This is one of the most interesting announcements from WWDC for me. Aaron Parecki wrote a detailed technical post for Okta about it, as well as a post on his blog:
Sign In with Apple is a good thing for users! This means apps will no longer be able to force you to log in with your Facebook account to use them.
There are also 2 sessions at WWDC: Introducing Sign In with Apple and What’s New in Authentication, Safari, and WebKit.
I plan to support Sign In with Apple in Micro.blog. We don’t have passwords, and we require verifying an email address before setting up your account on Micro.blog, so using Sign In with Apple should make the initial sign up go more smoothly. It could also be an option for existing users who need to sign in again and don’t want to wait for the confirmation email.
Ben Thompson covered more about sign in on Stratechery this week:
Apple is going to leverage its monopoly position as app provider on the iPhone to force developers (who use 3rd party solutions) to use Sign In With Apple. Keep in mind, that also means building Sign In With Apple into related websites, and even Android apps, at least if you want users to be able to login anywhere other than their iPhones. It was quite the announcement, particularly on a day where it became clear that Apple was a potential target of U.S. antitrust investigators.
I’m generally against the App Store review guidelines becoming even more restrictive. I’d rather developers choose to adopt Sign In with Apple because it’s better than using Facebook and Twitter rather than be required to do so on Apple’s schedule. But in this case, I think the end result will be positive.
People often ask me how we “win” against the big social networks, bringing more open platforms and indie blogging to everyone. It happens in small steps, not overnight. Sign In with Apple can be one of those small steps. Anything that moves people away from signing in with Facebook and Twitter is part of the solution.
