Switchers' Blog

1Password 2.5.12 Released! Safari 3.1 Support and Many Enhancements

1Password 2.5.12 was released today and includes support for the new Safari 3.1 update that was included in the recent Apple Software Update.

Since the release we have had over 200 emails kindly asking if we knew 1Password was broken in the new Safari update. Amazingly, Dan set a new Customer Service record today by answering 190 tickets! This update should slow the tide of questions.

This update is not limited to Safari, however. In fact, this is the biggest release we have had for quite some time. The changelog has over 40 items in it! Below are the highlights of what we have been busy building over the the last 5 weeks, along with a full change log at the bottom.

Despite this huge list of enhancements, this update is a FREE update to all 1Password license holders.

"I want to update a site to use a stronger password. Can 1Password do this? How?"

UPDATE/NOTE: Starting with version 2.6.1, 1Password includes the automatic detection of change password pages! This article is describes a workflow in the older versions of 1Password.

The title of this post represents a paraphrase of e-mails that we often receive from users of 1Password who are wondering about the process of changing a weaker password to a stronger secure password. This topic was actually one of the original topics in our original user guide and we have referred people to this article on many occasions. However, since the time it was written we've added some more tools to 1Password that simplify the process and make it easier to do. Therefore, I wanted to expand on the original article and throw a real-world example into the mix.

Some of the features I will mention are covered in my previous blog post about "Dealing with Rejection" so check it out if you have not already done so. However, this post presumes no previous reading. Before we get started I do want to point out a couple of points of confusion in this area. First, you still have to follow the web site's normal password change procedure. These can vary greatly from site to site. Next, 1Password will not automatically update any previously saved web forms you may have for the site. You will need to manually update them or use the procedure I am going to use below. Finally, the process is not automated by 1Password so you will still need to do a little work but it is will be very easy as I will show in my example.

So, let's get started!

Dealing with Rejection

Face it, no one likes to get rejected, but when you use 1Password's strong password generator to generate a secure cryptic password and the site rejects it for some reason it can be a bit frustrating. Sometimes the password is just fine but that username you picked was already taken. Who knew R2D2Rulez would not be available on the Star Wars message boards? However, 1Password has some features that help you deal with the craziness that is the world wide web when it comes to registering at new sites and saving the login information in 1Password.

1Password Interchange Format

From the Wikipedia Article:

John Dennis (1657 - January 6, 1734), was an English critic and dramatist, born in London, the son of a saddler.
...
His other works include several plays, for one of which, Appius and Virginia (1709), he invented a new kind of thunder. The play was not a success and the management of the Drury Lane Theatre withdrew it. But later at a performance of Macbeth there Dennis found the thunder produced by his method and said, That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder, but not my play.

According to Brewer's entry (under the headword thunder), this is the origin of the phrase, "to steal one's thunder".

Outside of possibly saving me if I ever get to appear on Jeopardy, it reminds me of a new feature that we implemented in 1Password a short time ago that has pretty much been overshadowed by the new Sync to iPhone feature. The new functionality comes in the form of a new import/export format named 1Password Interchange. I really bugged the development team hard for this feature and I am very proud of how it turned out. So in an attempt to get some thunder back for the 1Password Interchange format I wanted to explain what makes it so great and how it can be used.