We run ASO.dev, a tool helping developers manage their App Store metadata and visibility. On May 3, 2025, we faced a critical issue: “Sign in with Apple” stopped working properly for all users, resulting in the complete loss of access for one-third of our users—specifically, those using Apple’s private relay emails.
What exactly happened?
• Apple began returning a completely new userIdentifier for existing Apple IDs, without users initiating any changes.
This effectively made user authentication impossible, as we can no longer match users to their existing data.
• The email field now always returns null. Although this behavior is typical for subsequent sign-ins, it’s irrelevant in this case because the userIdentifier itself changed, leaving no way to identify existing accounts.
• Previously issued relay emails (@privaterelay.appleid.com) no longer accept emails—we verified this with bounce tests.
• Users also report that our app has disappeared from their Apple ID’s authorized apps list.
Important context:
• We migrated our Apple Developer account from Individual to Organization about a year ago.
• Everything worked perfectly until the May 3, 2025 update.
• The incident occurred precisely on the day Apple released updates to the Developer Console (Accounts, Profiles, etc.). We strongly believe these internal changes at Apple triggered the issue.
Consequences:
• Every user received a new userIdentifier, meaning our system sees returning users as entirely new, breaking the link to their historical data.
• One-third of our users, who registered via Apple’s private relay email, are now completely unreachable:
• We can’t contact them (emails bounce).
• We can’t restore their access (new IDs don’t match old accounts).
• We have sent three support requests to Apple via email—no reply or acknowledgment yet, with no escalation path or live chat available.
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We were fortunate because ASO.dev also supports an alternative sign-in method (email with a one-time login code). Without this alternative, we would’ve permanently lost access for every user who originally signed in with Apple.
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We’re openly sharing this story to:
• Warn developers who rely solely on Apple Sign-In and relay email addresses.
• Connect with others who’ve faced similar issues—let’s share experiences.
• Draw Apple’s attention to this critical problem—currently, there is no documented solution and no available support.
Never rely solely on Apple ID authentication.
Always implement a fallback method, as even major ecosystems can fail unpredictably.
