PASSWORD MANAGERS
Access passwords from all your devices
GROUP TEST
REVIEWED BY HOWARD OAKLEY
ON TEST...
> 1Passwo
> Bitward
> Keeper Password Manag
> LastPa
> NordPa
> Secrets
PASSWORDS ARE EVERYWHERE, and two– factor authorisation (2FA) keeps creeping up too. One solution, ideal for anyone with more than one means of connecting to the internet, is a password manager. macOS and iOS provide basic management so long as you use Safari, but if you want to access your passwords from Android or Linux, then you’re on your own. Apple’s new iCloud Keychain Password Manager for Windows could help many.
These password managers go where Apple’s doesn’t. All bar one store your passwords and other data in a private vault on the app’s own servers, independently of Apple and iCloud. To do this securely, the information you save in the app is encrypted there using your master password, and the only data to leave your Mac or device stays robustly encrypted so neither the service nor an eavesdropper can gain access.
Each app consists of the password manager itself, with features extending those in macOS, and one or more browser extensions to auto–fill requests from websites. We’ll explain which password manager is the best.
How we tested
Each app and service was tested on Macs running Big Sur and Monterey, with their counterpart apps on iPadOS and iOS 15. A basic set of passwords and other important items were entered manually, and a CSV file containing nearly 150 passwords was imported from Safari, where the service supports that. Although undocumented, that’s a valuable feature: the File > Export > Passwords… command in Safari 15. Browser extensions were checked using Safari 15.