[appVIEW] 1password

1password, the premier password manager on Mac OS X, has a port for the iPhone as well. It is multi featured, and has a built-in browser. I think the iPhone needs a built in password manager, like Firefox does; but it also may be a security threat in a case where your phone is lost or stolen. That is where 1password comes in. When you launch the app, you get an unlock screen, where you enter your 4 character PIN code. “Code Accepted.” It brings you to a list of your websites that you have entered information on; it can be organized by “title” or by “domain.” On the bottom, there are 4 options: Logins, Notes, Sync, and Settings. The “Logins” tab is your list of logins, like I explained before. There are a couple of options in this screen. When you click the name of one of the domains, it brings up the settings for that particular domain. This is where the downfall is. I do not own a Mac (sadly..), and therefore I do not know how the desktop version of 1pasword works, but this part doesn’t make sense to me. I wish that you could just enter your username and password, but you can’t. You have to enter a “Value” – and that is where it loses me. IF you can figure this out, you can go right to the in-app browser right from there. Click the domain, and it goes right to the page, with the username and password already filled in (how convenient!) You can protect all of your entries with the “Master Password” that you enter at the beginning.

More after the jump.

Notes
The notes tab gives you a place to enter notes in secrecy, like combinations, secrets, and more. You can master password protect these as well.

Sync
I cannot review this section because I do not have 1password on my desktop. I would guess, though, that it syncs your entries from the desktop version to the iPhone/touch version, wirelessly.

Settings
In the settings menu, you can change the Unlock Code, and when it Auto-Locks; change the Master Password, and when <i>it</i> Auto-Locks. You can also modify if you show the passwords or not, and you can clear your Web Cookies.

Positives
The iPhone really doesn’t have a password manager, and this does the job. It is very easy to navigate, and useful.

Negatives
Though easy to navigate, it is NOT easy to figure out from the stance of a first time user, how to enter passwords and usernames; which, after all is the point of this application.

Summary
A good password manager, but not well implicated. I do not understand how to enter passwords and usernames. It could be an AMAZING application if it was easier to enter passwords and usernames.