'Sign in with Apple' mandatory for all apps with third-party sign-in options

Apple's new "Sign in with Apple" login feature that debuts with iOS 13 later this year will be mandatory for all apps that offer third-party sign-in options to users, the company said in an update to developers on Monday.

Apple in a post to its Developer news webpage outlines a handful of updates to the App Store Review Guidelines, noting changes to the ruleset that impact app makers and their wares.

Among the modifications is upcoming support for "Sign in with Apple," a newly announced user authentication feature that enables streamlined access to apps and websites.

The single sign-on feature was touted onstage as a safe and secure alternative to ubiquitous solutions Facebook and Google, but the company failed to mention that developers offering those third-party sign-in options, among others, will be required to also integrate Apple's system.

"Sign In with Apple will be available for beta testing this summer. It will be required as an option for users in apps that support third-party sign-in when it is commercially available later this year," Apple said.

The feature allows users to create a new account with supporting apps, websites and services without exposing potentially sensitive private information. Unlike existing solutions, "Sign in with Apple" users are able to authenticate via Face ID or Touch ID and filter what information is passed on to the provider, greatly reducing their online footprint.

Unique to Apple's method is a specialized email forwarding subsystem that allows users to mask their personal address with an anonymized version generated on a per-app or service basis. The strategy not only ensures privacy, but also a means to completely terminate communications with an entity when an account is closed.

21 Comments

mazda 3s 1598 comments · 16 Years

About 5 years ago

Good! Bravo, Apple!

chaicka 257 comments · 14 Years

Excellent news and I will jump onto it when available.

The ability to mask the real email address is not a new technology. Namecheap.com's WhoisGuard feature is the same approach which masks real email address with random generated email address and it changes every 7 days (at max setting).

the monk 93 comments · 11 Years

Glad Apple is looking after their users, as users aren’t very good in looking out for themselves when it comes to privacy.

1STnTENDERBITS 460 comments · 8 Years

the monk said:

Glad Apple is looking after their users, as users aren’t very good in looking out for themselves when it comes to privacy.

This is nice to have as an additional option, but it's not really going to change much in my opinion. People who sign in with FB, Twitter and such are probably going to continue to sign in with those 3rd party tie ins. They're typically invested in those social media environments. Unless Apple makes it's sign-in mandatory for users, those same people are most likely going to "stay connected". Privacy really isn't their primary concern. Remember, this is only mandatory for devs with 3rd party sign-in attached to their apps. It's not for us civilians.

AZGuy 5 comments · 8 Years

Apple is stuffing this down developers throats. Apple will now have more control over app developers. I am not sure this is good for app developers are some of the other changes.