(I have also posted this on the App Store.)

On 31 July 2011, I posted a comment on 1Password’s page at MacUpdate.com stating that, because of the problems people were having at that time regarding 1Password’s integration with Lion, I wouldn’t be buying it until those problems appeared to have been solved, but that buy it I would, not only because it appeared to be just the kind of app I was looking for, but also because I was greatly encouraged by the excellent customer care exhibited on this site.

Well, it took a while, but I finally got round to buying it from the App Store last week. Below is a list of all the problems it has given me:


Did you miss them? Here they are again:

[Tumbleweed rolls by.]

I had been using Apple’s own Keychain Access, but was frustrated with its limitations. 1Password proves to be a superb alternative. I shan’t go through all the features; suffice to say that they are listed in the blurb in the App Store and on AgileBits' website, and that I am very pleased with all of them.

1Password motivated me to be more organised. I’d intended to use it as an app in which simply to store existing passwords for website accounts, and not use Keychain Access for that anymore, and I’d unwisely been using a single password for many accounts, but 1Password’s organisational features must have had an effect on me to such a degree that I used its customisable password generator to generate many long and complex passwords to replace my existing one, so that each account now has its own complex password; and I created some new email accounts for different types of website, such as shopping, gaming and social, so that each category of site sends its emails to the corresponding email address. This has all taken a few days, and there were many incoming emails from websites advising me of changes I’d made to my account profiles, but in the end I’m now far more secure and organised than I would be if I hadn’t bought this app.

I’ve been fortunate in not having anything bad happen with this app, but I’m confident that support from AgileBits would be prompt, helpful and friendly; they seem genuinely to care that their customers are not disappointed. Living in the UK, I’m not used to good post-sale customer support, so I value it (having had it from only three companies in recent years: my internet provider, Apple and now, if I should need it from them, AgileBits). AgileBits seems to understand that it is in its commercial interest to ensure that its customers are happy with its product.

Some reviewers have complained about problems using 1Password with Google Chrome, but there's an explanation on AgileBits' support site with an account of what has been and is being done to remedy the problem. It’s always advisable, before buying an App to search online for any issues that people have with it, and to visit the developer’s website. What we need before posting a review of a product is patience; knee-jerk reactions are unworthy of the name ‘review’ (just look at the ‘reviews’ in the App Store in the first couple of months following Lion’s release).

If I could change one thing (one minor thing), it would be for the lock/unlock sounds to be more audible, as I can barely hear them. They sound like the same sounds used by the system when clicking on the padlock symbols in System Preferences, but they are very quiet in 1Password. This isn’t a problem, of course; it's just that, when everything else is perfect, the one tiny thing that isn’t is more noticeable.

If you are hesitant about buying, visit AgileBits’ website, download the fully functional app for a free 30-day trial, and go through the tutorials at http://help.agilebits.com/1Password3/1password_getting_started.html.

I hope you will be as satisfied as I am. Thanks, AgileBits, and keep up the good work.

I wanted all my 6½ thousand music tracks on iTunes to be at the same volume level, and had started listening to them individually and adjusting each one. This would take for ever, so I looked for an application that would do it for me, and iVolume seemed ideal.

I set it to adjust all tracks to 93db. Although it adjusted all the tracks, they were audibly still at different volume levels. Many of the originally quieter ones, such as those from the 1930s, although now louder, were still too quiet and certainly not at the same volume level as louder tracks.

To overcome this, I created folders in iVolume, each with its own volume adjustments, and started listening to each track to determine which ones should go into which folders to bring all tracks to about the same volume level. It was several weeks before I realised I was doing again what I had been doing in the first place before buying iVolume to do it for me.

I want an application that will adjust all my music collection so that all tracks play at the same volume level such that, for example, Bing Crosby plays at the same volume level as Metallica without my having to adjust the volume. iVolume is not that application.

Finally, there doesn't appear to be a way to remove all iVolume's adjustments and reset mps3 to their original volume levels.

This sounds like exactly what I'm looking for, so I downloaded and installed it. When I clicked on it in the Preferences pane, it showed me the following message:

'You can’t open Startup Sound preferences because it doesn’t work on an Intel-based Mac.'

Disappointing.