Oliver Haslam on December 6, 2016, 8:18 am

Single Sign-On Apps Section Now Live On iOS 10.2 App Store

With the official launch of Single Sign-on via both tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 at an unspecified point in the presumably near future, Apple has built a new App Store section which includes a selection of apps that support the new feature.

The new section of App Store is now live for beta testers currently on iOS 10.2 betas and will roll out to everyone in time for the new iOS release to become available to public. The apps are categorized by their respective TV providers, including DirecTV, Dish, Sling TV, Hotwire, and GVTC, with all apps supporting the TV provider’s log-in credentials for easy access.

iOS 10.2

For those unfamiliar with the concept, Single Sign-on, or SSO, allows users to sign into devices or services using a single set of credentials.

Apps or services are then allowed access via those credentials, removing the need for multiple sets of log-ins and credentials for things that tie together nicely. In the example of the App Store, Single Sign-on allows TV providers to give users the option of signing into other apps using the same credentials rather than having to use bespoke usernames and passwords for each app.

As can be seen in the screenshots below, opening an app which supports Single Sign-on will prompt the user to confirm whether they want the app to have access to, in this example, their TV provider’s credentials. If the answer is yes, a tap of a button instantly logs the user in with the minimum of fuss.

If the answer is no however, users will still be able to access the apps, but they will need to log in with their own, app-specific credentials rather than taking advantage of SSO.

Single Sign-on will become available on tvOS 10.1 and iOS 10.2 once they are released following their current beta program sometime later this month.

(via: Reddit)