Apple introduced APIs for developers in iOS 8, including the ability for developers to use the iPhone 5s’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner, and Extensions, which allows developers to integrate their own software into share sheets with other apps. AgileBits recently released an iOS 8 beta version of their popular password manager app, 1Password, that takes advantage of both of these new features.
With the update, 1Password beta testers are now able to use Touch ID to unlock the app’s main password, which then allows the app to supply passwords directly to Safari using extensions. The entire process has been demoed in a two Vine videos from Gabriel Nevado (via MacGeneration), who accesses his 1Password content using Touch ID and is then able to enter a password from the app directly in Safari using the Share sheet.
Currently, under iOS 7, users are required to enter a master 1Password password each time the app is opened, and the app cannot input passwords into Safari automatically. iOS 8’s new APIs allow apps such as 1Password to provide a richer experience for users.
The video seen above, courtesy of 9to5Mac, shows how the Touch ID feature works with the 1Password iOS 8 compatible beta.
Touch ID integration for third-party developers is also one of the 4,000 new APIs Apple introduced with iOS 8.
While currently the iOS 8 1Password update is available only to beta testers, it should be released to the App Store, following the official launch of iOS 8, expected to take place this fall.
