Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Enpass 5.0 RC was released recently (64bit only for Linux), bringing one of the most requested features: browser extensions for both Firefox and Chrome on Linux and Windows (and for Safari on Mac), which allows auto-filling your username/password and other sensitive information directly from the web browser.

Enpass 5.0 Linux

For those not familiar with Enpass, this is a proprietary cross-platform password manager which uses SQLCipher under the hood, an open source extension to SQLite that provides transparent 256-bit AES encryption of database files.

The app comes with many useful features, including built-in (encrypted) backup/sync to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box and ownCloud/WebDAV and is available for Linux, Windows and Mac as well as iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry. The desktop apps are free to use with no limitations while the mobile apps offer in-app purchases (Android, iOS) or cost 9.99$ (Windows Phone).

From the newly released Firefox and Chrome extensions, you can automatically fill the login credentials (as well as any other data you store in Enpass, like credit card details, etc.) stored in your Enpass desktop app in the web browser, either by clicking on the extension icon, which provides a recently used items list as well as a search, or by using a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + \). You can also save new logins you enter in the browser to Enpass.

Enpass 5.0 Chrome

The browser extension also ships with a few other minor but useful features like generating secure passwords, locking/unlocking Enpass (which locks/unlocks both the extension and the desktop app) as well as launching or quitting the desktop app.

That's not all that's new in Enpass 5.0 RC - other changes include:
  • support for password history in the password generator;
  • a new Password Audit helps change old and weak passwords;
  • fixed various sync issues with WebDAV/ownCloud;
  • new icons and other UI improvements;
  • on Linux, there's now an option (Tools > Settings, on the General tab) to minimize the app to the tray instead of closing it but this feature only worked under Unity in my test (I also tested it under MATE and Cinnamon and there was no tray icon);
  • bug fixes.

Note that Enpass 5.0 is currently available as a release candidate so you may encounter small issues. For instance, in my test I had to restart Firefox to get the extension to work (note: this feature also requires enabling the Browser Extensions feature from the Enpass application settings), even though after installing the extension, Firefox didn't request a restart. Other than that and the tray issue I mentioned above, both extensions as well as the desktop application worked great in my test.

I should also mention that since this is not a final, stable release, the app will not interfere with existing stable Enpass data: version 5.0 RC will be installed in parallel with the stable 4.x version.

The final Enpass 5.0 version should be released around the first week of October.


Download Enpass



Download Enpass Password Manager 5.0 RC (available for desktops: Linux 64-bit deb only, Mac OS X and Windows as well as mobile: iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry)

The actual Enpass download link will be emailed to you, so you must provide a valid email address on the download page linked above. The desktop apps are free to use, with no limitations.

The Enpass 5.0 RC Chrome extension can be installed from the Chrome Web Store while the Firefox extension is provided in the downloaded desktop app archive (to install it, drag and drop the .xpi file to Firefox and the extension installer should pop up). After installing the extension, make sure you enable the "Browser Extensions" feature in the desktop application (Tools > Settings > Browser) to be able to use it.

Since the release candidate is not available in the Mac App Store, iCloud Sync is not available in this version.

If you prefer to download the stable Enpass 4.x version, see THIS page (the Enpass developers also provide an Ubuntu/Debian repository which you can use to install the latest stable Enpass on both 32bit and 64bit - you'll find it on the downloads page)