by The recent Heartbleed bug managed to turn even the most secure Internet passwords into a potential security risk, but for those smart enough to invest in good password management software, the situation appears considerably less dire. 1Password is hands-down the best such solution, and we’d go so far as to recommend it as a required purchase for anyone with a Mac or iOS device. Although iCloud Keychain offers some of the same basic functionality on Safari, 1Password is a far more full-featured, cross-platform tool (with Windows and Android apps also available) capable of generating unique passwords for each site, managing credit card data, and securing notes, reward programs, and other sensitive data.
With the latest version for iOS, 1Password is also a more gorgeous experience as well. The app has always been stylishly attractive, but AgileBits dramatically overhauled the user interface while adding support for iOS 7 services like AirDrop, which allows users to share items between devices. More importantly, search is now prominently placed everywhere you need it—a godsend to users with more logins and secure data than organizational skills.
1Password 4.5 also takes advantage of multiple vaults, a recent Mac feature that enables users to selectively share records between family members or colleagues without exposing the entire contents of your personal data. Users with more than one Dropbox account can likewise sync data across multiple accounts, while cloud-averse customers can choose to sync locally via Wi-Fi.
The only real failing with 1Password is that it doesn’t work universally across browsers the same way it does on Mac. This is an unfortunate limitation of iOS, although the app includes a built-in 1Browser, which serves as an admirable workaround to this dilemma (iCloud bookmark support would make it nearly perfect). With the latest version, AutoFill items are now consolidated similar to how 1Password mini works on the Mac, and swipes can be used to go back and forth through web pages.
The bottom line. 1Password is an elegant solution for the problem of managing secure data on iOS devices, and it makes the most of Apple’s platform limitations.
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