What’s wrong with living in the digital age, and spending so much time on the information superhighway? It’s all those login IDs and passwords that need to be managed and secured.
With online thieves seemingly everywhere, keeping logins and passwords on Stickies notes just won’t cut it. Mobility fanatics rejoice. The Mac’s best password manager runs on iPhone and iPad.
1Password Equals 1Place For All
From way back in the mid 1990s I realized a need to do something with the growing number of login IDs and passwords that were cluttering up my Mac’s screen.
That was back in the days before Stickies, when Post-It Notes ruled, and were the primary choice for secret information.
How secret is a Post-It Note stuck to a screen? About as secret as using Stickies to manage login IDs, passwords, and credit card information, and I’ve done that, too.
With an ever growing collection of valuable and sensitive and critical information– logins, credit card numbers, bank numbers, PINs, and passwords– carrying information around requires a way to keep it safe.
There are dozens of iPhone and iPad apps that do it, but only one works better, syncs well to the Mac, and gets my official seal of approval. 1Password.
To use 1Password requires a master password.
Add new information with a tap of the screen. 1Password keeps it all alphabetized, but not limited to just login IDs and passwords.
It’s a safe place to store medical information, banking information, including credit card numbers, PIN numbers, account numbers, and any information you don’t want to fall into the wrong hands, but you need with you at all times.
The key to using 1Password is simply to remember the password. All the data you save is stored securely using AES encryption.
1Password auto locks itself after a period of time, so even if the app was open and your iPhone is lost, the data is safe.
Store information in a folder hierarchy for easy retrieval. Speaking of retrieving information, here’s what I like most about 1Password.
I need to login to dozens of websites– from bank to company to credit card to blog. 1Password will auto-login using the built-in browser function (so you don’t need to remember or copy the login ID and password).
For Mac users (or Windows PC users), 1Password can sync data between devices (iPad, iPhone, Mac, PC) using Wi-Fi or Dropbox, and handles its own backup and restore. This is the premier password management app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
Caveat emptor? It takes time to setup and secure all your critical information. And, a new version has been announced which will have a new price tag.
About Wil Gomez
No – most of the password managers on ios and the Mac are not safe. See this. The results are abysmal!
The government or some super duper hackers might be able to break into 1Password, but what are the chances that will happen?
As close to zero as you can get without getting to zero.
It would be easier for someone to break into your house and get the same information. That means most of the good password managers will protect your passwords and credit card information just fine.
Speaking of credit card number safety, how safe is your credit card number when you hand it to a waiter at a restaurant?