Nontrivial Exercises

1Passwd - The Best Mac Password Manager Because of Browser Integration

It was sometime last year when I finally figured out that the value of a real password manager. I was using just a few “favorite” passwords for my various logins which were easy for me to remember but not really very secure. I knew that various browsers had integrated functions to store passwords, but I fundamentally don’t trust my passwords to be stored in the same application that sends and receives stuff over the Internet.

That’s when I found Roboform, certainly the best password management utility for PC’s. I started creating long very secure passwords that were different on each site and that were stored securely on my machine.

Once I switched to a Mac, I looked but didn’t find an equivalent password management utility. I even made a pitch to Roboform to create a Mac version, but they weren’t interested.

That’s when I found 1Passwd. Dave Teare and Roustem Karimov, who started AgileWebSolutions, have created the Roboform equivalent - or nearly so - for the Mac. After my initial frustration at the lack of something like Roboform on the Mac, I had intended to write a review of several password management and secure data storage utilities on the Mac, comparing them with each other and with Roboform.

I planned to look at apps like Data Guardian, Password Wallet, Wallet, Pastor and Passwords Plus. However, I don’t even want to try out these others, as I’ve found all I need in 1Passwd. The thing all these other apps seem to miss is the one thing that made Roboform so effective - direct browser integration.

The other Mac password utilities use the paradigm of Address Book, in which you have a list of data entries that you enter and edit in that window. Then you can take that data and transfer it into your browser in various ways, most involving a copy and paste.

However, that paradigm doesn’t match how I (and probably most people) need to use passwords. When you register for an online service, you’d really like to generate a secure password automatically and then have the utility automatically remember your username and password. 1Passwd does this quite effectively without having to bother with an external editor / database window.

1Passwd places a button in the toolbar of Safari, Firefox or Camino (OmniWeb support is coming soon) from which you can simply click the appropriate form for the website you’re in and it will autofill the username and password. 1Passwd stores all the data in the keychain, so it’s both secure and easily portable, including easy integration with .Mac.

Dave and Roustem just released a new point release to version 1.5 today and announced features planned for release 1.6: most notably bookmark-like items directly integrated in the browser (so you can simply select the bookmark of the secure site you wish to visit and it will go to that website and automatically log you in) and secure text notes.

I’m now a 1Passwd user and though this may sound like a commercial, I have no affiliation with Dave and Roustem. They’ve simply created an application that fills a need that none of the other apps in this category have done. The best way to see what 1Passwd can do is to watch the demo video or try it out yourself.

1Passwd is a great example of why you should never give up on innovation, even when it seems like there is already plenty of competition.

[Update: I wrote above that I have no affiliation with 1Passwd. That was true when I wrote this, but Dave and Roustem just started an affiliate program, and I am now a part of this program. That means that I get a little monetary kickback if you follow my link to 1Passwd and end up buying a license.]