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Showing posts from March, 2015

Google Sign In iOS 1.0.0

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The new Google Sign In SDK for iOS is out ! With a new version number, and separated from the old Google+ SDK, the Sign-In SDK should make it easier and faster to implement Google Sign-In in your app. Lets take a look at how to use it from Swift. Unfortunately the library isn't available from Cocoapods yet, so you'll have to drop it in manually. Setup is pretty easy: add in the GoogleSignIn.framework from the zip download and add the system AddressBook and SystemConfiguration frameworks. If you want to use the supplied button, you'll also need to add the GoogleSignIn.bundle from the SDK zip which contains the fonts, images and translations for the standard button - using the Add Files to "project" menu option should automatically set it in the Copy Bundle Resources part of your build step. If your sign in button is invisible when you launch the app, you probably haven't copied the GoogleSignIn.bundle from the SDK zip file. In the Build Settings ph

Understanding Service Accounts

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Misconceptions about Google service accounts are at the heart of a number of problems I’ve seen developers having on Stack Overflow and various issue trackers. Hopefully this post will dispel some common misunderstandings, and break down what they are for. What is a service account for? Requests to many APIs need to be authorised to access data or services. In most cases this is done interactively with a user - the site presents a sign-in button, the user grants the site access to a part of their Google account, and the site receives an access token they can pass with their requests. Google checks this token to ensure the query is allowed to access the data it is requesting. However, there are some situations where the user is not actually present - for example a daily batch script which downloads data from a Google Analytics account, or a process which provisions services for a Google Apps user when a new staff member starts at a company. In these cases, a service account is us