This review originally appeared within iLounge’s iOS Gems series within the compilation article, iPhone Gems: All 22 Wallet Apps, Reviewed. Additional details may be found in the original article.
Mecrets Password Manager ($10) is one of the more expensive App Store wallet offerings. The most distinguishing feature of Mecrets is that it offers a choice of using a standard password or a graphical login option in the form of a combination dial that you manipulate via the touch screen.
This combination dial log in seems like more of a gimmick than a practical feature, however, as the dial is quite sensitive and its far too easy to enter the wrong numbers and have to start over again. Although you can switch to a normal text-based password entry, it’s important to note that if you have specified a password using the combination dial, the text-based version of that password is not simply the numbers but actually the numbers and punctuation that is normally displayed when you are dialling in a password. For instance, a combination dial password of 40, 30 and 20 would be entered as “40, 30, 20” and not “403020.” This does not appear to be documented anywhere in the application.
Like other wallet apps, Mecrets offers basic storage of different types of information, although its design appears to be more focused on storing passwords, with basic field categories for login, password, URL and note on most items, and other fields such as credit card numbers simply being added as generic additional fields as required.
Field types themselves are either text, password, or note, and in all cases are text-only, with the only difference being that a “password” field offers the ability to automatically generate a password, and the note field is a multi-line text field. Password fields can also be masked by selecting the “Hide Password” option when using a password-type field.
A basic top-level folder structure is provided to organize items into groups, with some initial defaults provided. These can be renamed or deleted and new groups can be added. Note that deleting a group does not delete any of the items it contains—they will simply revert to the default “Unfiled” group.
Mecrets also offers another somewhat unique feature compared to other apps in the form of a password generator. Tapping “Generate Password” on a password type field will automatically fill it in with a randomly generated password. You can specify the number and type of characters that the password generator will use through the Mecrets configuration panel found in the iPhone’s main “Settings” app.
The settings screen also provides the option to save the Mecrets password so you will not be prompted for it each time you log on. This is a useful feature if you want to store your information without using a password, although perhaps defeating the purpose of a secure app.
Mecrets is a reasonable enough app, but its only distinguishing features are a password generator that only some users will find useful, and a graphical login screen that most users will likely find annoying once the novelty wears off. Neither of these features justify the $10 price tag when compared to other applications that are available for the same price or less, however. iLounge Rating: C-.
Our Rating
Company and Price
Company: NormSoft, Inc.
Website: www.normsoft.com
Title: Mecrets Password Manager
Price: $10
Compatible: iPhones, iPod touches