Apple Single Sign-on for iOS and tvOS Released With Support for 9 Partners
Today Apple introduced Single Sign-on, the service considered to permit cable subscribers to sign in once with their cable credentials to gain access to all cable-restricted content in iOS and tvOS apps.
Single Sign-on is restricted to the United States, and as per support document, is presented for the following providers: DirecTV, CenturyLink Prism, GVTC, Dish, GTA, Hotwire, Hawaiian Telcom, MetroCast, and Sling.
The list of providers misses out on names such as Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Optimum, and Verizon, as pointed out by a report from The Verge. Apple has made clear that even if our provider supports the feature, there might still be apps that will need users to sign in individually. The company further says that the supported apps might differ between iOS and tvOS. Here is the list of apps that are supported by the feature currently:
• A&E (iOS only)
• Bravo Now (tvOS only)
• E! Now (tvOS only)
• Hallmark Channel Everywhere (iOS and tvOS)
• History (iOS only)
• Lifetime (iOS only)
• NBC (tvOS only)
• Syfy Now (tvOS only)
• Telemundo Now (tvOS only)
• USA NOW (tvOS only)
• Watch HGTV (iOS and tvOS)
• Watch Food Network (iOS and tvOS)
• Watch Cooking Channel (iOS and tvOS)
• Watch DIY (iOS and tvOS)
• Watch Travel Channel (iOS and tvOS)
This list also ignores some of the important apps such as CBS, ABC, Disney, WatchESPN, and HBO Go, the report points out. Even though Apple declared the feature months ago, it seems surprising that the company was not able to bring major cable providers as well as app onboard for its feature. The user will have to wait and see if things now change after the complete rollout of the single sign-on feature.
iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1 are both still in beta, though so more providers could be added in coming days. Both updates may reach the public as soon as next week.
Single sign-on will be particularly crucial for another aspect of the updates, Apple's new "TV" app, which should make it easier to find, launch, and resume TV shows through a central interface. On the Apple TV, in fact, people will be able to recast the remote's Home button to jump back to the TV app, rather than the tvOS home screen.
Most cable channels and content providers offer individual apps on the Apple TV and iOS devices, but still need cable authentication before users can access content. Prior to Single Sign-on, clients were mandatory to enter their credentials in each individual app, a time-consuming and frustrating process.
At the current time, Single Sign-on is presented to a limited number of customers, but its accessibility will expand as Apple signs the necessary deals with cable providers. Single Sign-on also needs apps to implement support for the feature, and many apps have not yet announced Single Sign-on support.