October 3, 2009

While perusing my favorite forums the other day, I noticed that Ascendo had a new version of Data Vault out for the iPhone. I had never heard of Ascendo, so I went straight to the source.

I have always used programs like Data Vault, from Splash ID to eWallet, so I was anxious to compare. The nice people at Ascendo were happy to oblige, and gave me review codes for both the iPhone and Windows desktop versions.

I have to point out from the start, Ascendo Data Vault advertised a feature I haven’t seen anywhere else. This is not to say it doesn’t exist – just that I haven’t seen it – and that is, you can import your Roboform information. I am a longtime Roboform user, so this instantly piqued my interest.

While I have always been good about saving credit card, banking, and other general information in an encryption program like Data Vault, I have amassed a far greater number of passwords in Roboform, so I was anxious to see how this worked.

I immediately set up Data Vault on my pc (now running 64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate) and began the process of importing my data from eWallet. Could it have been easier? Not unless someone from Ascendo appeared in my living room and did it for me! The import feature includes formats from all the most popular competitors: They really did think of everything. They also thought about the challenges facing those people not used to importing/exporting data between programs, and their online help is very thorough and easy to follow. Yes, I actually had to follow the instructions to import my Roboform data, but it worked like a charm. The best thing about having all your Roboform data inside Data Vault is that the links are hot, and you can click right from inside Data Vault to go right to the web page after refreshing your memory about your login and password. It would be great if a future build could actually incorporate that information when clicking the link! Meanwhile, the only real drawback is that not one of my Roboform “cards” imported with the http:// prefix, so every one needed to be edited in order to get that hyperlink functionality. While this is most certainly a Roboform export issue, it would be nice if Data Vault could foresee this upon import, and automatically include the http://.

The only disappointment inside Data Vault itself, is the icon set. Considering the media power of the iPhone, there should be more.

I’m used to a vast number of icon sets I have from my Palm and Windows Mobile experiences. It would be nice if there were a way to import them into Data Vault. Custom icons would be even better still.

Mostly I just don’t quite get the icons offered and how some of them relate to information that should be protected. A soccer ball? Musical notes? Why not more officey type things. A second vehicle icon would have been nice as well so I could have one for my driver’s license info, one for my auto insurance info, and one for my AAA details. But enough whining about insignificant details.

The app itself stores your information using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), the most powerful technology available to secure your data. It includes a password generator to make sure you are protected from the outside in. After all, what’s the use of securing passwords if you’re still using the names of your pets?!

The user interface of both the Windows and the iPhone versions is clean and intuitive, and the integration is precise. The only thing offered on the Windows desktop that you don’t get in the iPhone version is screen real estate. (D’oh!) Both give you the option of creating or editing categories, types, and templates. Data Vault comes with 25 pre-defined templates, but you can create an unlimited number of your own templates to fit the type of information you need to secure most frequently.

With both versions, you can view your items in either a list or tree view. When in tree view on the iPhone, there is a shortcut to either expand or close the tree, and in list view, the familiar alpha tabs appear to the right for quickly finding what you’re looking for. Of course, there is a convenient search tool available in both versions.

There is plenty of space inside each item for all the fields you need, and the ability to create new fields easily in case something was overlooked.  I found Data Vault to be extremely versatile as far as identifying specific values within an item.

While it may be difficult to see from some of the screen shots, there is a background to both the iPhone and Windows versions. The default background matches the gears of the Ascendo logo, and I prefer it to any of the alternate backgrounds. That being said, there are a number of background options including blue, green, gray, “painter,” and brushed steel (which I also liked).

If you are the kind of person who keeps your data secure, you are probably also the type who wants a local backup. Apple has made sure that syncing locally is only done if you share a network, but Ascendo has made it as painless as possible. Setting up the sync partnership is a snap, and it’s as easy as having both the desktop and iPhone apps running simultaneously to initiate a sync from the desktop.

Sync options are controlled from the desktop, and even though they are definitely Blackberry biased, they are clear and easy to understand. (No, I don’t want my Blackberry to overwrite my desktop!)

For the security offered, $4.99 is a steal for the iPhone version, and a limited sale price of $9.95 for the Windows companion is a bargain at half the price of similar apps. You can download a trial of the Windows version and experience it for yourself, and purchase Ascendo Data Vault from iTunes.

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