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‘Sign in with Apple’ developer guidelines updated with exemptions, kids’ app rules deadline extended

Apple has shared an update today on some of its new developer guidelines. The changes come to recent kids’ app rules and the new ‘Sign in with Apple’ feature.

Apple detailed the updates in new posts on its developer site today. First, it shared the deadlines for implementing support for Sign in with Apple before highlighting four exemptions.

We’ve updated the App Store Review Guidelines to provide criteria for when apps are required to use Sign in with Apple. Starting today, new apps submitted to the App Store must follow these guidelines. Existing apps and app updates must follow them by April 2020. We’ve also provided new guidelines for using Sign in with Apple on the web and other platforms.

The new guidelines include four exemptions and come after Apple has seen some pushback about its expectations for developers implementing the new feature.

Sign in with Apple is not required if:

  • Your app exclusively uses your company’s own account setup and sign-in systems.
  • Your app is an education, enterprise, or business app that requires the user to sign in with an existing education or enterprise account.
  • Your app uses a government or industry-backed citizen identification system or electronic ID to authenticate users.
  • Your app is a client for a specific third-party service and users are required to sign in to their mail, social media, or other third-party account directly to access their content.

Read the full guidelines for Sign in with Apple here.

After announcing new developer restrictions for kids’ apps back in June and setting a deadline of September 3rd, Apple is giving developers six more months to update apps to be in compliance with the new guidelines.

Guideline 1.3 and guideline 5.1.4 detail important rules related to apps in the Kids category and we’ve been working with some developers of existing apps to assist them in the transition to full compliance with this important guideline.

All new apps must follow these guidelines, and we urge you to update your existing apps as soon as possible. If your existing app requires more time to implement these guidelines, we’ve provided an additional six months, until March 3, 2020, to bring it into full compliance.

Read more about the updates here and here.

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