AgileBits Denies Reported 'Acquisition Talks' Between Apple and 1Password [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to deploy 1Password internally to all of its corporate and retail employees around the world over the next few months, according to BGR's editor-in-chief Jonathan Geller, who cites an unnamed source.

The report claims Apple plans to offer a free license to the standalone version of 1Password to each of its employees and their families:

According to our source, after many months of planning, Apple plans to deploy 1Password internally to all 100,000 employees. This includes not just employees in Cupertino, but extends all the way to retail, too. Furthermore, the company is said to have carved out a deal that includes family plans, giving up to 5 family members of each employee a free license for 1Password. [...]

Apple is also using the stand-alone version of 1Password -- at first the company considered using the version that includes AgileBits syncing service that routes through cloud providers like Amazon AWS, but Apple quickly decided that wasn't acceptable. The standalone version of the software lets users sync through iCloud, something Apple is undoubtedly more comfortable with.

The report claims 100 Apple employees will start using 1Password through this initiative starting this week, with all corporate and retail employees at the company expected to be activated within the next one to two months.

The report also mentioned that "acquisition talks were underway," although "unlikely," and AgileBits swiftly denied that claim.

Rumours of my acquisition are completely false. My humans and I are happily independent and plan to remain so. - 1Password (@1Password) July 10, 2018

Apple employees have already received 1Password for free for several years, so it's unclear what this "deployment" refers to exactly.

Article Link: AgileBits Denies Reported 'Acquisition Talks' Between Apple and 1Password [Updated]

 

[jetjaguar]

Love 1password

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

This should piss off a lot of folks. Expect development to slow a lot if they acquire them, though it will likely be free.

 

[Stella]

Nooooo... having 1Password multi-platform / multi browser based is great. Apple will almost certainly stop Android and Windows development.

Apple's efforts of the keychain is way behind what 1Password offers.

 

[Four oF NINE]

I love 1Password, I've had it across all devices for several years..

 

[gsmornot]

What about Keychain.

 

[scottlitch]

What does 1password do that Apple's Keychain doesn't?

 

[jmh600cbr]

why? the password management is already great on iOS and mac os. only thing is that keychain access on Mac is a bit clunky

 

[izyreal]

This should piss off a lot of folks. Expect development to slow a lot if they acquire them, though it will likely be free.

Why would Apple's internal password management system annoy me?
Why would Apple acquiring and natively integrating 1Password annoy me?

 

[Quu]

I love 1Password but I hope Apple don't buy it as I would think in a few years time they would drop Windows or Android support or some such.

It's better to stay standalone in my opinion.

 

[AlxM]

What about Keychain.

It’d mean a significant improvement.

 

[hlevolve]

This blows if this is the case. Everything will slow to a crawl and sit stagnant for years... And more than likely will drop all of the cross platform compatibility. Ugh I get tired of the biggest companies buying up the smaller stuff and killing it off.

 

[macduke]

Having this built directly into iOS/macOS will be great. Apple's built in password management features aren't robust enough, though looking at iOS 12 it seems as though they want to build up this functionality into a fully baked feature. I love 1Password and recommend it highly.

 

[gsmornot]

It’d mean a significant improvement.

I had no idea. I cannot see anything I am missing currently. Keychain logs into the sites and apps I currently use.

 

[MrGunnyPT]

Integrating this natively into Mac & iOS alongside iCloud... Would be freaking amazing.

We use 1Password in our company so we can have access to client's databases and what not so integrating this into our Macs would be magical.

 

[sputnikv]

I think this would be a good move. As for the multi-platform folk, perhaps Apple throws the manager on icloud.com for all with an AppleID to use.

 

[jb-net]

I love 1Password, it is an amazing app. Please don't acquire it!

For sure it would be iCloud-only and therefore not as secure as it is today as a offline standalone solution.

 

[SteveJay10]

Yes! Do hope it is an acquisition. 1 password tricks could help Apple sign ins on all devices. Could still offer it for Windows and Android.

 

[yg17]

If they drop Windows and Android support, I'm out.

 

[iMerik]

Nooooo... having 1Password multi-platform / multi browser based is great. Apple will almost certainly stop Android and Windows development.

Apple's efforts of the keychain is way behind what 1Password offers.

Yeah, killing multi-platform / multi-browser support will keep me forever away from switching to 1Password. Just like Keychain, I would only use it as a secondary convenience. Here's hoping that if they acquire it they actually support it fully and even accelerate its development.

 

[nfl46]

This is great! 1Password is awesome!

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Nooooo... having 1Password multi-platform / multi browser based is great. Apple will almost certainly stop Android and Windows development.

I highly doubt that. They have a decent business going with their 1Password for Business tier. I don't see any reason why Apple would kill off access for a product to an enterprise market they are seeking more and more.

 

[jarman92]

Huh...seems like a tacit admission that Apple's Safari system isn't good enough for even Apple employees? I'd love an explanation for what its shortcomings are, as it does everything I imagine a password manager should do (and more).

 

[B-Mc-C]

I permanently lost all trust in 1Password after I spent time entering all of my information into it, then one day everything disappeared and I was back to the welcome tutorial. Never again! Apple’s iCloud Keychain has never done that to me, and is far superior IMHO, with tighter integration as long as you’re all-in on the Apple ecosystem and don’t have a need for cross-platform/cross-browser.

 

[anshuvorty]

Nooooo... having 1Password multi-platform / multi browser based is great. Apple will almost certainly stop Android and Windows development.

Apple's efforts of the keychain is way behind what 1Password offers.

If this is the case, then Lastpass is the clear winner here for multi-plat users. Head on over to LP! Have been using it day 1 since before they were acquired and it's as good as 1Password.