One of the interesting new features introduced at WWDC was Sign In with Apple. It’s a new sign-in system made by Apple that’s meant to replace other platforms offered by Facebook and Google. The idea here is that Apple’s system ensures your data stays safe and doesn’t get abused by third-party developers.

Sign In with Apple lets you login with Face ID or Touch ID, and it only lets you share your name and email address with apps. And if some apps do require your email address, you can share your actual email address with them — or better yet, Apple can help you mask your actual email address. This works by Apple creating a unique email address for each app you login to, and simply forwards email to that unique/fake email address to your actual email address. That way, the apps never get your actual email address.

And all of this is actually really great. Apple’s system might be the only single sign-in system that keeps your data safe. But here’s the thing: iOS apps will be forced to use the new system, which is a bit unfriendly on Apple’s side.

Apps that offer third-party sign-in will require to offer Sign In with Apple as an option when iOS 13 launches later this year. “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.

Wow. Apple sign-in support is mandatory? https://t.co/qen34RLGOW pic.twitter.com/gBhStE6HVN

— Ben Sandofsky (@sandofsky) June 3, 2019

That’s not particularly a bad thing, especially since Sign in with Apple makes logging into apps much quicker and safer. And Apple forcing apps to offer its own service as an alternative to those provided by Facebook and Google will allow the service to reach more users quickly, and hopefully replace the horrible systems provided by other companies, especially Facebook.

The problem, however, is that it’s not really clear how Sign In with Apple works on other platforms. If you create an account on your iPhone or iPad, it’s not clear how you would access that same account from an Android device, a Windows laptop, or just from any other laptop on the web. It’s a bit of a mystery for now.

Tagged with iOS 13, iPadOS 13, Sign In with Apple