Authentication Q&A

We are deploying Platform SSO using the Secure Enclave authentication method. However, users are still being prompted for their username and password during registration. This undermines our goal of going passwordless and is causing deployment friction with customers. Once the Secure Enclave method is deployed and initialized, is there a way to suppress or skip this password dialog so users only authenticate via hardware/biometrics?

We would like to implement Platform SSO with the new web authentication. Where is the protocol documented? I have the documentation from prior versions of PSSO but would like to see the updated documentation.

During PSSO User Registration, we use ASWebAuthenticationSession for OIDC. If the user's default browser isn't Safari (e.g., Chrome), the browser window stays stuck on top of the PSSO UI after authentication. This confuses users because they can't see the final PSSO registration screen. Are there any native macOS window-management APIs we can call inside the session's completion handler to force the PSSO window back to the foreground?

I saw the "Authenticated Guest Mode on iPad" in macOS 27. Is this related to PSSO Authenticated Guest Mode on macOS? Does it require cloud binding for a machine account like on macOS? How is it related to Shared iPad? Shared iPad requires supervised mode. Is there a new profile and keys? Where is this documented? Can you share information about how it works and how it can be tested?

There wasn't any update on the tap to login. Has the spec on tap to login been finalized? Can wallet passes now be issued to authenticate to macOS using tap to login?

Are there current plans to implement Microsoft 365 groups with Platform SSO to control administrator access in macOS 27? If so, would you be able to provide a rough estimate of when we can expect changes to be implemented by identity providers?

When a host app hasn't implemented ATT at all — which is still common in enterprise apps — what's the expected behavior for third-party SDKs that rely on tracking authorization? Should the SDK default to notDetermined handling indefinitely, or is there a recommended fallback experience?

For a third-party ads SDK embedded in host apps: the ATT authorization status is determined at the app level, but our SDK initializes before the host app necessarily calls ATTrackingManager.requestTrackingAuthorization(). What's Apple's recommended pattern for: SDK initialization that's ATT-status-agnostic at launch Receiving a callback or notification when ATT status changes post-initialization, without polling Is there a system notification or delegate pattern for ATT status changes that SDKs should be using in iOS 27? — Divya Ravi, Senior iOS Engineer

Are there any mechanisms to troubleshoot or test SiwA server-to-server notifications? I am not seeing any traffic from Apple for user account changes (e.g., revoking authorization for an app), but the URL that I have configured in my account matches my endpoint, it is available from the public internet, and other SiwA functions are working correctly. Any guidance will be appreciated.

Throughout the years I've done a few integrations at my company with an iOS Application and an identity provider. I've implemented samples with UIWebView, WKWebview, Certificate based authentication through custom URLSession implementations and lastly through ASWebAuthentication. Also I gave the SSO Extension a try, but got stuck at some point (also Apple Forum didn't give me some solution -> https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/117747) I'm having troubles digging through the Apple resources to find the best approach for big enterprises. We make use of a MDM solution, so I was hoping to find means to 'exploit it' and don't implement any custom authenticationframework anymore. Also, granting SSO between Apps and websites is what my ideal goal would be. Could you point me to some resources that can help me or give me some guidance on which of the frameworks/SDKs to use?

Future of Behavioral Authentication on Apple PlatformsWith the rapid advancement of on-device AI and Apple Intelligence, does Apple see a future where user identity can be continuously verified through behavioral patterns and contextual signals rather than relying solely on discrete authentication events such as Face ID, Touch ID, or passcodes? If so, what privacy and security challenges would need to be solved before such an approach could become practical on Apple platforms?

do you see a future where devices continuously verify a user’s identity through behavioral signals rather than discrete login events?

with the advancement of on-device ai, do you see a future where devices continuously verify a user’s identity through behavioral patterns rather than discrete authentication events such as Face ID or password entry?

With the rapid advancement of on-device AI and Apple Intelligence, does Apple see a future where user identity can be continuously verified through behavioral patterns and contextual signals rather than relying solely on discrete authentication events such as Face ID, Touch ID, or passcodes? If so, what privacy, security, and battery-efficiency challenges would need to be solved before such an approach could become practical on Apple platforms?

Are there any Kerberos feature or behavior changes in macOS 27?