1) As OP has pointed out, security is not just about effective security, it's also about the perceived one. Cleartext passwords are so unusual it makes me quest

1) As OP has pointed out, security is not just about effective security, it's also about the perceived one. Cleartext passwords are so unusual it makes me question as a user, how things are handled in the backend. 2) I don't see the problem on mobiles. Not sure about Android or WP but at least on iOS I always see the last character that is entered. Still vulnerable to shoulder peeking but not as bad as cleartext.