Give your app its own sign-in

Sign-in lets your app know who is using it. Ask for it in the same request as the feature that needs it, and describe who should get in and what they should see once the app knows them. AppHandle provides the sign-in screen, so you do not build one.

Ask for sign-in

Say what the person should see after signing in:

Let each student sign in and see only their own homework.

Add a client area where each client signs in and sees their own orders.

The builder adds the sign-in step to the parts of the app that need it and leaves the rest as it is.

What the visitor sees

1. The visitor opens a part of the app that needs them signed in, or selects Sign in.
2. AppHandle shows a page that reads Sign in to continue to followed by your app's name. On a private app, a visitor who has not been invited sees the same page without your app's name: it reads Sign in to continue.
3. The visitor signs in with their AppHandle account, or creates one. Creating an account sends them a confirmation link, and they must open it before they are signed in. Either way the person leaves your app for this step and comes back to it afterwards.
4. The next screen asks for their permission. It shows their name and picture beside your app, with the message that your app will receive their name and email address, and an Allow button.
5. After they select Allow, they return to your app and are signed in.

The permission screen appears the first time someone connects to your app. On later visits they are signed in without being asked again.

What your app receives

Your app receives the person's name, their email address, their profile picture if they have one, and a stable identifier for them — the same one each time they sign in, which lets the app tell two people with the same name apart. It receives nothing else: no password, no access to their AppHandle account, and no access to any other app.

With a name and an email, the app can greet the person, keep their records separate from everyone else's, and send them a message when something they care about changes.

Signing out

Ask the builder for a sign-out control if you want one. Signing out of your app ends that app's session only. The person stays signed in to AppHandle and can return to your app later, and their saved records are not removed.

Who can sign in

Sign-in also decides what your app's server-side functions can do. A function the owner opened to signed-in users can tell who is calling it and act for that person; without sign-in, only the owner and editors could ever call it. If you build something that needs to know who the person is, add sign-in.

On a public app, any visitor with an AppHandle account can sign in. On a private app, only the people you invite can open the app, so only they reach the sign-in. Choose who can open your app explains that setting.

Where to go next

Manage the people who signed up shows who has signed in to your app, and Who can do what covers what different people are allowed to do.