A couple of days ago, I gave my rave reviews of 1Password for the Mac, a password manager that does so much more than just store passwords. I was so enthralled with it, I just had to try out their app for the iPhone and give it a whirl. So, did I find it up to the task. The answer is an emphatic yes. Knowing the

The entry screen for 1Password

way that applications run on the iPhone, I did not think that there was a chance that this program could run as smoothly as their desktop application, and to some extent this is true. What is also true, it the very creative ways that they overcame some of the deificiencies of the iPhone OS.

When you launch 1Password on the iPhone (after it’s rather simple setup), you must enter a 4 digit unlock code every time you open it. This is a reasonable first layer of security, especially considering the data you’ve probably got stored in this. From there, you are taken to your list of Logins that are shown alphabetically. Tapping on one will bring you to the login information for that site… unless you’ve setup high security for that site which will then ask you to enter a separate Master Password to gain access to it. This extra layer of security is great when you are dealing with passwords for banking sites and the like. Now comes the good part! On this page, you now see the website address, the username and password. From here, you can click on the password to copy it and bring it back into Safari or (and this is my favorite part) you can tap on the website address and it will launch a browser in the 1Password application which will then autofill the username and password into the appropriate fields. Click the enter button on whatever site you’re in and you are off to the races. It’s just that simple! No more fumbling around for crazy passwords in the notepad or anything, and they are all secure.

There is a section on the iPhone app called wallet, which can contain credit card information if you like (secured by an additional master password). There are a whole lot of other options such as software licenses and goverment documents you can record in here as well. All these options make the iPhone app for 1Password as full-featured as the desktop application. Which brings me to…

Here is where you enter the master password for sensitive data

Syncing! Yes, 1Password for the iPhone includes the ability to synchronize with the desktop version of 1Password on your Mac over wifi. It takes only a second or two to pair the two together. Once they are, when you launch both the desktop application and the one on the iPhone, they will automatically synchronize their passwords, notes and anything else you’ve stored in seconds. This ability really makes it worth the purchase price of this app (which I got for a measley $7.99 on the iTunes app store). I can’t recommend this program enough and it’s abilities, combined with the desktop app, have helped add an extra layer of security into all my internet access that has really brought me some additional peace of mind.

5 out of 5 stars