Firebase Auth client SDKs make it possible to sign in as a Firebase user from federated identity providers, including Google, Facebook, and Twitter. The Firebase Auth team is always looking for opportunities to improve the auth experience for developers and users. We know that more sign-in options mean more opportunities to create the best app experience. That’s why we are pleased to announce that you can now sign in to Firebase Auth using Microsoft and Yahoo!
New identity providers
Firebase Auth has added two new federated identity providers! Today, Microsoft and Yahoo join our growing list of providers. Applications that rely on these providers no longer have to handle custom credentials on the backend. With this simplified auth flow, developers can spend less time on implementing authentication and more time to spend on the core features of your application. Developers who implement Microsoft or Yahoo sign in for Firebase Auth will also get the benefit of a new, simpler way to get the provider credentials.
A simpler method for getting provider credentials
Signing in to Firebase with a given identity provider requires garnering a credential from that provider. This often involves including the provider’s SDK and implementing the provider’s sign-in methods before passing the credentials to Firebase Auth. For some providers, this can be particularly difficult on a native client, especially ones which do not support their own native SDKs. In order to remove the headache of implementing sign-in flows for these identity providers, we now offer generic OAuth2 provider sign-in.
Generic identity provider sign-in provides an easy means for developers to get that credential and use it to sign in by popping up a ChromeCustomTab on Android or a SafariViewController on iOS which will use the Web flow to generate the Identity Provider Credential, and then continue the sign in. Generic sign-in gives you many benefits:
- Smaller application size - Because you don’t have to import client SDKs to authenticate with providers using a web-based approach on mobile, your app size can be smaller than it otherwise would be.
- Low setup cost - Compared with having to learn the mechanism to set up the client SDK for each provider that you want to support, having a single way that providers work is significantly easier to set up.
- More unified sign-in experience - users can expect to use the Web flow no matter what providers they use to sign in.
Generic sign-in is available for Microsoft and Yahoo, and will be a feature of other identity providers in the future.
Getting Started
Ready to get started with Microsoft and Yahoo sign-in for Firebase Auth? Check out the guides linked below: