Whole Home Sign-In

Whole Home Sign-In (previously known as Silent Sign-In) lets users sign in to your app once and share those login credentials across all devices on their account.

Overview

Example: A user is watching a video in their living room, but it's getting late. They pause the video on their living room TV and go to their bedroom. Then, they turn on their bedroom TV, launch your app, and resume playback without having to sign in again.

When your app has integrated with Whole Home Sign-in, users automatically enable it for their account in one of two ways:

1. By signing into your app on a device.
2. By creating an account and subscribing to your app through Sky Marketplace integration.

Whole Home Sign-In saves users from needing to sign-in on every single device. It also lets families share a single account on multiple devices without giving everyone the username and password needed to sign in.

For additional implementation details on this integration, refer to the Whole Home Sign-In Implementation.pdf in the sidebar and our Whole Home Sign-In Integration Requirements.

Standard flows

These flows apply to every app that uses Whole Home Sign-In. They cover signing in and signing out on a device.

Sign in on a device

Associated requirements: SI-01, SI-02

This flow shows a user who subscribed directly with your service signing in on a device with a pairing code or the on-screen keyboard. After they sign in, your app can sign them in automatically on their other devices.

The first time a user signs in using Whole Home Sign-In:

1. The user signs into your app on their device.
2. Upon successful sign in, your app should show an in-app notification to confirm the user has been signed in.
3. Your app stores that login credential in a cloud cookie.
4. When that user launches your app on a different device, they're signed in automatically.

Sign out on a device

Associated requirement: SI-06

This flow shows a user signing out of your app after authenticating on a device. They're signed out of that device only. When they relaunch your app, they see the sign-in screen.

Sign out is local to the device; their other devices stay signed in. However, no further devices can sign in without a new on-device authentication.

To sign out on a device using Whole Home Sign-In:

1. The user signs out of your app.
2. Your app cancels the on-device activation token for Whole Home Sign-In. This is to prevent the user from being signed back in automatically.
3. Your app returns to its sign-in screen.

Sky Marketplace integration flows

If your app uses the Sky Marketplace integration, users who buy through the in-device purchase journey are signed in on all their devices once they finish creating their account. These flows only apply to apps that use Marketplace integration.

Sign in with Marketplace purchase

Associated requirement: SI-04

This flow shows a user buying a subscription through Marketplace integration and how Whole Home Sign-In applies once they create their account.

To sign in after a Marketplace integration purchase:

1. The user buys a subscription to your app through Marketplace integration.
2. Before the user leaves to create their account with you, your app must clearly message that all their devices will be signed in with the new credentials.
3. The user creates an account on your website.
4. Your website confirms the account and tells the user to return to their TV.
5. The user launches your app on any of their devices. Your app signs them in to the new account automatically.
6. Your app shows an in-app notification that confirms the user is signed in.

Sign out with Marketplace purchase

Associated requirement: SI-07

This flow shows a user signing out of your app after signing in through Marketplace integration. They're signed out of that device only. The platform retains the subscription token for iusers who purchased through Marketplace integration. After signing out, these users can sign in again with their retained subscription details or choose a different sign-in method.

To sign out after a purchase:

1. The user signs out of your app.
2. Your app signs the user out of that device. The subscription token stays in place.
3. Your app returns to its sign-in screen and offers the following options for signing back in either with their retained details or a different account.

Alternate flows

These flows cover less common cases and optional behavior.

Sign out of a device that isn't using Whole Home Sign-In

Associated requirement: SI-03

In rare cases, a user enables Whole Home Sign-In while another device is already signed in with its own credentials. Those credentials might belong to a different account, or to the same account without the Whole Home Sign-In token.

If the user signs out of that device, your app signs them in with their Whole Home Sign-In credentials the next time they launch it. For the same account, your app signs the user in again using the Whole Home Sign-In authentication token.

To sign out of a device that isn't using Whole Home Sign-In and sign back in using Whole Home Sign-In:

1. The user signs out of your app with their previously existing account.
2. Your app signs the user in automatically with the Whole Home Sign-In token.
3. Upon successful sign in, your app should show an in-app notification to confirm the user has been signed in.

Off-platform sign-out

Associated requirements: SI-08, SI-05, SI-09

Some apps let users manage their signed-in devices from the app's website. Supporting this is optional, but we encourage it. You can offer either or both of these options:

• Sign out of all devices. Let users sign out of every device linked to their account. When they do, the authentication token is cancelled and is no longer eligible for auto sign-in.
• Sign out of individual devices. If your website lets users sign out of individual devices, the platform can share the device friendly names users have chosen.