Simple Sign-in FAQs
The following are answers to FAQs (frequently asked questions) you might encounter when working with Simple Sign-in (SSI).
General SSI questions
- Q: In which countries or regions is SSI available?
- The SSI feature is available globally across all Appstore marketplaces.
- Q: What's the expected increase in size of the APK when I add the Appstore SDK dependency?
- SSI APIs are offered as part of the Appstore SDK, which has a size of about 395 KB.
- Q: What are the additional considerations if I have multiple versions of the same app (such as free vs paid) or multiple apps?
- Linking is managed at the identity provider level and not scoped to individual apps. When you have multiple apps, or multiple versions of an app with the same identity provider (idP) for user authentication, customers can use the linked account interchangeably across all your apps for signing in. For example, a customer can log into the free version of your app and link their user account, and this linkage can be used for SSI and log the customer into the paid version of the app when the customer upgrades.
- Q: What if I use an identity provider, such as Google Sign-In or Facebook Login, for user authentication on my app?
- Regardless of the identity provider used for authentication, if an account is created for the user and their identity is stored within your system, you can issue a link token to set up account linking with their Amazon account. During future sign-in attempts on the same device or new devices, the customer can sign into the linked account using SSI.
- Q: What if I have an Alexa skill that uses an OAuth 2.0 based implementation for account linking? Can this linking be leveraged for SSI and vice versa?
- Cross-integration between these features doesn't currently exist. Customers must go through two different setup flows and sign in separately during the Alexa skill enablement as well as for SSI.
- Q: Does Amazon gather user's login credentials, such as email or the login name and password pair, while linking app accounts?
- No. SSI works based on opaque link tokens issued by you and Amazon doesn't collect or store user login credentials.
- Q: What additional data does Amazon collect from us or our customers to deliver SSI?
- So that customers can see what apps and devices they are signed in to with SSI, Amazon keeps track of the consumption of SSI tokens used by your apps on various devices based on the
getUserAndLinks()
API invocations from your apps. Amazon also uses this data to provide you with usage reports.
SSI customer experience questions
- Q: What controls are provided to customers for their SSI data?
- Amazon provides the following ways for customers to gain access to their SSI data:
- Customers can view and manage all SSI related data and preferences from the Amazon website and on-device settings menu.
- Website
- Accounts & Lists > Account > Digital Services and Device Support > Change your digital and device settings > Preferences tab at the top > Simple Sign-in
- On-device settings
- Fire TV: Settings > Applications > Appstore > Simple Sign-in
- Fire Tablets (Fire OS 5 devices): Settings > Apps & Games > Amazon Application Settings > Appstore > Simple Sign-in
- Fire Tablets (Fire OS 7 and later): Settings > Device Options > Simple Sign-in
- Website
- Customers can raise Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) data through existing channels supported by Amazon, and access their SSI data.
- Customers can make General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) data deletion requests through existing channels (such as the customer service portal or through phone calls) supported by Amazon to purge all their SSI data from the system.
- Customers can view and manage all SSI related data and preferences from the Amazon website and on-device settings menu.
- Q: What if an Amazon customer no longer wishes to use SSI?
- Customers can manage SSI features at their account level from the Amazon website. See What controls are provided for SSI data? for instructions. By turning off SSI settings at the account level, customers can disable the feature altogether, across all apps. Disabling SSI will result in breaking all linkages for the customer. When they enable SSI again later, they must begin the process again from the beginning when manually signing into their apps.
- Q: How do Amazon customers view linked accounts for apps which they have approved for SSI?
- Customers can view and manage linked accounts for apps by logging into the Amazon website. See What controls are provided for SSI data? to access this information.
- Q: What if an Amazon customer wants to remove their linked login accounts for an app?
- Customers have 2 options:
- They can view and manage linked accounts for apps from the Amazon website. See What controls are provided for Simple Sign-in data?. From there, customers can select the app for which they want to remove their linked login accounts and turn off the SSI feature for the app to remove all linked accounts.
- They can go to on-device settings and toggle the SSI setting at the app level. See What controls are provided for SSI data? for instructions.
There is no option available to unlink linked accounts without disabling the feature.
- Q: What if an Amazon customer no longer wishes to use SSI for a particular app?
- See answer above in What if an Amazon customer wants to remove their linked login accounts for an app?
- They can view and manage linked accounts for apps from the Amazon website. See What controls are provided for SSI data?. From there, customers can select the app for which they want to clear linked login accounts and turn off the SSI feature for the app to remove all linked accounts.
- Go to the on-device settings and toggle the SSI setting at app level.
Last updated: Dec 13, 2023