Authenticate Using Apple on Android

You can let your users authenticate with Firebase using their Apple ID by using the Firebase SDK to carry out the end-to-end OAuth 2.0 sign-in flow.

Before you begin

To sign in users using Apple, first configure Sign In with Apple on Apple's developer site, then enable Apple as a sign-in provider for your Firebase project.

Join the Apple Developer Program

Sign In with Apple can only be configured by members of the Apple Developer Program.

Configure Sign In with Apple

On the Apple Developer site, do the following:

  1. Associate your website with your app as described in the first section of Configure Sign In with Apple for the web. When prompted, register the following URL as a Return URL:

    https://YOUR_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID.firebaseapp.com/__/auth/handler

    You can get your Firebase project ID on the Firebase console settings page.

    When you're done, take note of your new Service ID, which you'll need in the next section.

  2. Create a Sign In with Apple private key. You'll need your new private key and key ID in the next section.

  3. If you use any of Firebase Authentication's features that send emails to users, including email link sign-in, email address verification, account change revocation, and others, configure the Apple private email relay service and register noreply@YOUR_FIREBASE_PROJECT_ID.firebaseapp.com (or your customized email template domain) so Apple can relay emails sent by Firebase Authentication to anonymized Apple email addresses.

Enable Apple as a sign-in provider

  1. Add Firebase to your Android project. Be sure to register your app's SHA-1 signature when you set up your app in the Firebase console.
  2. In the Firebase console, open the Auth section. On the Sign in method tab, enable the Apple provider. Specify the Service ID you created in the previous section. Also, in the OAuth code flow configuration section, specify your Apple Team ID and the private key and key ID you created in the previous section.

Comply with Apple anonymized data requirements

Sign In with Apple gives users the option of anonymizing their data, including their email address, when signing in. Users who choose this option have email addresses with the domain privaterelay.appleid.com. When you use Sign In with Apple in your app, you must comply with any applicable developer policies or terms from Apple regarding these anonymized Apple IDs.

This includes obtaining any required user consent before you associate any directly identifying personal information with an anonymized Apple ID. When using Firebase Authentication, this may include the following actions:

  • Link an email address to an anonymized Apple ID or vice versa.
  • Link a phone number to an anonymized Apple ID or vice versa
  • Link a non-anonymous social credential (Facebook, Google, etc) to an anonymized Apple ID or vice versa.

The above list is not exhaustive. Refer to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement in the Membership section of your developer account to make sure your app meets Apple's requirements.

Handle the sign-in flow with the Firebase SDK

On Android, the easiest way to authenticate your users with Firebase using their Apple accounts is to handle the entire sign-in flow with the Firebase Android SDK.

To handle the sign-in flow with the Firebase Android SDK, follow these steps:

  1. Construct an instance of an OAuthProvider using its Builder with the provider ID apple.com:

    Kotlin 

    val provider = OAuthProvider.newBuilder("apple.com")

    Java 

    OAuthProvider.Builder provider = OAuthProvider.newBuilder("apple.com");

  2. Optional: Specify additional OAuth 2.0 scopes beyond the default that you want to request from the authentication provider.

    Kotlin 

    provider.setScopes(arrayOf("email", "name"))

    Java 

    List<String> scopes =
    new ArrayList<String>() {
      {
        add("email");
        add("name");
      }
    };
provider.setScopes(scopes);

    By default, when One account per email address is enabled, Firebase requests email and name scopes. If you change this setting to Multiple accounts per email address, Firebase doesn't request any scopes from Apple unless you specify them.

  3. Optional: If you want to display Apple's sign-in screen in a language other than English, set the locale parameter. See the Sign In with Apple docs for the supported locales.

    Kotlin 

    // Localize the Apple authentication screen in French.
provider.addCustomParameter("locale", "fr")

    Java 

    // Localize the Apple authentication screen in French.
provider.addCustomParameter("locale", "fr");

  4. Authenticate with Firebase using the OAuth provider object. Note that unlike other FirebaseAuth operations, this will take control of your UI by opening a Custom Chrome Tab. Consequently, do not reference your Activity in the OnSuccessListener and OnFailureListener that you attach as they will immediately detach when the operation starts the UI.

    You should first check if you've already received a response. Signing in with this method puts your Activity in the background, which means that it can be reclaimed by the system during the sign in flow. In order to make sure that you don't make the user try again if this happens, you should check if a result is already present.

    To check if there is a pending result, call getPendingAuthResult():

    Kotlin 

    val pending = auth.pendingAuthResult
if (pending != null) {
    pending.addOnSuccessListener { authResult ->
        Log.d(TAG, "checkPending:onSuccess:$authResult")
        // Get the user profile with authResult.getUser() and
        // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo(), and the ID
        // token from Apple with authResult.getCredential().
    }.addOnFailureListener { e ->
        Log.w(TAG, "checkPending:onFailure", e)
    }
} else {
    Log.d(TAG, "pending: null")
}

    Java 

    mAuth = FirebaseAuth.getInstance();
Task<AuthResult> pending = mAuth.getPendingAuthResult();
if (pending != null) {
    pending.addOnSuccessListener(new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
        @Override
        public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
            Log.d(TAG, "checkPending:onSuccess:" + authResult);
            // Get the user profile with authResult.getUser() and
            // authResult.getAdditionalUserInfo(), and the ID
            // token from Apple with authResult.getCredential().
        }
    }).addOnFailureListener(new OnFailureListener() {
        @Override
        public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
            Log.w(TAG, "checkPending:onFailure", e);
        }
    });
} else {
    Log.d(TAG, "pending: null");
}

    If there's no pending result, start the sign in flow, by calling startActivityForSignInWithProvider():

    Kotlin 

    auth.startActivityForSignInWithProvider(this, provider.build())
        .addOnSuccessListener { authResult ->
            // Sign-in successful!
            Log.d(TAG, "activitySignIn:onSuccess:${authResult.user}")
            val user = authResult.user
            // ...
        }
        .addOnFailureListener { e ->
            Log.w(TAG, "activitySignIn:onFailure", e)
        }

    Java 

    mAuth.startActivityForSignInWithProvider(this, provider.build())
        .addOnSuccessListener(
                new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
                    @Override
                    public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
                        // Sign-in successful!
                        Log.d(TAG, "activitySignIn:onSuccess:" + authResult.getUser());
                        FirebaseUser user = authResult.getUser();
                        // ...
                    }
                })
        .addOnFailureListener(
                new OnFailureListener() {
                    @Override
                    public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
                        Log.w(TAG, "activitySignIn:onFailure", e);
                    }
                });

    Unlike other providers supported by Firebase Auth, Apple does not provide a photo URL.

    Also, when the user chooses not to share their email with the app, Apple provisions a unique email address for that user (of the form xyz@privaterelay.appleid.com), which it shares with your app. If you configured the private email relay service, Apple forwards emails sent to the anonymized address to the user's real email address.

    Apple only shares user information such as the display name with apps the first time a user signs in. Usually, Firebase stores the display name the first time a user signs in with Apple, which you can get with getCurrentUser().getDisplayName(). However, if you previously used Apple to sign a user in to the app without using Firebase, Apple will not provide Firebase with the user's display name.

Reauthentication and account linking

The same pattern can be used with startActivityForReauthenticateWithProvider() which you can use to retrieve a fresh credential for sensitive operations that require recent sign-in:

Kotlin 

// The user is already signed-in.
val firebaseUser = auth.getCurrentUser()

firebaseUser
    .startActivityForReauthenticateWithProvider(/* activity= */ this, provider.build())
    .addOnSuccessListener( authResult -> {
        // User is re-authenticated with fresh tokens and
        // should be able to perform sensitive operations
        // like account deletion and email or password
        // update.
    })
    .addOnFailureListener( e -> {
        // Handle failure.
    })

Java 

// The user is already signed-in.
FirebaseUser firebaseUser = mAuth.getCurrentUser();

firebaseUser
    .startActivityForReauthenticateWithProvider(/* activity= */ this, provider.build())
    .addOnSuccessListener(
        new OnSuccessListener<AuthResult>() {
          @Override
          public void onSuccess(AuthResult authResult) {
            // User is re-authenticated with fresh tokens and
            // should be able to perform sensitive operations
            // like account deletion and email or password
            // update.
          }
        })
    .addOnFailureListener(
        new OnFailureListener() {
          @Override
          public void onFailure(@NonNull Exception e) {
            // Handle failure.
          }
        });

And, you can use linkWithCredential() to link different identity providers to existing accounts.

Note that Apple requires you to get explicit consent from users before you link their Apple accounts to other data.

For example, to link a Facebook account to the current Firebase account, use the access token you got from signing the user in to Facebook:

Kotlin 

// Initialize a Facebook credential with a Facebook access token.
val credential = FacebookAuthProvider.getCredential(token.getToken())

// Assuming the current user is an Apple user linking a Facebook provider.
mAuth.getCurrentUser().linkWithCredential(credential)
    .addOnCompleteListener(this, task -> {
        if (task.isSuccessful()) {
          // Facebook credential is linked to the current Apple user.
          // The user can now sign in to the same account
          // with either Apple or Facebook.
        }
      });

Java 

// Initialize a Facebook credential with a Facebook access token.
AuthCredential credential = FacebookAuthProvider.getCredential(token.getToken());

// Assuming the current user is an Apple user linking a Facebook provider.
mAuth.getCurrentUser().linkWithCredential(credential)
    .addOnCompleteListener(this, new OnCompleteListener<AuthResult>() {
      @Override
      public void onComplete(@NonNull Task<AuthResult> task) {
        if (task.isSuccessful()) {
          // Facebook credential is linked to the current Apple user.
          // The user can now sign in to the same account
          // with either Apple or Facebook.
        }
      }
    });

Advanced: Handle the sign-in flow manually

You can also authenticate with Firebase using an Apple Account by handling the sign-in flow by either using the Apple Sign-In JS SDK, manually building the OAuth flow or by using an OAuth library such as AppAuth.

  1. For every sign-in request, generate a random string—a "nonce"—which you will use to make sure the ID token you get was granted specifically in response to your app's authentication request. This step is important to prevent replay attacks.

    You can generate a cryptographically secure nonce on Android with SecureRandom, as in the following example:

    Kotlin 

    private fun generateNonce(length: Int): String {
    val generator = SecureRandom()

    val charsetDecoder = StandardCharsets.US_ASCII.newDecoder()
    charsetDecoder.onUnmappableCharacter(CodingErrorAction.IGNORE)
    charsetDecoder.onMalformedInput(CodingErrorAction.IGNORE)

    val bytes = ByteArray(length)
    val inBuffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes)
    val outBuffer = CharBuffer.allocate(length)
    while (outBuffer.hasRemaining()) {
        generator.nextBytes(bytes)
        inBuffer.rewind()
        charsetDecoder.reset()
        charsetDecoder.decode(inBuffer, outBuffer, false)
    }
    outBuffer.flip()
    return outBuffer.toString()
}

    Java 

    private String generateNonce(int length) {
    SecureRandom generator = new SecureRandom();

    CharsetDecoder charsetDecoder = StandardCharsets.US_ASCII.newDecoder();
    charsetDecoder.onUnmappableCharacter(CodingErrorAction.IGNORE);
    charsetDecoder.onMalformedInput(CodingErrorAction.IGNORE);

    byte[] bytes = new byte[length];
    ByteBuffer inBuffer = ByteBuffer.wrap(bytes);
    CharBuffer outBuffer = CharBuffer.allocate(length);
    while (outBuffer.hasRemaining()) {
        generator.nextBytes(bytes);
        inBuffer.rewind();
        charsetDecoder.reset();
        charsetDecoder.decode(inBuffer, outBuffer, false);
    }
    outBuffer.flip();
    return outBuffer.toString();
}

    Then, get the SHA246 hash of the nonce as a hex string:

    Kotlin 

    private fun sha256(s: String): String {
    val md = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-256")
    val digest = md.digest(s.toByteArray())
    val hash = StringBuilder()
    for (c in digest) {
        hash.append(String.format("%02x", c))
    }
    return hash.toString()
}

    Java 

    private String sha256(String s) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException {
    MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-256");
    byte[] digest = md.digest(s.getBytes());
    StringBuilder hash = new StringBuilder();
    for (byte c: digest) {
        hash.append(String.format("%02x", c));
    }
    return hash.toString();
}

    You will send the SHA256 hash of the nonce with your sign-in request, which Apple will pass unchanged in the response. Firebase validates the response by hashing the original nonce and comparing it to the value passed by Apple.

  2. Initiate Apple's sign-in flow using your OAuth library or other method. Be sure to include the hashed nonce as a parameter in your request.

  3. After you receive Apple's response, get the ID token from the response and use it and the unhashed nonce to create an AuthCredential:

    Kotlin 

    val credential =  OAuthProvider.newCredentialBuilder("apple.com")
    .setIdTokenWithRawNonce(appleIdToken, rawUnhashedNonce)
    .build()

    Java 

    AuthCredential credential =  OAuthProvider.newCredentialBuilder("apple.com")
    .setIdTokenWithRawNonce(appleIdToken, rawUnhashedNonce)
    .build();

  4. Authenticate with Firebase using the Firebase credential:

    Kotlin 

    auth.signInWithCredential(credential)
      .addOnCompleteListener(this) { task ->
          if (task.isSuccessful) {
            // User successfully signed in with Apple ID token.
            // ...
          }
      }

    Java 

    mAuth.signInWithCredential(credential)
    .addOnCompleteListener(this, new OnCompleteListener<AuthResult>() {
      @Override
      public void onComplete(@NonNull Task<AuthResult> task) {
        if (task.isSuccessful()) {
          // User successfully signed in with Apple ID token.
          // ...
        }
      }
    });

If the call to signInWithCredential succeeds, you can use the getCurrentUser method to get the user's account data.

Token Revocation

Apple requires that apps that support account creation must let users initiate deletion of their account within the app, as described in the App Store Review Guidelines

In addition, apps that support Sign in with Apple should use the Sign in with Apple REST API to revoke user tokens.

To meet this requirement, implement the following steps:

  1. Use startActivityForSignInWithProvider() method to sign-in using Apple and obtain AuthResult.

  2. Obtain the access token for Apple provider.

    Kotlin 

    val oauthCredential: OAuthCredential =  authResult.credential
val accessToken = oauthCredential.accessToken

    Java 

    OAuthCredential oauthCredential = (OAuthCredential) authResult.getCredential();
String accessToken = oauthCredential.getAccessToken();

  3. Revoke the token using revokeAccessToken API.

    Kotlin 

    mAuth.revokeAccessToken(accessToken)
  .addOnCompleteListener(this) { task ->
    if (task.isSuccessful) {
      // Access token successfully revoked
      // for the user ...
    }
}

    Java 

    mAuth.revokeAccessToken(accessToken)
    .addOnCompleteListener(this, new OnCompleteListener<Void>() {
        @Override
        public void onComplete(@NonNull Task<Void> task) {
          if (task.isSuccessful()) {
            // Access token successfully revoked
            // for the user ...
          }
        }
  });
  1. Finally, delete the user account (and all associated data)

    Next steps

    After a user signs in for the first time, a new user account is created and linked to the credentials—that is, the user name and password, phone number, or auth provider information—the user signed in with. This new account is stored as part of your Firebase project, and can be used to identify a user across every app in your project, regardless of how the user signs in.

    • In your apps, you can get the user's basic profile information from the FirebaseUser object. See Manage Users.

    • In your Firebase Realtime Database and Cloud Storage Security Rules, you can get the signed-in user's unique user ID from the auth variable, and use it to control what data a user can access.

    You can allow users to sign in to your app using multiple authentication providers by linking auth provider credentials to an existing user account.

    To sign out a user, call signOut:

    Kotlin

    Firebase.auth.signOut()
    MainActivity.kt

    Java

    FirebaseAuth.getInstance().signOut();
    MainActivity.java