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Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

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Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#391

Pointless if it doesnt have cross platform. Apple devices already basically have a password manager, the main reason more people don't use it it is because it doesnt also work on android or windows, not because it's not a standalone app called Passwords.

The lock-in is the point.

I mean, why else would Apple invest in something like this. They became the richest company in the world by increasing lock-in in every step.

Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the adoption for passkeys? I do not get the impression that they will replace passwords or “social” logins anytime soon.

I have yet to notice a site asking me a passkey.

I've found them to be a real pain in the arse because they're implemented so inconsistently. Only the biggest sites are offering them, but it's those big sites where I'm worried about locking myself out because of setting it up wrong.

Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#393
post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How was it a step backward? I have noticed zero downsides to 8 compared to the previous version. I'm comparing the current version to the last version 7 I used. This electron hate is such a headscratcher for me.

Generally speaking, Electron apps are larger and slower than their native cousins. I just checked on my M1 Mac, and between the Safari extension (which somehow consumes more memory than the app itself) the main app, and various helpers / renderers, it clocks in at 410 MB of RAM. I'll give you that it's also acting as an SSH Agent, but that still seems rather large for the functionality. Personally, I noticed a slowdo…

It takes 10+ seconds to load the 1Password extension window in Firefox after some upgrade this year. They really screwed something up.

Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#394
post #388
post #168

Here's Apple's big problem: it's not a replacement for so many alternatives because it isn't supported on all platforms. Safari? Not on Windows. Apple Music? This actually has a Windows client. I'm not sure how good it is. But Spotify supports Windows and even Linux. Apple Password Manager? Will this be tied to iCloud? Will I be able to use it on Android? If I no longer have an iPhone will it be a pain to maintain an…

The other big problem is that in the case that you get on Apple’s bad side for whatever reason, you now lose your passwords to everything.

Terrifies me. I can't really piss 1Password off, so that'll never be a worry. My iCloud Email can at least be re-directed to Fastmail as I own the domain (other than Hide My Email, which is a shame).

Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#397
post #168

Here's Apple's big problem: it's not a replacement for so many alternatives because it isn't supported on all platforms. Safari? Not on Windows. Apple Music? This actually has a Windows client. I'm not sure how good it is. But Spotify supports Windows and even Linux. Apple Password Manager? Will this be tied to iCloud? Will I be able to use it on Android? If I no longer have an iPhone will it be a pain to maintain an…

>> People don't want everything tied to one identity, one service, one login. I think this is exactly what _most_ people want. With password management specifically, Apple has had a Chrome extension available for a while now which has allowed me to use it on other browsers/platforms. Not ideal, but good enough for most. On top of that, they don't lock you in with passwords. You can easily import and export your passw…

Easily export passwords, I’m not so sure. I remember trying to script this once and for each item it would prompt a password to extract the entry. Maybe the Passwords app changes this.

Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#398
post #77

So… this new app does most of what the depreciated “Keychain” app did, except now it’s got a iOS-looking UI. Huzzah, I guess, the “passwords” section in the iOS-restyled system prefs sure wasn’t substituting for Keychain for me. Passwords doesn’t appear to handle secure notes, though, and I still have a few of those, too. I still really hate the iOS-restyled system prefs. Tiny unresizable text, a long vertical scroll…

I noticed a "Notes" section in password items. So, I guess in theory you could utilize those. But my biggest one is wanting to store secure files. Think copies of a drivers license, signed documents or various certs and keys. That's not being covered here either for me sadly. It's not a super common situation for me so I can probably find an alternative app for that purpose. Edit: Also for notes, I'd just password pr…

for this requirement i choose to use encrypted sparse files (can be created with the disk manager app) which i store on the icloud. is only of use if you happen to have a laptop with you as mounting them is not supported in iOS

Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> People don't want everything tied to one identity, one service, one login. I think this is exactly what _most_ people want. With password management specifically, Apple has had a Chrome extension available for a while now which has allowed me to use it on other browsers/platforms. Not ideal, but good enough for most. On top of that, they don't lock you in with passwords. You can easily import and export your passw…

> I think this is exactly what _most_ people want. Like seven people replied to say this, but they're all missing the trick. Most people want this because they're guided to want it. If you show people the convenience but not the risk, of course they want something with an advantage and no apparent disadvantage. But the disadvantage exists, it's just not immediately obvious. Then some corporate machine learning algori…

> Most people want this because they're guided to want it. If you show people the convenience but not the risk

I think that what is convenient to you, or to fellow engineers, is not what is convenient to the mass public or non-technical people. Very simple solutions, which are often platform-specific, tend to be a lot easier in many cases -- not necessarily all cases, but when something is built-in to a device or OS, this does remove some burdens from users.

Re: Apple unveils 'Passwords' manager app at WWDC 2024

#400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious to know what you’re thinking as far as what bad outcome(s) will or may result from people choosing this over some other password manager.

The most basic scenario: Someone use their phone as their only computing device (e.g. only other device is their school or work computer). Their phone dies and the shop convinces them to go for a Pixel 9. How screwed are they if everything was in iCloud, vs they were using 1Password ?

What about any or all among of their contacts, messages, docs, notes, schedules, photos, apps, app contents...?

> How screwed are they if everything was in iCloud, vs they were using 1Password/{own,next}Cloud/Evernote/Meta/Dropbox/web apps...?

That would be a more appropriate picture.

> How screwed are they

Not much. Annoyed maybe but as long as they have access to their email and phone number they can reset their passwords.

What about the other way around? If a person broke their Android phone and a friend convinces them to move to Apple? You could argue that then they may have everything in Google and that they could log in on an Apple device with their Google account and use Chrome and Gmail and whatnot, but then they'd be storing everything in Google.

What if Google sunsets a product? Or Google unilaterally decides to close their account overnight with no human in reach for support?

I'm all for interoperability. I do get the risks at hand. But the hodgepodge of separate solutions forming a duct-tape held system is hardly usable for the "mere mortal", let alone integrating the together in reliable ways.

People want technology to disappear so they can go on with their lives and do stuff that matters to them (which integrating platform-independent third party solutions is not). So "all eggs in same basket" is an extremely valuable feature for most.

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