Social Identity Providers

Redmond, WA — Microsoft has announced the general availability of Social Identity Providers (IdPs) for Native Authentication in its identity platform, enabling developers to integrate popular sign-in options like Google, Facebook, and Apple directly into native apps—without compromising security.

The update is part of Microsoft Entra External ID and introduces a hybrid approach that blends native app experiences with secure browser-delegated authentication flows.

Native Apps Finally Get Social Login - The Right Way

Until now, integrating social logins into native apps often forced developers into trade-offs between user experience and security compliance.

With this release, Microsoft enables developers to:

  • Add Google, Facebook, and Apple sign-in to native apps

  • Maintain app-native UI for onboarding

  • Use secure OAuth-compliant authentication flows

👉 The result: seamless user experience without handling sensitive credentials in app code

How It Works: Native UI Meets Web-View Security

Microsoft’s approach uses a browser-delegated (web-view) flow for authentication.

Here’s the flow:

  1. User starts sign-in inside the app (native UI)

  2. Authentication shifts to a secure web-view for the social provider

  3. Additional steps like MFA are completed in the same flow

  4. Tokens are issued back to the app

This ensures compliance with OAuth standards and provider security requirements, while still keeping the experience mostly native.

Why This Matters for Developers

Social login has become essential for modern apps—but it comes with challenges:

  • Security risks when handling credentials

  • Compliance requirements from providers

  • Poor UX when redirecting users out of apps

Microsoft’s solution addresses all three by:

  • Keeping credentials out of app code

  • Using standards-compliant authentication flows

  • Preserving native user experience where it matters most

Built for Conversion, Security, and Scale

Microsoft highlights key benefits for businesses and developers:

  • Faster onboarding with familiar login options

  • Higher conversion rates in consumer apps

  • Support for bring-your-own-identity (BYOI) scenarios

  • Enterprise-grade security with MFA and Conditional Access

This is especially important for apps targeting external users, customers, and partners.

What’s Available Now (GA Features)

With general availability, developers can now:

  • Enable social identity providers in native sign-in/sign-up flows

  • Authenticate users via web-view OAuth flows

  • Use Entra to issue ID and access tokens securely

  • Combine social login with advanced security policies like MFA