Sources: the DOJ is investigating if Apple's use of its “Sign in with Apple” button makes it more difficult for users to switch to a rival device maker
a monopolist hiding in plain clothes. https://www.techmeme.com/... Kyle Seth Gray / @kylesethgray : @Techmeme @joshua_sisco doesn't make sense since the sign in with apple works just like Google or Facebook: takes you to a single sign in page where you complete the log in. Apple has a little extra where if you're on an Apple device, it uses the built in auth. but otherwise it works the same. Kyle Seth Gray / @kylesethgray : it... it. literally works like any other SSO service? if you're not on an Apple device, it takes you to https://appleid.apple.com/ to complete the authentication what's the issue here?! https://twitter.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had already required developers using third-party sign-in systems to offer Sign in with Apple, while its design guidance put Apple’s button above rivals; developers reported mixed reactions to the mandatory sign-in option. The reported DOJ inquiry turns those App Store rules into a potential device-switching question rather than solely a developer-policy dispute.
The inquiry also sits on the same access-layer theory later reflected in the DOJ’s broader Apple lawsuit over barriers to switching devices and access to iPhone features.
First-order effects
- Apple’s Sign in with Apple requirements and button-placement guidance face DOJ scrutiny over whether they tie app identity more closely to Apple devices.
- Developers that support rival sign-in systems become relevant to the inquiry because Apple’s App Store policy governs how those options are presented.
Second-order effects
- Google and Facebook’s competing sign-in services gain a clearer basis to challenge App Store rules that give Apple’s authentication option mandatory inclusion or preferred placement.
- App developers may face greater pressure to document whether their login implementations work consistently across Apple and non-Apple devices.
Third-order effects
- The inquiry points to platform-policy enforcement shifting from a review of individual app rules toward whether control of an access layer raises the cost of leaving an ecosystem.
- If regulators treat authentication design as a switching barrier, platform owners will face more scrutiny over default placement and mandatory integration rules across developer-facing services.
The trend: US antitrust scrutiny is increasingly testing whether platform-controlled identity and access layers reinforce device ecosystem lock-in.