What is Apple ID SSO? (Supporting Apple ID SSO for Single Sign-On)

Last updated 11/01/2023

*Bread & Butter supports Apple ID for single sign-on (SSO) as part of our free universal API and WordPress plugin.*

Apple ID SSO enables existing Apple ID users to use their existing Apple credentials to sign on to other applications and websites. Single Sign On or SSO simplifies passwords and identity, not just for users, but also for administrators of websites and apps. It can increase conversion rates. It can build trust in your system. And it can make your application or website more attractive to Apple ID’s market of 588 million users. Apple users are a very desirable demographic.

How does it work? An Apple ID user comes to your website or application. The login screen offers a “Verify with Apple ID” button, which the user selects. Their Apple ID credentials are used to verify them, without the need for your site to receive or store those credentials. With proof that the user is real, the application creates a new account for them.

The application benefits from being able to verify a user without having them create a new password. This can reduce friction considerably and drive conversion rates way up. Some people turn away rather than fill out another signup form, whereas familiar SSO options are an easy “yes.”

The user is now in your app or website, without the fuss of having to come up with a new password and username, and you avoid the bother and expense of managing the login credentials.

Application and Admin Benefits of Apple ID SSO

The application is able to verify a user without having them create a new password. When new users see a familiar verification option like Apple ID SSO, they are more likely to join. This can drive conversion rates way up. Apple has huge brand recognition and an enormous user base. Many users don’t want to fill out another signup form, but are more trusting of familiar SSO options.

The user benefits in two ways:

Why Support Apple ID for SSO?

If your app or member site has a lot of Apple ID users, or you would like to get more of them to use your app or site, offer them a chance to log in with their existing credentials. For many of those users, they might consider it more secure verification option; one that doesn’t require creating another password. And it’s less work for them, and less work for you and your team.

Especially for companies that offer software that works in tandem with Apple ID’s offerings, supporting Apple ID SSO could help convert a lot more users, too. Verifying an Apple ID SSO user can help to complete the account profile as well. And of course they can connect on your site or app with their existing Apple ID SSO contacts easily.

As users, we are all growing more dependent on an evolving set of software-as-a-service accounts and tools. As part of the ongoing stewardship of web best practices, it helps to offer to combine some of these under a single and secure identity management tool. If users have the option to use just one login for many services, it can reduce the friction involved with task switching. It also helps to alleviate concerns around the protection of data. It offloads that responsibility to Apple, which its users by definition already trust.

Challenges with Supporting Apple SSO

Developing an Apple ID SSO from scratch can be time-consuming and expensive. You’ll have to continue to monitor and update it, costing your team even more time, and risking having it break at a crucial time.

With Bread & Butter, you can add Apple ID SSO to your existing login screen for free, and leave the support to us. We already keep the module up to date and offer [ UPTIME].

If you set up your own Apple ID SSO SSO integration, you can get data on its usage on your Apple ID SSO app. But it will have nothing to say about any logins that aren’t Apple ID SSO logins (obviously). So with Bread & Butter, you have your Apple ID SSO login data visible in the same table with all of your login data.

Benefits of Supporting Apple ID Accounts for SSO

So many organizations use Apple ID that there exists a huge market for users with existing Apple ID SSO logins. Any professional who’s changed jobs is on there.
Your team no longer has to handle or process password resets.The user always uses their Apple ID SSO credentials.
Saves time for your users. Account creation and subsequent logins are made easier.
You can reduce risk. When users are asked to create a password, they will often default to an easy choice they can remember top-of-mind. But if you offer them a chance to use their login from Apple ID because you’ve got SSO, they’ll pick the safer and easier choice more often. Since you’re not storing a password for them, your data is also better protected.

How to Support Apple SSO

As mentioned above, Bread & Butter supports Apple ID SSO, even in the free version. Ready to get started? Great. As mentioned above, Bread & Butter supports Apple ID SSO, even in the free version. To get started, view our API documentation, choose from our SDKs, or if you are building on WordPress, use our WordPress plugin. We’ve worked hard to make this an easy and robust solution for you.

Bread & Butter works simply enough – you add a code snippet to your back-end and another to your front end in your login screen. Two code snippets and done!

There’s nothing special required to integrate with Apple ID SSO. Just add Bread & Butter to your site/app and select Apple ID from the social identity providers list:

Tags: apple, apple id