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How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

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Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#41

Post by habosa »

I tried to do a Sign in with Apple integration on Android (wanted the app to have the same options across platforms).

Testing on Android was next to impossible. To test I needed an Apple ID with 2FA. But SMS 2FA was not good enough, you need the hardware-based 2FA. To get that you need a recent macOS or iOS device. As an Android developer I have no reason to own either of those.

Eventually I just had a friend who owns an iPhone try my app a few times.

Besides that, the Apple interface guidelines are nearly impossible to follow on Android because Apple doesn't provide the logo or font assets you need to comply. There is no SDK whatsoever, just a spec.

Seems like a nice sign-in option for iPhone owners but it's a portability disaster.

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#42

Post by scarface74 »

smlacy wrote: post #25
jrochkind1 wrote: post #4

> It’s utterly private, where signing in with Google or Facebook is not at all, yet far more convenient than signing up with your email address. What is different in the privacy design of 'sign in with apple'?

"Utterly private" is a very odd term here. At the very least, Apple knows which sites you're signing into, and has the unique e-mail addresses used at those sites, and has likely issued the authentication tokens for those sites. I'm not sure what's "utterly private" about this setup.

You are already trusting Apple regardless if you are using iOS.

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#43

Post by corylulu »

cbsks wrote: post #19

I have a similar setup for signing up for services. I set up a custom domain with Fastmail with a wildcard alias that forwards all emails to my inbox. I can then sign up for services with a custom email like "hn-cbsks@myemail.example". If a service leaks my email, I'll know immediately and I'll be able to blacklist that address.

Yeah, I have the same setup for my self-hosted server. It's only a pain when I don't save the login info and need to go dig it up (or if I'm on mobile). If only I could make a custom "Sign in with" button on every site that tracked all that for me, while remaining self hosted, I'd be in heaven.

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#44

Post by benbristow »

capableweb wrote: post #22
jrochkind1 wrote: post #4

> It’s utterly private, where signing in with Google or Facebook is not at all, yet far more convenient than signing up with your email address. What is different in the privacy design of 'sign in with apple'?

As a application owner, I won't see the users email, instead Apple generates a unique address for each signup. That email also redirects any emails to the users email. For someone who doesn't like a lot of what Apple does, this is a really nifty feature. We just started integrating "Sign in with Apple" last week and are about to deploy it. Discovering the shielding of email addresses was a happy discovery, which I ha…

When I used the feature with Byte it gives you the option whether you wish to mask your email address or send your real email address.

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#45

Post by mikece »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #12
ir77 wrote: post #5

unfortunately there are very few apps so far that allow signing in with apple even though i see them offer email, google and facebook options. i think out of all of the apps that i use only adobe lightroom allowed me to sign up with apple.

My understanding is that "Sign in With Apple" is still officially in beta; once it launches in full, all iOS apps that offer third-party sign ins (like the Google & Facebook options) will be mandated to also offer Apple's OAuth sign-in -- and must give it more prominent placement than third-party services.

Is Sign in with Apple compliant with OAuth2 / OpenID Conenct? If it's not I don't see how Apple can justify mandating the inclusion of something that isn't standards-based?

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#46

Post by ilikehurdles »

jandrese wrote: post #39
fetus8 wrote: post #14

I've seen "Sign in with Apple" exactly once since iOS 13 launched. I am kind of surprised it's not being rolled out more widely. The first app I've seen and used it with was Byte (the Vine successor) over this past weekend.

Is there any good reason to do the Sign In With ? I never take that option if there is anything else available. They don't need to see my signins on other sites, why should I just give it to them? For a few sites where it is utterly unavoidable I make one-off twitter accounts instead, because Twitter doesn't require your phone number to make an account and doesn't have a "only one account per person" policy I think.

Sign in with Apple has the advantage that the service on the other side of the auth window doesn't get to see you actual email address. They're provided instead with an anonymized email address from Apple that serves as a forwarding address for you.

It's also easy in general to revoke permissions with these SSO providers rather than dealing with whatever the service's account cancellation protocol is.

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#47

Post by fallenasleep »

randyrand wrote: post #10

How does sign in with apple work when switching to android? or using a windows PC?

Similar to other 3rd party signins, you get redirected to an apple signin form, and then redirected back.

Disclaimer: opinion/ venting my personal frustration ahead

Apple's implementation of the OAuth flow is incomplete (even compared to what their documentation says is possible) and buggy. We've found it very frustrating to work with. This may be one reason that widespread adoption of apple signin is taking a while.

Of course I expect the issues will be resolved with time

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#48

Post by scarface74 »

chirau wrote: post #31
Etheryte wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As covered on Macrumors [1], you have the option of using a unique generated email on Apple's servers which then forwards to your own email without the service provider getting any info about you. You also have the option to choose what data, if any, you share with the service. [1] https://www.macrumors.com/guide/sign-in-with-apple/

So is the unique generated email one-time use or it's persistent? Also, if an app owner gives that generated email address to a third or fourth party, and that party sends an email to the unique address, does the mail still reach my inbox? If so then what is the purpose?

The app developer has to tell Apple which domains are allowed to send emails to the generated address. If the domain isn't on the list, no emails will be received.

Re: How Popular Is “Sign in with Apple”?

#50

Post by azinman2 »

jandrese wrote: post #39
fetus8 wrote: post #14

I've seen "Sign in with Apple" exactly once since iOS 13 launched. I am kind of surprised it's not being rolled out more widely. The first app I've seen and used it with was Byte (the Vine successor) over this past weekend.

Is there any good reason to do the Sign In With ? I never take that option if there is anything else available. They don't need to see my signins on other sites, why should I just give it to them? For a few sites where it is utterly unavoidable I make one-off twitter accounts instead, because Twitter doesn't require your phone number to make an account and doesn't have a "only one account per person" policy I think.

Well, Sign In with Apple is different because:

1. It’s fast

2. It gives you a pseudonym

3. It doesn’t leak all your other social graph data

4. Doesn’t require a new password

The rest are:

1. Faster than creating an email, but will require redirects, and possibly logging into fb/google

2. May give you a pseudonym but often reveals your real name

3. Are used typically to build profiles of you and create stats on app popularity across demographics

4. Don’t require a new password.

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