One of the most important aspects to take care of when entering websites and services are the access credentials. After all, a potential credential theft will allow others to access all of your personal accounts.

For example, if someone gains access to the account credentials linked to your browsers, they will have access to all your passwords and personal data stored in the browser.

There are additional protection measures to avoid this, such as using a password manager. These types of services keep passwords stored in an external ‘box’ protected by a master key.

1Password is one of the most popular names in this segment. However, it seems that a recent update to the mobile app messed up the app’s biometric security system.

Currently, many users are facing an issue where the ‘Fingerprint unlock’ feature is not available and the Face ID is failing. Also, the PIN lock is missing from the latest update.

1Password v8.9 ‘Fingerprint unavailable or Face ID failing’

After the 1Password v8.9 update, users noticed that fingerprint unlock was no longer available. This means that they will have to use Face ID, which is much more insecure since not all smartphones have 3D Face ID.

V8 only shows the face unlock biometric option and no fingerprint unlock option (which I have been using for some time with the prior version).
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However, the Face ID unlock is also not working properly after the update. Reports indicate that 1Password Face ID recognition is failing or behaving erratically.

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@1Password since upgrading to 1Password 8 on iOS, Face ID does not work reliably at all, prompts for the password after successfully using Face ID only a minute ago. Never had that issues with 1P 7. Also can’t reproduce on a device with Touch ID.
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The 1Password team is already investigating both the ‘Fingerprint unavailable’ and ‘Face ID failing’ issues, but there is no ETA for a fix yet.

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Hey, Sebastian. We’re sorry for the trouble. This is an issue we’re aware of in the latest versions of 1Password, and our developers are investigating it. We’ll let the team know you’re being affected by this too.
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In previous versions, users would have been able to set a PIN as an unlock alternative. But that is no longer possible and hence the last problem.

1Password PIN lock missing after v8.9 update

The other issue brought by the latest 1Password app update is the loss of the PIN lock feature. This implies that users can only set Face ID as biometric identification system.

This brings more problems because currently none of the biometric systems are reliable and many will prefer to even disable Face ID.

But without being able to set a PIN, fingerprint or Face ID, users will have to constantly enter their master passwords.

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Master passwords protect all other passwords, so they tend to be long and complex. Many users don’t even remember them and have them stored somewhere else.

@1Password no longer provides a rapid-entry PIN. If you don’t want to use biometrics, you’re forced to enter your long secure password every time. And it forces you to store your passwords on their servers with no local backup. Degraded UX and functionality w/ every update.
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Fortunately, the PIN unlock return request was escalated to the 1Password developers for potential future re-implementation.

Hey, Stever. We have an issue raised for re-adding PIN support and your feedback has been added. Membership vaults are synced locally to all your devices in encrypted form for offline use and are included by default in your local backups. Our apologies for the confusion caused.
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We will update this story as events unfold.

PiunikaWeb started as purely an investigative tech journalism website with main focus on ‘breaking’ or ‘exclusive’ news. In no time, our stories got picked up by the likes of Forbes, Foxnews, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Engadget, The Verge, Macrumors, and many others. Want to know more about us? Head here.

Jean Leon
1613 Posts

A tech enthusiast since ever. I like to always be up to date on the latest news in the industry and write about it. Twitter: @jean_ERdC

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