AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

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hpoul
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AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#1 Post by hpoul »

Hello all,
I am the developer of AuthPass, a cross platform password manager which is available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android: https://authpass.app/

I have recently made it "portable" - ie. bundled it as zip file which can be launched without accessing anything outside it's directory (will only write into a `Data` directory)

You can find this distribution at: https://authpass-data.codeux.design/dat ... 2_1731.zip - the contents look like:

Code: Select all

AuthPass/
  App/
    authpass.exe
    *.dll
    data/ (app-internal data files which pare part of the distribution)
  Data/ (will be created on first launch, will contain runtime files and user created data, logs, caches, etc.)
  AuthPass.bat ("shortcut" which launches App/authpass.exe)
  version.txt (just containing version information)
I'm pretty new to portable windows apps, and actually more a mobile app developer than a windows developer (not even a windows user) - so if you have suggestions on packaging and distribution, that would be great.

thanks,
Herbert

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Andrew Lee
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#2 Post by Andrew Lee »

Thanks for posting this.

I use KeePass (mainline 2.x) on Windows and Android (KeePass2Android) myself, so I am definitely keen to check this out.

hpoul
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#3 Post by hpoul »

Hey, I've now created an entry for AuthPass, maybe you could try it out and give it a vote 😅️

https://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=3056

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Andrew Lee
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#4 Post by Andrew Lee »

I have voted, and I hope others will as well. The app is indeed portable, no doubt about it.

I have tried both the Windows and Android version. Here are my comments.

First the pros. I like:

- the uniform user interface across the platforms
- the ability to scale the UI (density, text size) dynamically is neat (no doubt for folks with high DPI monitors)
- the ability to load the kdbx file directly from Google Drive (setting up the Google Sync plugin on the KeePass application is way too technical for most people).

However, I am missing:

- certain essential plugins on the Windows KeePass app. For example, I like my generated passwords to be word-based eg. "WhaleSensitiveOakPail256%". There is a plugin on KeePass to let me do just that.

- hotkey (Ctrl-Alt-A) to simulate keystrokes to enter username/password into 3rd-party programs, and the ability to customize the default "<username><tab><password><enter>" sequence for specific entries.

- for the Android app, a built-in keyboard to help me enter username/password into 3rd-party apps.

To summarize, I like that AuthPass has a simple, consistent, cross-platform KeePass-compatible app which is easy for a new user to get started with. However, it is lacking more sophisticated features that more advanced users may have come to rely upon.

hpoul
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#5 Post by hpoul »

Thanks for your feedback! Yes, AuthPass is very much still lacking a few features. It is most feature complete on Android and MacOS since those are my main platforms. Others are still improving. (And looking for contributors 😅️)
Andrew Lee wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:11 am - certain essential plugins on the Windows KeePass app. For example, I like my generated passwords to be word-based eg. "WhaleSensitiveOakPail256%". There is a plugin on KeePass to let me do just that.
Interesting idea, usually the password strength evaluator tries to discourage dictionary words. Out of curiosity, what is the main advantage? Easier to type/rember by hand?
Andrew Lee wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:11 am - hotkey (Ctrl-Alt-A) to simulate keystrokes to enter username/password into 3rd-party programs, and the ability to customize the default "<username><tab><password><enter>" sequence for specific entries.
Good point, there has been an auto type feature request for MacOS for some time, i've now created the same for windows. I'll have to take a closer look at the Windows APIs, right now I can't really estimate how complicated that would be.
Andrew Lee wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:11 am - for the Android app, a built-in keyboard to help me enter username/password into 3rd-party apps.
On Android you'd typically use the Auto-Fill feature. It's still a bit cumbersome, but definitely the endorsed way from Android/Play Store.

thanks again for your feedback!

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Andrew Lee
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#6 Post by Andrew Lee »

hpoul wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:46 am Interesting idea, usually the password strength evaluator tries to discourage dictionary words. Out of curiosity, what is the main advantage? Easier to type/rember by hand?
If the password is long enough, and seeded with numbers/symbols, I think it is as strong as any other password. The main advantage is it is easier to read and input manually on a device without the password manager installed eg. enter my PayPal password on kid's machine to purchase a Steam game.
hpoul wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:46 am Good point, there has been an auto type feature request for MacOS for some time, i've now created the same for windows. I'll have to take a closer look at the Windows APIs, right now I can't really estimate how complicated that would be.
Dont forget, KeePass is open-source, so you might be able to borrow some code from it! :D
hpoul wrote: Tue Jul 20, 2021 4:46 am On Android you'd typically use the Auto-Fill feature. It's still a bit cumbersome, but definitely the endorsed way from Android/Play Store.
The auto-fill is wonderful when it works, but there are still quite a number of websites and apps that do not support it well unfortunately. In such situations, I find the the built-in keyboard easier to use compared to loading the app and doing copy-and-paste.

Don't get me wrong. I think you have a wonderful cross-platform password manager that will appeal to many users. It's just that I have been tuning my own setup for awhile now and am familiar with what I currently have. If for example I am forced to recreate my current KeePass environment with all the plugins I have configured, I might just take the easy way out and start with something that eg. works with cloud storage right out of the box.

xor
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#7 Post by xor »

Sorry for downvoting AuthPass. It's just that my open Apps started behaving weirdly and my Keyboard stopped responding while using it. Win10 here

hpoul
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#8 Post by hpoul »

xor wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:12 am Sorry for downvoting AuthPass. It's just that my open Apps started behaving weirdly and my Keyboard stopped responding while using it. Win10 here
wtf? Never heard that one before.. fwiw, AuthPass makes absolutely no use of any custom windows APIs, yet. Flutter's desktop support for windows is still in "beta", but I can't imagine this somehow affecting other applications.

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JohnTHaller
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#9 Post by JohnTHaller »

hpoul wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:39 am
xor wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:12 am Sorry for downvoting AuthPass. It's just that my open Apps started behaving weirdly and my Keyboard stopped responding while using it. Win10 here
wtf? Never heard that one before.. fwiw, AuthPass makes absolutely no use of any custom windows APIs, yet. Flutter's desktop support for windows is still in "beta", but I can't imagine this somehow affecting other applications.
There could be another app causing an interaction, especially if a third party app that hooks the keyboard is in use. It may not be Flutter/AuthPass itself, it could be Flutter/AuthPass+some utility = weirdness. Try to reproduce the environment (Windows 10, same build, 32- or 64-bit) and any third party apps running to see if you can reproduce it.
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hpoul
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#10 Post by hpoul »

xor wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:12 am Sorry for downvoting AuthPass. It's just that my open Apps started behaving weirdly and my Keyboard stopped responding while using it. Win10 here
Thats funny, I've now heard from a second user who reported a similar problem. Do you know if you have any apps/drivers which would interfere with the keyboard? Have you ever had problems with other apps or games? thanks

hpoul
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Re: AuthPass - Keepass compatible open source password manager

#11 Post by hpoul »

xor wrote: Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:12 am Sorry for downvoting AuthPass. It's just that my open Apps started behaving weirdly and my Keyboard stopped responding while using it. Win10 here
I've now heard that this might be related to using either RDP and/or Samsung DeX. Are you using something like that?

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