A major new version of 1Passwd was just released — 1Passwd version 2.4. This is a free upgrade to all existing customers. You can use the built in Check For Updates feature to upgrade to the latest version with no mess or fuss. If you must, you can download the new version from the downloads page but be sure to stop all running browsers when upgrading or the update will fail.
Again, the easiest and safest way to update is to simply click the Check For Updates menu item from within 1Passwd:
So, what's new in version 2.4? Let's see...
Modal Login Windows
The biggest news is support for Modal Login Windows, or technically, Basic Authentication windows. 1Passwd is the first Mac Password Manager to offer support for Basic Authentication windows which means your login information is kept securely within the Keychain and you can easily switch between browsers.
Basic Auth windows go by many names like .htaccess windows, "modal login windows", Apache logins, etc. If you're not familiar with these terms, a picture might help. Here is what the default Camino basic auth window looks like:
Since it is a modal window you cannot use the standard 1Passwd toolbar icon to fill the page. We therefore added a new 1Passwd login window to replace the standard window:
Now you can fill the login form using the 1P icon or by using the CMD-\ shortcut key.
Basic authentication information is stored as a standard 1Passwd Web Form. This means that you can use existing web forms to fill the login window. For example, 37 Signals has web applications where you can login using a standard web page or the login window, but both systems use the same user id and password. Using this approach allows you to reuse the same Web Form.
License Cards: Images or Text
We previously announced a new license system based on License Cards:
These license cards allow you to register by simply dragging-n-dropping the image onto the 1Passwd application. This makes the registration process more fun, natural, and even helps combat piracy.
Despite all these good things about these license images, there was ample discussion about why text-based license keys still have their place. Many users simply preferred the old method of text based licenses, so we added support for them:
You can now use the license card images or the text-based license — whichever suits your fancy. You can grab your text-based license card from the AWS Customer Center.
MacHeist Upgrade
1Passwd version 2.0 was rewarded as a prize to all MacHeist #2 winners back in December 2006. A lot has changed since then: 1Passwd has added a snazzy new icon, great new look-n-feel, folders, support for NetNewsWire, OmniWeb, and DEVONagent browsers, plus a tonne of other improvements. All of these updates were provided free-of-charge as a reward to Heisters for their excellent sleuthing work (and origami skills).
The 2.4 upgrade is a paid upgrade, but all heisters will receive a discount. To receive the discount, upgrade to version 2.4 and then start 1Passwd. You will be presented with a customized MacHeist upgrade screen — click purchase to place your order.
Detailed Changelog
Here is the detailed log of changes for those keeping score at home:
- NEW Added support for Basic Authentication windows in Safari, Firefox, Flock, Camino, OmniWeb, DEVONagent, NetNewsWire, and WebKit.
- NEW Removed support for old license codes.
- NEW Added support for text-based licenses.
- NEW Added MacHeist upgrade page; version 2.4 will be a paid upgrade for all Heisters.
- CHANGED Updated 1Passwd application to not be listed in Finder short menus for JPG images.
- CHANGED Improved license drag-and-drop to avoid License Not Found messages.
- CHANGED Updated 1Passwd application to hide the association with JPG images (1Passwd won't be displayed in the shortcut menu for JPG files)
- FIXED Fixed problem with Edit button and Folder select state for the very first Secure Note.
- FIXED Fixed problem in Firefox that would cause Firefox to become unresponsive and then crash when presenting dialogs.
- FIXED Fixed drag-n-drop of license card images on main 1Passwd window.
- FIXED Fixed problem with import when 1Passwd app is in a directory with reserved bash shell characters.
- FIXED Fixed 1Passwd Camino extension to support nightly builds.
- FIXED Firefox bug that caused miscellaneous keyboard problems (broken arrow keys, apostrophe opening the search box, etc) and exacerbated the Firefox Copy-n-Paste bug.
- FIXED Fixed problem with drag-n-drop of items to folders.
