Apples new 'Sign In With Apple' System

I’m surprised it hasn’t been talked about already.

apple-id-sign-in-with

What do people think of Apples new single single on system “Sign In With Apple”?

It competes with other oauth systems like Google and Facebooks single sign on, though i don’t believe its strictly oauth its self.

The primary difference is Apples sign in system allows you to choose what information is sent to the system you are logging into. One of the primary options (as far as i currently know) is the ability to share your email address or instead use a unique forwarding address generated specifically for that particular login.

This is definitely a plus in my view, the ability to easily use unique addresses for sign-in have a number of benefits, apart from just being able to delete the address if the service its attached to no longer interests you or spams you, it also has some benefit around compartmentalising leaks of your email address, either view selling of your personal information, or if the data is stolen.

I think its a good move.

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Giving ghostery-like features is not a bad idea. And being able to pick and choose data access is nice.

This is a good move for normal users who may not even think about this sort of thing. Apple in those cases would be better than a non tech savvy user to protect themselves.

I am so far outside the Apple ecosystem that I will never use it though.

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While you’d need an apple ID, the current understanding is this isnt limited to apple devices. It will work on the web so you should also be able to use it on windows and android.

It does have the same possible downside as oauth does in that the central auth service provider can essentially know where your logging in, the difference here obviously is that while Google and Facebooks business model relies on using that data, Apple has no real need for it.

It’s fantastic. Apple is completely demonetizing this service. They’re giving it away for free. It’s about as pure an act of benevolence that you’ll find from a corporation.

It’s mildly concerning that they’re forcing app developers to support it, if they support other 3rd party authentications on iOS. Apple likes to flex its muscles, and they must have determined it wouldn’t take off otherwise.

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It makes some sense in my mind. Sure you could make some argument otherwise, but its one of the reasons iOS tends to have more consistency, Google have been constantly trying to get the same result (slowly getting there).

There’s also no reason apps shouldn’t implement it if they implement 3rd party authentication in the first place, and if they do implement it, its a benefit for the user. So I don’t think there’s any huge downside?

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Unless you’re a developer - then you have to pay $99US per year.

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I watched the WWDC keynote and when this came up I was really excited about it. The possibility to use forwarding e-mail address is awesome.

One thing I do hope is Apple also gives options for hiding your real name. Reason why I don’t use Google or Facebook to sign in to services is both know my full name, and for what ever reason it’s either FB/Google or the service in question that thinks it’s excellent idea to use my full name as user name in the service. Unless it’s some legit online store I much rather use my current user name or make up a new one rather than use my real name.

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You mean just to put your stuff on the appstore in the first place? I mean, yeah, but so what?

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But hardware is in decline for them, at least on the mobile side, and aren’t they working toward making their own advertising system… Again.

On the surface this seems really good for all the reasons mentioned but I am looking at it that this only makes Apple more dominant as all your information in on their cloud, their account system, their login, their servers. Good they are not sharing it but they can do what they like once they hit a critical mass and then there is no going back. Like Hey we are the good guys keeping it all private but they are keeping it first and privatising it to others after they get it.

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Apple is pivoting towards services, yes. Given all the noise they’ve been making about privacy I don’t see them changing that tune any time soon, and Apple certainly isn’t going to be bought out by another company.

I mean, the alternative with these authentication buttons is Google and Facebook. Facebook is actively comic book villain twirling mustache evil.

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Oh yeah this is definitely better than the alternatives but I would never give them a pass and assume that they won’t be in some way malicious like the others, just that they won’t extend it beyond them selves, which arguably give them an even stronger position in regard to holding your data.

This seems to be by design. One of their 2018 keynotes main feature was about longevity of devices, you’re meant to keep your device longer, not shorter.

That’s the nature of oauth, as previously mentioned, one drawback of oauth is the general management from the single sign on provider.

The benefit of this is Apples model doesn’t generally rely on using your data. Most of their services are based around not having access to your important information.

This is a reasonable middle ground for single sign on for the vast majority of people imo. It works the same way any oauth system does, but has additional controls baked in to allow for some data-sahring enhancements that the other systems don’t have.

yeah, so the 2% of developers in the iOS app ecosystem will adopt Apple’s new API as they already have a developer account.

It’s called “zero adoption”

Not that I know any better, I just read not analyse, but they are 4 or so million overstocked on I phones, and blaming the battery replacement program they were forced into for not being able to shift them because that allowed people to keep their current phones.

It could well be a tactic but from the sound of it they are not pleased about the double digit drop in sales across Europe and Asia, especially when it is rivals taking their second place point of pride. And with the news being that they are not no.1 any more and Amazon being a more valuable brand it could well be annoying them into a change of revenue generation.

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What? Everybody pays the $99. Without that you can’t sell your app on iOS at all.

That certainly was not caused by selling overpriced product…

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Perhaps I should have been more clear. Outside of the Apple eco system ie; web, android etc, some developers will be hesitant to use (pay) for an apple dev account. This will slow adoption of the Apple SSO.

2018 hardware release keynote they described longevity of their phones, and their “lineup” was iPhone 7 through XS described in the keynote.

Their battery replacement program is front and centre of their entire operation. I can walk into an apple store an get my battery replacement in any iPhone from the SE up. They could go the Android way and just not make this an option, or at the least make it an option where you have to send it off to some unknown third party, but its front and centre with pricing very clear.

Its the same with their updates, they don’t need to support the phones they do. No one else does. All android companies dump their phones every couple of years and churn out new phones every year. I was just looking and Samsung who’ve thrown out 19 Galaxy phones this year alone, and we’re just 6 months in.

There actions don’t line up with the narrative that’s put out alone. I think they want to sell more to new customers which is possibly partially where they’ve seen lower numbers than they’d like. I don’t think they want current customers to buy new phones every year. At least not all of them. Otherwise why offer these options that no one else does?

So I don’t think this will affect their SSO offering, i think their single sign on is part of their new service strategy of offering better more privacy oriented options over the competition.

Their struggle is going to be convincing people that privacy actually matters when were told otherwise and are all used to giving Google and Facebook out data to actively mine and sell.

I’m positive it will outside of any apple orientated systems (standalone websites etc. maybe). As the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

But will the experience be just as good as on Apple devices? That’s my big concern. Apple products and services tend to feel subpar outside of their ecosystem.