Password Management in Yosemite

[jameskachan]

I've been using Dashlane a bit lately, and I don't love it, and really don't love the annual sync costs.

I was thinking about getting 1Password, (no annual costs) but I figured I should see what everyone thinks about just the basic Apple stuff.

Are password managers relevant with iOS 8 and Yosemite?
Will Apple already take care of this stuff or should I just invest now for 1Password?

Thanks!

 

[maflynn]

I'd say the need for strong password management is still there.

I think the advantages of a password manager like 1Password, is that it can generate strong passwords, it maintains an encrypted database of those passwords, along with other sensitive items, like bank accounts, and credit cards.

If you wish to have that database synchronized on the cloud, you certainly can but it's not required.

 

[S.B.G]

I use LastPass on OS X (Mavericks and Yosemite) as well as iOS 7 and it works very well.

 

[MCAsan]

What is it doing that Keychain is not doing? Dies it also work with the same database across your IOS devices? One manager for the whole ecosystem?

Personally I love Keychain as itworks transparently across my IOS devices.

 

[S.B.G]

What is it doing that Keychain is not doing? Dies it also work with the same database across your IOS devices? One manager for the whole ecosystem?

Personally I love Keychain as itworks transparently across my IOS devices.

If you're asking about LastPass, yes it's the same database across all platforms you use.

 

[Hustler1337]

Guys, sorry to interrupt. How is 1Password or similar services safer and more secure? I get that the service provider generates a unique, complex password for each website/application but isn't that defeated by having one password to get access to the vault?

If someone knew the 'master' password, they can get access to all your accounts if they got hold of your device. So how is this more secure? I've always been interested in using a service such as 1Password but I can't get my head round this. Maybe i've got the wrong idea?

Thank! ")

 

[MCAsan]

Keychain is part of the OS and IOS. What do 3rd party apps do more or better to justify the extra cost?

 

[jameskachan]

Keychain vs Pass Manager

The last response is exact, is Keychain pretty much as good now as password managers?

A few questions:

In Yosemite and iOS8 — Is Keychain any different? Improved? Changed?

Does Keychain now (or in the future updates) maintain passwords across all devices? Multiple Macs and iOS? Like, could I enter a password on my mac for twitter or amazon.com and have that password push to iOS? or is this something only password managers can do?

 

[S.B.G]

Keychain is part of the OS and IOS. What do 3rd party apps do more or better to justify the extra cost?

LastPass is free unless you pay $12 per year for the mobile app. Otherwise, I like it because it integrates with the web browser, any browser, and can be used on any operating system. For example, I use it on OS X and on Windows.

 

[tjwilliams25]

The last response is exact, is Keychain pretty much as good now as password managers?

A few questions:

In Yosemite and iOS8 — Is Keychain any different? Improved? Changed?

Does Keychain now (or in the future updates) maintain passwords across all devices? Multiple Macs and iOS? Like, could I enter a password on my mac for twitter or amazon.com and have that password push to iOS? or is this something only password managers can do?

As long as you have iCloud Keychain active on all devices (iOS 7 & Mavericks and above) it works like a dream. I've noticed that Yosemite has made the password sync more reliable, but in answer to your question, yes, it's something that Apple has been perfecting for years. I haven't used 1Password for probably five or so years, as it seems redundant to me since it's built in on a very deep software level. Apple's version also can create strong passwords and sync them across all devices.

 

[ApfelKuchen]

The last response is exact, is Keychain pretty much as good now as password managers?

A few questions:

In Yosemite and iOS8 — Is Keychain any different? Improved? Changed?

Does Keychain now (or in the future updates) maintain passwords across all devices? Multiple Macs and iOS? Like, could I enter a password on my mac for twitter or amazon.com and have that password push to iOS? or is this something only password managers can do?

Yes, iCloud Keychain (even under Mavericks and iOS 7.x) syncs across all devices - if you've allowed Safari to save the password to a web site on one device, it'll be available on your other devices. One particularly nice feature is that wifi network logins are also synced among devices, so if you logged into a network with your iPhone at some point, your iPad and MacBook would automatically login to that network. Keychain can also be used to generate strong passwords.

However, not all Keychain items are available on iOS or OS X - so if, say, you create Secure Notes in the OS X Keychain - no way to view them in iOS. The stored credit card info in iOS is not accessible via OS X Keychain Access Utility. While stored wifi logins are synced, you cannot view the login password on iOS.

Three other places where Keychain falls down are when using browsers other than Safari, in the ease of access to stored data, and in the amount/type of data fields stored in each record.

the amount and type of data associated with each entry is also more limited than third-party password products. In OS X there's a single Name field, that will contain the complete URL of the web site, plus display the username in parentheses in the browser view. There's no place to enter a searchable, descriptive name for a web login, such as "My Bank." While there is a Comments field, it is not searchable. And in iOS? The Comments field is not displayed at all, and there is no search function - just scroll until you find the login.

So, while iCloud keychain has been very convenient, it's not a complete solution. I still use a separate password application as well.

 

[JoelBC]

Yes, iCloud Keychain (even under Mavericks and iOS 7.x) syncs across all devices - if you've allowed Safari to save the password to a web site on one device, it'll be available on your other devices. One particularly nice feature is that wifi network logins are also synced among devices, so if you logged into a network with your iPhone at some point, your iPad and MacBook would automatically login to that network. Keychain can also be used to generate strong passwords.

However, not all Keychain items are available on iOS or OS X - so if, say, you create Secure Notes in the OS X Keychain - no way to view them in iOS. The stored credit card info in iOS is not accessible via OS X Keychain Access Utility. While stored wifi logins are synced, you cannot view the login password on iOS.

Three other places where Keychain falls down are when using browsers other than Safari, in the ease of access to stored data, and in the amount/type of data fields stored in each record.

the amount and type of data associated with each entry is also more limited than third-party password products. In OS X there's a single Name field, that will contain the complete URL of the web site, plus display the username in parentheses in the browser view. There's no place to enter a searchable, descriptive name for a web login, such as "My Bank." While there is a Comments field, it is not searchable. And in iOS? The Comments field is not displayed at all, and there is no search function - just scroll until you find the login.

So, while iCloud keychain has been very convenient, it's not a complete solution. I still use a separate password application as well.

Four, I am forced to Windows machine at work so 1Password is a better solution as I can use it on all platforms -- iOS, OS X and Windows.