New York:
Lots of otherwise rational people use insecure passwords -- "111111," anyone? -- or they store hard-to-remember passwords in a Word file.
Either way, it's a generous gift to criminals.
And yes, it's highly unlikely that one's data will ever be stolen. But mobile app developers are lining up to sell people a little peace of mind.
The short list of password managers includes LastPass (on all smartphones, free for limited features or $1 monthly for a premium version), 1Password ($10 on iPhones) and SplashID ($10 on all smartphones).
The price of entry is clearly steeper than the cost of the latest throwaway game, but the bonus is that the apps can manage accounts on both a smartphone and a desktop computer.
These apps can challenge a user's patience, as is the case with just about any software known to man. But I found LastPass the least challenging of the bunch.
After installation, the service asks for a personal e-mail address, then asks for a master password for LastPass. The next step is to download LastPass to the browser on a desktop computer. This, too, was easy.
Why involve the desktop? Simple. Users who have been surfing the Web for years have most likely stored dozens of passwords in the browser's internal memory.
When a user opens the LastPass browser extension, it will, in a couple of easy steps, transfer all those stored passwords to a smartphone. LastPass says its encryption technology prevents the service from reading the passwords at any point.
Downloading the browser software also frees a user from having to remember login information on that computer. (You can log off the service when you leave your desk.) And, unlike the other apps I tested, the LastPass desktop software was free.
The real trick, though, is what it does for phones. Using the app, nearly any Web site will have login credentials filled in.
In a perfect world, a user could open a Bank of America app, for instance, and LastPass would automatically fill in that login and password information, too. Unfortunately, LastPass cannot pull off that trick. Instead, information from the LastPass app must be pasted into the Bank of America app.
The app uses its own mobile browser, so the format is sometimes less user-friendly than it might be on a company's dedicated app.
Still, LastPass can remember passwords and keep them secure.
Whether that's worth $12 annually depends, of course, on how much you worry about security and how much you value convenience. For me, it's money well spent.
Another option, 1Password, was very good, but I found it slightly harder to use than LastPass. The desktop software ($20 for Windows, $40 for Mac) transferred to my iPhone the login and password information I had stored in my browsers, for instance, but the process required more steps.
Adding accounts into the desktop app and syncing my computer with my iPhone was also more complicated than with LastPass, although I completed the task within 20 minutes. The browser in the 1Password mobile app functioned as smoothly as that of LastPass.
All good, in other words. Just not great.
The company offers a 30-day guarantee, during which time a refund is possible. The company also has a $15 app, 1Password Pro, for people with both iPhones and iPads.
SplashID was considerably more challenging to use than its competitors. Its desktop app ($20 for Windows and Mac) added a layer of work that the other services avoided. (SplashID required me to change my Safari settings to 32-bit mode, for instance, which took about 10 minutes.)
The bigger headache was populating the app with all the logins and passwords I previously used in Safari. Whereas LastPass scanned my browser for this information and transferred it to my iPhone app, I could not figure out how to get SplashID's import function to work. I resorted to typing everything manually, using forms that were at times hard to understand.
After that tedium, the app synced with my iPhone quickly enough. Some users have complained about the app freezing during a sync procedure, but I had no such problems.
Like its rivals, SplashID can surf the Web from within the app, but again this feature was complex, so I resorted to copying login information and shuttling back to my phone's browser.
Still, SplashID has some useful features. It can be set to close automatically after specific periods, for instance, to discourage snooping, and users can e-mail records from within the app. (The mail is encrypted, to prevent data theft.) Plus, the desktop program can securely store information on anything you wish, not just passwords.
This category is filled with well-rated competitors that serve a clear need. And since the apps command such high fees, companies will most likely improve the state of the art at a fast clip.
But for now, at least among this group, LastPass shall be first.
Quick CallsWith the National Hockey League and National Basketball Association seasons starting, both leagues have introduced mobile apps. N.H.L.'s GameCenter (free, on all devices) offers live scores and stats for teams and players. GameCenter Premium ($20) includes video and live audio, and GameCenter Live delivers real-time game video to Verizon BlackBerry and Android phones ($80), an application that will be available to iPad users at $169 when it is released in the coming weeks. The N.B.A. Game Time app is free on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry devices, with features similar to the N.H.L.'s free app. Upgrade to video highlights and live audio for $10 on iPhones and Android phones, or pay $50 for the League Pass Mobile live video feature on iPhones and Android phones.