Version 7 of 1Password for Mac is heavenly

I’ve been a fan of the 1Password apps on the Mac and iOS for a very long time.

I like them so much that the last time there was a sale, I bought a one-year family subscription and am trying to convince my wife and kids that 1Password is more secure than Post-It Notes, and easier and more convenient than the macOS Keychain and Keychain Access app.

And although it’s great on the Mac, it’s better on iDevices, which don’t have an easy way to find, view or edit stored passwords.

A new version for the Mac, 1Password 7, came out recently. It’s easily the best release yet.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. 1Password makes apps that manage your passwords (and any other information you wish to protect) securely. It’s called 1Password because there’s only one password you have to know — the password that unlocks the encrypted 1Password database.

That’s fortunate, since my 1Password database (called a “Vault” in 1Password parlance) includes more than 1,000 user name and password combinations, serial numbers for hundreds of hardware and software products, plus secure storage for credit card numbers and other personal information.

1Password 7 for the Mac has a revised sidebar that is cleaner and more compact, so it’s easier to manage your stored passwords and organize passwords and other information saved securely in your 1Password Vault.

Two new features appeal to me a lot. The first are alerts for compromised logins and vulnerable passwords, and the identification of sites that offer two-factor authentication you haven’t enabled. Sweet!

The second new feature is even cooler. 1Password 7 integrates with haveibeenpwned.com, so it can alert you if a password has been exposed in a data breach and recommend you change it.

Finally, an existing feature — 1Password mini — is better than ever in 1Password 7 on the Mac. It automatically detects the app or website you’re currently using and fills in the proper login and password automatically.

You can also summon 1Password mini via keyboard shortcut (Command + Option + Backslash), its menu bar icon or its icon in your browser’s toolbar.

Then you can search, copy or drag and drop any item from your Vault without launching the 1Password app.

1Password 7 for Mac is available two ways — a one-time purchase covering all of your Macs for $64.99 (reduced to $49.99 for the launch special ending soon) or by subscription.

The subscription option lets you use 1Password on all of your Mac, iOS, Android and Windows devices, and sync your data among them for $2.99 a month (single users) or $4.99 a month (family of up to five).

A 30-day free trial is available for all platforms; if you have more than a couple of dozen logins and passwords, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.