForm, and SplashID. You can also import data from other applications using the comma-separated values (CSV) file format.
1Password.com
The article, Move your data from other applications to 1Password, was my starting point for importing my existing login details. All the methods essentially involve exporting login credentials as a CSV file then importing them into 1Password.
Exporting Passwords
Below are the instructions for exporting logins from each source:
- Apple iPad (iOS):
- Safari – app & web passwords are saved in the iCloud Keychain. See the Safari section for macOS below.
- Apple Macbook (macOS):
- Firefox:
- open Firefox
- Menu -> Logins and Passwords
- Menu -> Export Logins -> Export
- enter macOS password then save CSV file
- Safari – app & web passwords are saved in the iCloud Keychain. In order to import these passwords into 1Password a 3rd party script called mrc-converter-suite is needed (see here for instructions):
- click link in step #1 under the “Let’s Get Started!” section then click Dropbox link in popup
- click mrc-converter-suite .zip file
- click Download arrow button on right of page
- select Direct download then Save File
- open Finder and click on Downloads folder
- double-click on .zip file to extract contents
- open README.html file in the new folder
- click Keychain link under section 1 for instructions
Problem: Unfortunately although there is a Keychain converter within this suite, as of macOS 11.x it is not possible to export logins from the iCloud Keychain.
- Firefox:
- Desktop PC (Linux):
- Chromium*:
- open Chromium
- Menu -> Settings -> Passwords
- Saved Passwords -> Export Passwords
- Firefox:
- open Firefox
- Menu -> Logins and Passwords
- Menu -> Export Logins -> Export
- Chromium*:
- LG Nexus 5x (Android):
- Chrome – includes app & web passwords:
- open Chrome
- Menu -> Settings -> Passwords
- Menu -> Export passwords
- unlock phone
- EXPORT PASSWORDS
- Save to Drive
- SAVE
- Chrome – includes app & web passwords:
- Windows laptop –
- Chrome & Edge* – web passwords only. Form data requires manual entry into 1Password. Export as follows:
- open Chrome or Edge
- Menu -> Settings -> Passwords
- Saved Passwords -> Menu -> Export passwords
- Export Passwords
- enter Windows password
- Save
- Chrome & Edge* – web passwords only. Form data requires manual entry into 1Password. Export as follows:
* Chromium and Edge share the same CSV password export file format as Chrome and hence can both use the same import method for 1Password.
Importing Passwords
Once the CSV files are all exported they can then be imported one-by-one into 1Password via your web account:
- click drop-down menu next to profile name in top right of screen
- select Import
- choose Chrome option for Chrome, Chromium & Edge and Other option for Firefox
- drag the files one at a time into the ‘Upload your CSV file area’ or select the file via the link
- Chrome-based files are automatically imported whilst Firefox files will be parsed so once visually checked click the Continue button
- Firefox files have a 2nd step where the correct matching label needs to be chosen using the Add Label buttons for each column then click the Import button
After importing all your password files the chances are there will be duplicates. These cannot be resolved using the web version of 1Password nor the mobile apps. The only way to perform this action is via the computer app. Out of the Linux, macOS and Windows versions installed on my machines it was only in macOS where I could find the facility to remove duplicates:
- open 1Password app
- Help -> Tools -> Clean Up Duplicate Items
- either ‘Move to Trash’ or ‘Tag Duplicate Items’
Tagging duplicate items gives the option to manually go through the logins and verify which ones to remove.
Verdict
The exporting of login details from all browsers except for Safari worked well. Importing them into 1Password was straight forward as was the removal of duplicates. The login credentials then synchronized across all devices instantly. The inability to export and import Apple-based app and web login details is a major problem for iOS and macOS users looking for an all encompassing Password Management solution.
Usability with Apps & Browsers
A Password Manager should be helpful when using apps and surfing the web rather than being counterintuitive or create extra work over and above what we were used to.
Apple iPad
Using Safari to access websites that I knew 1Password had login credentials for gave mixed results. For Instagram it worked but for most others it did not.
Logging into apps was a similar experience, for Instagram 1Password prompted me and worked fine. For Facebook it was quite a mess-on with the wrong password being entered even though I checked via the 1Password web profile that it was correct. It is of course possible that this error was due to the Facebook app rather than 1Password.
Apple Macbook
As anticipated 1Password does not work with apps on macOS. For Firefox I had to install the 1Password extension which worked great. Safari had an extension for 1Password but it did not complete any logins for the sites I tested so either I missed something with the setup or the integration has issues.
Desktop PC
1Password support on Linux is limited to web browsers that have an extension. In my case this excluded Chromium so was restricted to Firefox. I found that this worked very well and was prompted to auto-filling passwords that were present, update existing ones, and create new logins.
LG Nexus 5x
Using 1Password for the Facebook and Instagram apps worked very well on this device. Upon login for each app 1Password appeared and requested whether I wanted to search for existing logins. In both cases there were website logins that I could find, select and use for the apps. With Facebook my password had changed so when I updated it 1Password prompted me to update the login it held.
For web browsing with Chrome it was a different experience. I tried logging into both the Facebook and Instagram sites plus some others I knew there were saved passwords. 1Password did not prompt for any of the login attempts.
Windows laptop
First I tested how the Edge browser integrated with 1Password. This was by downloading and installing the extension. Oddly this came from the Chrome Web Store. Once installed and logged in it worked very well with the likes of Facebook.
With the Chrome browser I could not find 1Password under the Extensions feature. Instead I had to do a Google search and found it in the Chrome Web Store just like with Edge.
With Edge the login email and secret key were pre-populated leaving only the password to enter. For Chrome I had to manually enter all three so it was not as straight forward. Presumably the native 1Password app was integrated with Edge but not Chrome. Finally the 1Password extension had to be pinned to the toolbar within Chrome.
Verdict
Overall from a usability perspective when 1Password works with the platform and app or web browser then it is easy to use. The main problem is that if you have mixed browsers, apps and platforms then depending on which you have it can either be absent or hit & miss.
Integration with Apple products is certainly the weakest aspect of 1Password whether it is the device, Safari web browser, or the apps. Firefox on a macOS works great as it does on Linux.
Chrome integration does come across as a bolt-on and it is obvious that Google would rather share your login credentials themselves via your Gmail login than using a third party solution. This goes for all Google presence on platforms, apps or web browsing.
Android was hit and miss both for websites and apps on the smartphone. Once again Google pushes the user towards using their Gmail synchronized solution.
Windows integration between the 1Password app and Edge works well but Edge is reliant on the Chrome extension rather than a native tool.
Problems & Questions
During parts 1 and 2 of this article there were a number of problems and questions raised. Here we will try to resolve these:
- Question: Is the Firefox extension the 1Password solution for Linux?
- See section 1.3 for details on the beta release app for Linux.
- Problem: I noticed that there was no available browser extension for Chromium (the Linux version of Chrome) so this proved to be a problem for Objective #2:
- Problem: What was unclear when selecting ‘1Password’ for the AutoFill was whether or not to turn off ‘iCloud Keychain’?
- This issue was encountered in part 1 where 1Password was being setup on an Apple iPad.
- Turning it off is an optional choice – check out our conclusions in Part 3 for further details.
- Question: What is unclear when installing 1Password on a Mac is whether or not web browser extensions are still needed?
- Yes browser extensions are needed.
- Question: What is unclear when installing 1Password on Windows is whether or not web browser extensions are still needed?
- Yes browser extensions are needed.
- Problem: Unfortunately although there is a Keychain converter within this suite, as of macOS 11.x it is not possible to export logins from the Keychain.
- No obvious solution is available to this even after contacting 1Password support.
In Part 3 of this article we will examine how well 1Password met our 5 Objectives then provide some conclusions on how to make use of Password Managers.
Did you find a solution to the importing of login credentials into 1Password from iCloud Keychain? Do you have any solutions to getting 1Password to work with Safari? If so please share your comments below.