Ryan Kearney

If you haven’t already done so, check out Part 1 where discussed some of the features 1Password has to offer. Now we’ll take a look at LastPass and review some of its pros and cons.

Interface

Unlike 1Password, LastPass is SaaS or Software as a Service. Instead of being stored on your computer, your passwords are stored with LastPass in an encrypted form. This certainly has its advantages and perhaps disadvantages depending on how you feel about it. There are multiple ways to access your LastPass vault. The most common method would be to use your in-browser extension to access your LastPass vault.

LastPass certainly doesn’t pride itself on aesthetics here but there’s actually very few times you’ll use your vault. Personally, I’ve only ever had to dive into my vault when revealing a password for an application that isn’t web-browser based (iTunes, Steam, VPN, etc). If you’re using a computer you can’t install LastPass on, you can always access your password vault using any web browser with access to the internet. Logging in through the LastPass website reveals a slightly different vault layout.

You’ll need to use the LastPass website to modify some of your accounts security settings. For more screenshots that cover almost all areas of LastPass, check out their Screenshot section.

Mobile Access

The LastPass iPhone app is, by far, the worst application I’ve ever had to use. The bug list and difficulty of use is endless and the most frustrating experience I have to deal with. It’s clear that LastPass put absolutely no effort what-so-ever into building their iPhone app. The first annoyance is the pin based login screen. If you’ve recently logged into your LastPass account then you can enter a 4 digit pin instead of your master password to launch the application.

What’s the problem? Well, for starters the back/delete button in the lower right does nothing at all. That’s right, if you make a mistake when typing in your pin you’ll have to actually click the box you made the mistake on to switch input to that digit. Instead of using the API’s available to provide a pin based login screen, LastPass decided to try and make their own. The only problem with them making their own pin screen is that they failed miserably.

There’s nothing really special about the Vault. You can quickly navigate through your logins by using the search box up top or by using the category names along the right side of the list to jump to specific sections. If you want to log into a specific site you can just tap the site and you will be redirected to the LastPass web browser which will fill in your username and password for you. If you want to use Safari instead, there’s a handy LastPass bookmarklet you can install that will let you automatically fill out forms without having to use the LastPass app.

Copying a password can prove to be a nightmare.

However, there are some times you need to copy your actual password. For instance, updating your apps requires you to enter your iTunes password. Copying your password is yet another task that requires a ridiculous amount of effort. To copy a password, you have to press and hold an item in the vault. If you move your finger even the slightest bit, it will not work. The application gives no wiggle room for click and hold gestures. When you do manage to successfully getting around to clicking and holding to reveal the menu, you’ll go on and click Copy Password. If your LastPass security settings are set above normal or you’ve opted to prompt for the master password when copying or revealing an accounts password then you will be prompted to enter your LastPass master password after selecting Copy Password. Should you enter the incorrect password, the prompt goes away and you go back to the Vault. There’s no invalid password notification or password retry for getting it wrong. Instead, you have to go through the process of clicking and holding, selecting Copy Password, and give it another try. The final, and probably most frustrating part about copying your password is that there’s a good chance the LastPass app will crash. On one specific occasion I had to enter my master password six times to get my iTunes password.

1. Master password to copy password (crashed)
2. Master password to launch app after crash
3. Master password to copy password (crashed, again)
4. Master password to launch app after crash
5. Master password to copy password (I typed it incorrectly)
6. Master password to copy password (success)

Sure, one of those times was my fault, but the two application crashes in a row (rare, but it happens) sure did put a delay in copying a password. The app is unstable at best and is more of a chore to use than a convenience. However, when you don’t have to copy a password to the clipboard, the app isn’t too bad I suppose.

Browser Extensions

The browser extension, like most of LastPass, is highly functional but at the same time, highly ugly. While it isn’t as shiny and polished as it could be, it’s incredibly functional and it’s the feature you’ll find yourself using most often with LastPass. With the highly customizable extension, you can set up LastPass to automatically log you into sites when you reach the login screen, fill out the from but don’t automatically submit it, or prompt you for what to do next.

Here I visit gmail.com where LastPass has automatically filled out my username and password

Since auto login was disabled for my Gmail password, the form was just filled out but not submitted. You’ll notice we have 3 options now with LastPass: AutoLogin (5), AutoFill (5) and Never…

Clicking AutoLogin or AutoFill will present us with a drop down list of every username/password we have saved for this domain. Clicking on one of the usernames will then cause LastPass to fill out the form with the newly selected login information. Clicking Never… will cause LastPass to stop automatically filling out the login form for this domain.

LastPass has tons and tons of features. There’s enough to write a book about. 99% of the time, however, you’ll be using LastPass’s AutoLogin or AutoFill functionality and you’ll never have to type a password again.

There are tons of features LastPass has to offer which can be seen on their free features page. Things like multi-factor authentication increase the security of your LastPass account so even if someone does have your password, they’ll need something more to get in.

Overall I extremely enjoy LastPass with the exception of their iPhone App disaster. LastPass chooses functionality of looks and for the most part, it  turned out to be a good decision. If LastPass spent a little time redesigning the appearance of their iPhone and Desktop applications, there’s no doubt that LastPass will be one of the best login managers of this time.

Tune in sooner than later for part 3. Part 3 will probably be more useful for anyone reading this since I’ll directly compare LastPass to 1Password so you can get a visual comparison of the two at work.