1Password 4.0 for Android gets a badly needed sprucing up with a new app

By Phil Nickinson
last updated

Premium features free till Aug. 1; app reverts to a reader after that

OK, folks. If you've long been suffering the 1Password Reader app on Android, your day has come. There's an all-new 1Password app available today on Google Play, and you're going to want to get this one as soon as possible. (It's now live.)

If you're new to password managers, here's the deal. You need to let go. Let go of trying to remember your passwords. And let go of allowing your browser to remember your passwords. Instead, 1Password takes care of everything — passwords, identities, logins, credit cards — in a secure manner, locking it behind one master password (which you will have to remember) and syncing things up psuedo-locally using Dropbox. In other words, you're still in charge of all your data. The 1Password app just manages it. It works great on desktop. But the Android app has been sorely lacking, until today.

We've been using the new 1Password 4 for a few weeks now, and it's a keeper.

1Password is one of the easiest ways to use long, complicated (and safer!) passwords without going insane.

You still can't auto-populate logins with 1Password on Android, which is a shame. But it makes hopping back and forth between it and your other apps a breeze, and does so in a safe manner. Unlock 1Password with your master password, and then find whichever login you're looking for, copy and paste into the app or web page. The clipboard is cleared, the app is relocked, and you're good to go. (Some of those checkpoints can be lessened in the settings, if you'd like, and it's worth checking out the PIN integration for multitasking so that you don't have to re-type your master password — which should be pretty difficult if you're doing it right — every time.)

You'll get full features through August 1 (never mind our picture above — that's from an earlier beta), including the ability to add new items to your 1Password vault, edit existing items and rearrange things at will. After that, an in-app-purchase (price to be determined, we're told) will be required.

A couple of the improvements in 1Password 4 that I'm enjoying most? Besides the redesign — begone legacy overflow menu! — there's the auto-sync to Dropbox when you first open the app. No more having to manually update, which saves a lot of time. And it's easier to search for your entries as well, though we'd still prefer that to be top level and not tucked behind the individual categories.

Al in all, a very, very good update.

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1Password 4 for Android

1Password 4 arrives for Android, free for a limited time

Toronto (Ontario, Canada) - AgileBits today released 1Password 4.0 for Android, a bold, full-featured reinvention of its industry-commanding password manager and secure wallet. Best of all, everyone can try all features for free for a limited time.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: AgileBits has unleashed unto the world 1Password 4 for Android, a pixel-to-bit reinvention of its industry-commanding password manager and secure wallet for Android phones and tablets. 1Password creates strong, unique passwords for every site and logs you in with a single tap. It's the best way to stay secure online and the fastest way to use the web.

As a secure wallet, 1Password for Android securely stores website Logins, Identities for filling forms, Credit Cards for checking out, Secure Notes, memberships, driver's licenses, and much more. It can sync your vault with sister apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone, and iPad, and all your data is encrypted with your Master Password.

With this release, AgileBits is experimenting with a new way to share the wonder of password liberation. 1Password 4 for Android is free, and all features are free to try until August 1, 2014. After that, a reader-only mode activates to make it a great sync companion with 1Password for Mac, PC, iPhone, and iPad. To get the full app, all features can be enabled with a one-time in-app purchase.

Phil Nickinson
Phil Nickinson
40 Comments
  • Broken link
  • Read the last sentence of the first paragraph, please.
  • Is that the G2 or G3 in the picture? I noticed the top is black but the bottom is white??
  • G3
  • Thanks. Diggin the G3, but waiting to see what else is around the corner (This is where you come in HTC. Make a phone with a 2k screen, a 16mp camera, a 3200+ mah battery and you can have all my money).
  • Agreed. Unfortunately HTC may not be around that long.
  • Reading?! What is this? School?!
  • The pic says premium features are free till July 1st 2014 - while ur post says 1st Aug 2014???
  • The story states:
    "You'll get full features through August 1 (never mind our picture above — that's from an earlier beta), "
  • Can't ditch Lastpass for this yet... works too well, especially with app integration now.
  • Last Pass is better and simpler. No need to copy and paste Jim Lloyd
  • This! Dumped 1Password a long time ago for LastPass. Now 1Password is finally catching up to where LastPass was a year or so ago when I moved over. The latest update from LastPass eliminates the need for copy/paste and jumping back and forth by being able to auto-populate within both the browser(s) and apps (such as Facebook, etc.).
  • Pocket for Android (NOT the newsreader) does the exact same thing, it allows you to add custom fields, and it's free. It doesn't seem to be supported anymore, and it's not as purty, but that's fine with me. It works. What sold me is that the developer also made Windows and Mac versions of the desktop manager, so it's even easier to enter your data in. https://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=https2F2F...
  • The developer of Pocket is probably the laziest around. You'll get one update every second year, if you're lucky. Pocket was the first password manager I got on Android, mostly for the reason you mention, the ability to add and change categories. Too bad he just didn't feel like maintaining the app. I am currently subscribing to Dashlane, but, I am probably switching to LastPass as they are the only ones who's figured out a somewhat useful way to get the passwords out of the manager database and into the box in the app you're using....
  • Ugly, Safe in Cloud is the best one
  • I have just downloaded and it gives me an unhandled exception, something with the secure login of Dropbox.
    Day 1 bug perhaps, after a looong beta?
  • I can remember my passwords fine though haha. I would prefer not to depend on software when I don't need to. Posted via Android Central App
  • Still haven't seen anything to lure me away from mSecure, which has everything listed here, as well as syncing with desktop, dropbox, encrypted syncing across dropbox, (not just relying on dropbox's hopelessly compromised encryption), as well as pasting into other apps. The have versions for every platform, IOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and Win 8 Touch. The truth about these apps is once you find one that works, the inertia involved in switching to a new one is very high, and unless the new one provides major new functionality (and 1Password clearly doesn't) you won't bother to switch.
  • ^^This Posted via Android Central App
  • Safe In Cloud does all that this app does, and it's free. As well it supports other cloud solutions like Google Drive. SwiftKeyed via Android Central App
  • Safe in Cloud is $4.99, not free. Speaking of not free "Price to be determined" for 1Password is BS. Why would I put the effort into entering all my information into a new app, not knowing if the future price is acceptable. 1Password for iOS is $17.99, if that is the price for Android as well, than no thank you. $4.99 is about as much as I am willing to pay.
  • I'm sure it will be $17.99 on Android as well but probably available at half the price on August 1st for a few days.
  • Oops, yep. I completely forgot that it's $4.99. I probably forgot that since it's a negligible price. But at least the PC app is completely free, which is nice.
  • I am using Enpass Password Manager since I read an article by James. The app is really awesome and it will really suits you. App charges one time fee not like just like Lastpass that keeps you charging every year.
    I love Enpass because I am using it on my Nexus 4, WP 1520 and Mac. The app supports sync via Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive,which I think none of the app support. Moreover the full featured desktop version of Enpass is absolutely free (No need to pay extra $49.99 for desktop like 1Password which creates extra load on pocket). Enpass is really the best way to manage not only passwords but all kind of information in a safe and easy manner.
  • Actually Safe cloud those all that. Same clouds, desktop clients available for windows and mac for a 4.99$ one time fee. This is genuinely the best 4.99$ I spent on Google play: https://www.androidcentral.com/e?link=https2F2F...
  • Ewallet has worked for me..across multiple platforms
  • Unless you use their browser, the auto populate function doesn't work... So where's the advantage? The panda has spoken
  • How is it secure to take all of your passwords, (which to be truly secure, should be different for every site), and putting them all together in an app guarded by just 1 password. This to me is the definition of insecure. Someone cracks one password, instantly gets every password to every site and service you use.
  • It's not perfect but it's far better than using the same password for everything or using weak passwords. My master password is long and complex enough to be uncrackable by even the biggest supercomputers. It's also random. Someone can get my store if they want but they aren't going to be getting access to its contents by brute force attack. Also, the likelihood of someone getting access to your encrypted store is less than someone cracking any of a plethora of sites secured by it.
  • It's more secure simply because to breach the master password you need physical access to the devices able to reach the encrypted password database. The amount of time it would take someone to have access to any of my mobile devices and/or any of my PCs, and be able to brute force my master password, would take much longer than it would take for me to notice somebody trying to do something funny with my equipment.
  • Sitcky notes works for me. This app is completely unnecessary. In fact, if you just use the same password for everything you don't even need the sticky notes. I use fido123. I'll never have to worry about remembering it...well maybe after my dog dies.
  • Unless your comment was a joke you deserve the to have your identity stolen with that attitude. Posted via Android Central App
  • Not exactly free... they basically just want to lock you in so they can stick you for $17.99 in 7 weeks time. KeePass is secure and completely free, but maybe not as slick as some other paid services. Great on PCs but a few clicks on Keepass2Android to login (not that I'm complaining - I think it's fantastic that the developer is providing Keepass2Android free).
  • So not one to replace my LastPass subscription then? What is bothering me with LastPass is them trying to get me to use their browser on my phone. It is horrible frankly. And so far, I've not seen it automatically offer to log me in or remember passwords for new app logins etc. Am I missing something?
  • Been using the beta on Android for months. Then I found Last Pass. Well I had tried Last Pass before but after paying for the $12/year, I can say decidedly so that it's better than 1 password. .. especially since Last Pass supports Windows Phone (1020 is weekend phone). The Android in-app auto fill feature of Last Pass is awesome. Just open up the Chase Mobile app and it fills it in for you. Yes it's a bit unreliable but works most of the time. They will fix it in time. Not sure if 1 password will ever get there.
    1 password has a lot of catching up to do before I pony up a x.0 version upgrade (like $40 every year). Last Pass is a bargain at $12/year for all your devices.
    Posted via Android Central App
  • I am also Enpass Password Manager user and I love this app because Enpass doesn't save my data on its servers. All my database is saved only on device. Earlier I was a Lastpass user then I dumped it and switched to Enpass because paying subscriptions $12 was so annoying. Just pay $4.99 and use it for lifetime. The app is neither just a database reader not charges monthly/annually.
  • I guess this is one of the reasons that developers prefer iOS over Android. Users aren't willing to pay for quality apps. Agile Bits is a quality developer, I'm happy to pay for their apps and I trust that they aren't going to do suspicious things with my data, to make up for a lower price. I've had 1Password on Mac and iOS for years. It was one of my key stumbling blocks in moving from iOS to Android over a year ago. The old 1Password was a reader only. This sort of worked, but I had to write down my passwords that I used at work when I changed them so that I could update them on my Mac and synch them back to my phone. I've been beta testing this for a few month and it's a big improvement over the read only version. The functionality is much improved, obviously, but so is the interface.
  • My Dropbox storage is 100% full,i actually have more than my storage quota because of the HTC promotion expiring. Does that mean the app won't work since it can't back up anything to Dropbox? Posted via Android Central App
  • They did a good job on it but I still prefer the newest version of Enpass!
  • Still going to keep using Lastpass. It looks like 1Password has made a nice improvement and if I was just starting out it would be worth comparing to Lastpass.