[tweetmeme]The Mac is a great computer. It has so many usable features and functions, right out of the box. The moment you start it up, you’re surfing the web. I practically use almost all of the built-in applications, not because I’m a Mac fanboy, but because they are genuinely good applications. Sure there are more powerful, more feature rich applications, but Mail is a good usable application to start with. iTunes is the only sensible choice to manage your media. And QuickTime plays all my movies without any issues (with Perian installed, of course).

Most of you (at least according what our stats tell us) are Safari users. Safari has its own password manager, which almost works behind the scenes. You tell it to remember a login, and depending on its emotional status, it might auto-fill it for you the next time you visit. But what happens when you get tired of depending on Safari’s mood swings? And when you have more than one login for a site—multiple Gmail accounts for instance. Or if you don’t quite know whether you’ve already signed up for a web service. And if I can get away with another scenario, what if you want to switch between browsers? Yes, while I specifically mentioned Safari users, Firefox and Chrome suffer from pretty much the same issues—their auto filling options are limited to one-per-site, they’re not very easy to control, and they reside within the application.

Every time I mention 1Password, the question is asked, “Safari works for me, why do I need this 1Password?”. You think you don’t need 1Password, but really, you do. Every internet using Mac user needs 1Password. At its core functionality, which is what it excels at, 1Password remembers your passwords. The name 1Password implies that all you need to remember, is one password, and everything else is taken care of. I personally hate passwords. I share all my passwords with my close friends, whom I trust. They know my internet passwords, they know my ATM pin codes, they know them all, yet I’ve never been exploited. I trust them. I wish the internet was like that. Where I could freely log into sites without bothering to have a secure password. But it’s not. The internet is not a secure place. It never was to start with, and it’s getting increasingly tricky not to land in the hands of a malicious entity.

Imagine you have a clever password set up for your Gmail account; which is memorable, yet complex enough that no one can guess it. You probably don’t even have to imagine it; clever you. But next you go to a site, and it asks you to register. Why come up with another clever password, when this one would do? So you sign up using that same clever password. Believe it or not, that “we never share your password” disclaimer can sometimes be a lie! Who would think people would lie on the internet! So that hacker will now have access not just to your Gmail password, but all other social networks that you have signed up on. Even if you signed up with different passwords on other sites, it’s easy to request a forgotten password on facebook and more often than not, it will land in your email inbox. The world is a scary place. You need different passwords for different services.

Agile has made 1Password to understand the internet, and make it personal. Whenever you see a registration form, instead of filling out all your details, 1Password will automatically fill in the form—provided the designer was responsible enough to tag those fields properly. When it comes to choosing a password, you can either enter gibberish without a care in the world, or let 1Password generate something smart for you. 1Password comes with a brilliant password generator. You can generate completely random passwords, memorable ones, and make them as simple or complex as you’d like. The best part is, you don’t have to remember the password—1Password, get it?

So how do you access the passwords then? 1Password is integrated into Safari, Firefox, and Chrome, on the Mac. Just right click any login field that’s already been saved, and let 1Password fill it in for you. It’s that simple, and it never goes wrong. Yes, I’ve been using it for two years now, and it hasn’t disappointed me once. On the iPhone, you have the 1Password app. It’s a bit sad really, since Apple doesn’t allow you Mobile Safari to be extended by third parties, all your passwords reside within this app. There are actually two apps. The standard version costs $6.99, while the Pro version goes for $8.99. I’d highly recommend you go with the Pro version. With the standard version, if you have to ever enter login to a site you don’t know the password to, you can to launch the app, unlock it using your master password, then search for your login, and then view it in the embedded browser or quickly memorize it so you can enter it into the Safari app, or view it in the emdedded web browser. It’s more of a stop-gap solution rather than something usable. With the Pro version, you get this handy bookmarklet, which when invoked, launches the 1Password app and brings you directly to that login. Once you copy it, it automatically goes back to Safari so you can paste in the password. This one feature is that which makes 1Password Touch actually usable. I must commend the Agile team on doing a fantastic job with the Touch version of the app, going around Apple’s walls, and delivering the sweetest solution possible. If I could make one request though, it would be to reduce the number of times I have to enter my master password. This leads to me keeping a much simpler master password than I could think of, compromising on security.

There’s a third aspect to 1Password, and that’s 1Password Anywhere. It’s basically your entire database accessed via a web browser. It’s not the ideal solution since it involves resources and effort on your part, but on the other hand, your database resides where you want it to be, rather than on some remote cloud. The Agile team has done a fantastic job in the presentation of that database in a web browser. It’s almost like the native desktop app, but looks and feels right at home in your browser. Where this database resides, is up to you. You could log in to your Mac remotely, or save your keychain on a dropbox folder, or like me, periodically update your remote keychain on a remote web server [For a how-to on 1PW-Anywhere, Agile has provided some really good support guides]. This way my passwords are available to me everywhere I go, and I never lose my passwords due to a hard drive crash. I just have one complaint. I would have been nice if this web view were optimised for the iPhone, possibly negating the need for a separate 1Password Touch app.

There are a couple of other features of 1Password, which I’ve been using rigorously. There have been a lot of applications that can store you software licenses, either as their sole feature, or an extra (like in AppZapper). My belief is the less software I use, the more work I get done. AppZapper may offer a catchier user interface, but 1Password is more ubiquitous, robust, and serious. I know I’m going to be using 1Password for a while to come, so my software licenses are also safely stored in my 1Password database. It even grabs the icon of the app, for those looking to keep things pretty. I’ve also taken the time to fill out the “Wallet” in 1Password. Credit Card, Drivers license, and all kinds of other documents. It’s a one time only effort, but having all that information safely stored, available when you need it the most, is reassuring.

For what it’s worth, I don’t bother organising anything in 1Password. I did initially set up folders for my logins, and even attempted to use tags. But ultimately, they’re all pretty useless for getting to your passwords; it’s all context sensitive anyway. Although, coming to think of it, a better organisational structure would help in getting to your logins from within the iPhone app. I just don’t think the juice is worth the squeze. If I may give you a word of advice, don’t clear out your trash. You never know when you’ll need that login, and there’s no shame in rummaging through it from time to time. I have, on many occasions.

So there you have it. 1Password is one of the most used apps on my Mac, and I hardly ever realise I use it. That’s how an application should be, facilitating your work, rather than showing itself off. It’s an application that securely stores all my confidential data, while still making it available almost everywhere I go. If you aren’t using 1Password ($40), you aren’t using your Mac right.