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OAuth-based App Flip Linking (App Flip) allows your users to easily and quickly
link their accounts in your authentication system to their Google accounts.
If your app is installed on your user’s phone when they initiate the account
linking process, they are seamlessly flipped to your app to obtain user
authorization.
This approach provides a faster and easier linking process since the user does
not have to re-enter their username and password to authenticate; instead,
App Flip leverages the credentials from the user's account on your app. Once a
user has linked their Google account with your app, they can take advantage of
any integrations that you have developed.
You can set up App Flip for both iOS and Android apps.
Figure 1. Account linking on a user's phone with App Flip.
Requirements
To implement App Flip, you must fulfill the following requirements:
You must have an Android or iOS app.
You must own, manage and maintain an OAuth 2.0 server which supports the
OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow.
This section describes the design requirements and recommendations for the App
Flip account linking consent screen. After Google calls your app, your app
displays the consent screen to the user.
Requirements
You must communicate that the user’s account is being linked to Google,
not to a specific Google product, such as Google Home or Google
Assistant.
Recommendations
We recommend that you do the following:
Display Google's Privacy Policy. Include a link to
Google’s Privacy Policy
on the consent screen.
Data to be shared. Use clear and concise language to tell the user what
data of theirs Google requires and why.
Clear call-to-action. State a clear call-to-action on your consent
screen, such as “Agree and link.” This is because users need to
understand what data they're required to share with Google to link their
accounts.
Ability to cancel. Provide a way for users to go back or cancel, if
they choose not to link.
Ability to unlink. Offer a mechanism for users to unlink, such as a
URL to their account settings on your platform. Alternatively, you can
include a link to Google Account where users
can manage their linked account.
Ability to change user account. Suggest a method for users to switch
their account(s). This is especially beneficial if users tend to have
multiple accounts.
If a user must close the consent screen to switch accounts, send a
recoverable error to Google so the user can sign in to the desired
account with OAuth linking and the implicit flow.
Include your logo. Display your company logo on the consent screen.
Use your style guidelines to place your logo. If you wish
to also display Google's logo, see
Logos and trademarks.
If you want to optionally configure your client, add scopes and click Add scope under Configure your client (optional).
If not, click Next.
Under Testing instructions, type test (or any other string)
as a placeholder. (Filling in this field with a test account is only necessary
if you are actually submitting your Action to be published.)
Click Save.
You can now continue to the next section to implement App Flip in your iOS or Android app.
Implement App Flip in your native apps
To implement App Flip, you need to modify the user authorization code in your
app to accept a deep link from Google.
Test App Flip on your device
Now that you’ve created an Action and configured App Flip on the console and in
your app, you can test App Flip on your mobile device. You can use the
Google Assistant app
to test App Flip.
To test App Flip from the Assistant app, follow these steps:
Select your Action from the list of providers. It will be
prefixed with “[test]” in the list. When you select your [test] Action from
the list, it should open your app.
Verify that your app was launched and begin testing your authorization flow.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-10-31 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eOAuth-based App Flip Linking streamlines account linking between your authentication system and Google accounts, leveraging existing app credentials for a faster user experience.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eApp Flip is supported on both iOS and Android platforms, requiring you to own an OAuth 2.0 server and adhere to specific design guidelines for the user consent screen.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo enable App Flip, you must configure it within the Actions console after creating an Action and setting up an OAuth 2.0 server.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eImplementation requires modifying your app's authorization code to handle deep links from Google and can be tested using the Google Assistant app.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Overview\n\nOAuth-based App Flip Linking (App Flip) allows your users to easily and quickly\nlink their accounts in your authentication system to their Google accounts.\nIf your app is installed on your user's phone when they initiate the account\nlinking process, they are seamlessly flipped to your app to obtain user\nauthorization.\n\nThis approach provides a faster and easier linking process since the user does\nnot have to re-enter their username and password to authenticate; instead,\nApp Flip leverages the credentials from the user's account on your app. Once a\nuser has linked their Google account with your app, they can take advantage of\nany integrations that you have developed.\n\nYou can set up App Flip for both iOS and Android apps.\n**Figure 1.** Account linking on a user's phone with App Flip.\n\nRequirements\n------------\n\nTo implement App Flip, you must fulfill the following requirements:\n\n- You must have an Android or iOS app.\n- You must own, manage and maintain an OAuth 2.0 server which supports the OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow.\n\n| **Note:** Confirm that your OAuth2 implementation or provider supports the authorization code flow along with App Flip redirect URLs and client_ids as described in our guides.\n\nFor more information on the OAuth linking authorization code flow, see\n[Implement your OAuth server](/assistant/identity/oauth2?oauth=code#implement_your_oauth_server).\n| **Caution:** For OAuth-based App Flip, you can implement either the [OAuth-based Google Sign-in \"Streamlined\" linking type](/assistant/identity/gsi-oauth-concept-guide) or the [OAuth linking type](/assistant/identity/oauth-concept-guide). Both of these linking types must use the *authorization code flow* for App Flip to work.\n\nDesign guidelines\n-----------------\n\nThis section describes the design requirements and recommendations for the App\nFlip account linking consent screen. After Google calls your app, your app\ndisplays the consent screen to the user.\n\n### Requirements\n\n1. You must communicate that the user's account is being linked to Google, **not** to a specific Google product, such as Google Home or Google Assistant.\n\n### Recommendations\n\nWe recommend that you do the following:\n\n1. **Display Google's Privacy Policy.** Include a link to\n [Google's Privacy Policy](http://policies.google.com)\n on the consent screen.\n\n2. **Data to be shared.** Use clear and concise language to tell the user what\n data of theirs Google requires and why.\n\n3. **Clear call-to-action.** State a clear call-to-action on your consent\n screen, such as \"Agree and link.\" This is because users need to\n understand what data they're required to share with Google to link their\n accounts.\n\n4. **Ability to cancel.** Provide a way for users to go back or cancel, if\n they choose not to link.\n\n5. **Ability to unlink.** Offer a mechanism for users to unlink, such as a\n URL to their account settings on your platform. Alternatively, you can\n include a link to [Google Account](https://myaccount.google.com) where users\n can manage their linked account.\n\n6. **Ability to change user account.** Suggest a method for users to switch\n their account(s). This is especially beneficial if users tend to have\n multiple accounts.\n\n - If a user must close the consent screen to switch accounts, send a recoverable error to Google so the user can sign in to the desired account with *OAuth linking* and the *implicit* flow.\n7. **Include your logo.** Display your company logo on the consent screen.\n Use your style guidelines to place your logo. If you wish\n to also display Google's logo, see\n [Logos and trademarks](https://www.google.com/permissions/logos-trademarks/).\n\n**Figure 2.** Account linking consent screen design guidelines.\n\nSet up for OAuth-based App Flip\n-------------------------------\n\nThe following sections describe the prerequisites for OAuth-based App Flip and how to configure your\nApp Flip project in the Actions console.\n\n### Create\nan Action\nand set up an OAuth 2.0 server\n\nBefore you can configure App Flip, you need to do the following:\n\n- **Create an Action.** To create an Action, follow the instructions in the [Create a project](/assistant/conversational/build/projects?tool=builder#create_a_project) section.\n- **Set up an OAuth 2.0 server.** For more information about setting up an OAuth server, see [Implement OAuth account linking](/assistant/identity/oauth2?oauth=code#implement_oauth_account_linking).\n\n### Configure App Flip in the Actions console\n\nThe following section describes how to configure App Flip in the\n[Actions console](https://console.actions.google.com/).\n**Note:** Choose which type of platform you want to target. The content of this page reloads to adapt to your choice. \nAndroid iOS\n\n1. Click **Develop** in the top navigation. Then, click **Account linking** in the left navigation.\n2. Toggle on the switch next to **Account linking.**\n3. Under **Account creation** , select **No, I only want to\n allow account creation on my website**.\n4. Click **Next**.\n5. Under **Linking type** , select **OAuth** and **Authorization code** from the drop-down menus.\n6. Click **Next**.\n7. Fill out all the fields under **OAuth Client information**. (If App Flip isn't supported, regular OAuth is used as a fallback.)\n8. Click **Next**.\n9. Under **Use your app for account linking (optional)** , check **Enable for iOS**.\n10. Fill out the **Universal Link** field. For more information about universal links, see [Allowing Apps and Websites to Link to your Content](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/inter-process_communication/allowing_apps_and_websites_to_link_to_your_content).\n11. If you want to optionally configure your client, add scopes and click **Add scope** under **Configure your client (optional).** If not, click **Next.**\n12. Under Testing instructions, type `test` (or any other string) as a placeholder. (Filling in this field with a test account is only necessary if you are actually submitting your Action to be published.)\n13. Click **Save**.\n\n\nYou can now continue to the next section to implement App Flip in your iOS or Android app.\n\nImplement App Flip in your native apps\n--------------------------------------\n\nTo implement App Flip, you need to modify the user authorization code in your\napp to accept a deep link from Google.\n\nTest App Flip on your device\n----------------------------\n\nNow that you've created an Action and configured App Flip on the console and in\nyour app, you can test App Flip on your mobile device. You can use the\nGoogle Assistant app\n\nto test App Flip.\n\nTo test App Flip from the Assistant app, follow these steps:\n\n1. Go to the [Actions console](https://console.actions.google.com/) and select your project.\n2. Click **Test** in the top navigation.\n3. Trigger the account linking flow from the Assistant app:\n 1. Open the [Google Assistant app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googleassistant).\n 2. Click **Settings**.\n 3. On the Assistant tab, click **Home Control.**\n 4. Click **Add(+)**.\n 5. Select your Action from the list of providers. It will be prefixed with \"\\[test\\]\" in the list. When you select your \\[test\\] Action from the list, it should open your app.\n 6. Verify that your app was launched and begin testing your authorization flow."]]