Logging into apps on the new Apple TV currently involves entering a password with an onscreen keyboard, a process that makes Centrelink look organised and efficient. It’s Apple’s screwup, but Facebook might have just come to the rescue.
Facebook’s new Login SDK has support for a login method that doesn’t require you to enter anything on the Apple TV remote. You go to whichever third-party app you’re trying to get into, click on ‘Login with Facebook’, and you’ll then get a short code they have to enter on your computer or smartphone.
The system relies on app developers building in support for Facebook logins, which isn’t going to be universal any time soon. It also means that Facebook becomes a more integral part of our lives, which is undoubtedly what the company wants, and something I fear, because I remember when people used Facebook to throw sheep.
But equally, it’s a neat solution to a very real and very annoying problem, and for that, I am (begrudgingly) grateful to Facebook.