After ten years of asking and the longest forum thread in the company’s history, 1Password is heading to Linux.
Who says persistence doesn’t pay off? After 10 years of nagging that resulted in the longest forum thread in 1Password’s history, the popular password manager is finally coming to Linux.
1Password has been enjoyed by Windows, Android and iOS users for years, but not Linux fans. Fortunately, those days of longing are coming to an end, with AgileBits recently announcing that it will release a desktop Linux client of 1Password later this year. “A full-featured Linux desktop app has been our most requested feature by far and responsible for the longest forum post in our history,” the company said in a blog post.
“Today we’re thrilled to announce that 1Password is coming to Linux!”
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The app will be released in development preview format initially, intended for testing and validation purposes. This means it will be in read-only format and Linux users won’t be able to make the most of 1Password’s full suite of features: there is no item editing, creation of vaults, or item organisation.
That said, 1Password for Linux will eventually get all the features users on other platforms have come to expect. “This isn’t a long-term support release! You can expect many updates and changes over the next few months as many features are not complete yet,” AgileBits said.
The company has styled the 1Password Linux desktop client as “a true Linux app” that is purpose-built to meet the security and performance considerations of the platform. As such, the app’s backend has been written completely in the Rust programming language and features end-to-end encryption based on the open-source ring crypto library.
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1Password has also been tailored to integrate with the desktop Linux experience, including features such as:
- Simple and secure installs using apt and dnf packager managers
- Automatic Dark Mode selection based on your GTK theme
- Open network locations (FTP, SSH, SMB)
- Tiling window manager support and descriptive window titles
- Unlock with your Linux user account, including biometrics
- System tray icon for staying unlocked while closed
- X11 clipboard integration and clearing
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Data export
- Unlock multiple accounts with different passwords
- Create collections to organize data across accounts and vaults
“There will be many more exciting features that will take advantage of the power of Linux as we get closer to release,” AgileBits said. In the meantime, users will want to use 1Password X in their browser for a stable experience on Linux.
Those who wish to test out the desktop client in preview mode, AgileBits is welcoming testers to report issues and help identify fixes. Interested users should check out the Get to know 1Password for Linux to find installation and troubleshooting instructions before getting started.
AgileBits already has installation tools for 1Password on Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux, with support for other major Linux distributions coming at a later but as-yet-unknown date.
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