Account/Identity model in WP8

[jwdaigle]

Hi there - just switched from a Galaxy S2 running CyanogenMod 10.1 (basically JellyBean 4.2 for those who might be unfamiliar) to a Lumia 820 running Portico.

So far VERY impressed with the ease of use and "intuitiveness" of WP8 except for the whole cloud identity thing. On Android, you create one or more Google accounts that each application seems to "just know about". Things like Google Drive, YouTube, Gmail, etc seem to know who you are.

I haven't yet figured out how to do the same thing on my new Lumia. I already had a Microsoft account setup prior to my Lumia, so went into my settings and told it my credentials.

Question 1: Am I limited to only one account on WP8? I have a work identity and a home identity, would like to have both supported if at all possible

When I go to the apps (Skype, Store, Skydrive etc) it seems like I have to tell each of them my username/password combination. Kind of a pain if you ask me

Question 2: Is there a better/easier way than telling each individual app who I am?

Final question please: is there a FAQ or video to watch to teach me all this so I dont bother all you nice people?

Thanks in advance for any info

 

[nessinhaw]

yes you can have multiple accounts...just go to settings>e-mail+accounts and then you can set accounts for: outlook, hotmail, nokia, yahoo, google, twitter, linkedin, sina weibo, facebook, others and your microsoft acc
basically when you set your microsoft acc you can access store, skydrive, wallet, messenger, e-mail...to sum up, all the integrated MS services...think of it as a master acc (just like you set one for Android so you can have access to google play and so on)
Skype is an individual app, not yet integrated to the system, so you'll have to log in each time

so the 1st thing you need to do is set your microsoft account which is your hotmail/outlook acc...this one can't be removed unless you hard reset your phone, so pick wisely which one you prefer to be your master acc...then you can proceed to add more e-mail accounts (hotmail, google, yahoo)

for Nokia services, you'll need a Nokia account

i hope this helped you >.< any other question please feel free to ask^^

edit: i believe the Skydrive app you download from the store is the same as Skype, you'll need to login...but to use integrated Skydrive functionalities, like sending pics to the cloud, your microsoft acc will do

 

[foxbat121]

With WP phones, you can have 1 Microsoft account as your identify account for app downloading and purchase. You can setup additional accounts for email/calendar/contacts sync. But, here is one big shortcomings, currently 3rd party apps doesn't have a way to access your identity accounts directly other than the 1st party email/calendar/contacts. So, you will still have to tell each of those apps who you are.

Windows 8 OS saves identity account login in OS so all apps can automatically use that account for login without the need to type anything. Hopefully next big update (Blue) will bring this to WP8 platform.

 

[ImmortalWarrior]

Hmmm. What you seem to be asking is if WP8 has a 'single sign on' solution (SSO). In an SSO system, interface layers are made to authenticate credentials across applications. It's a 'sign on once' model. Currently, this doesn't exist in WP8 and non-integrated applications.

I can understand the frustrations involved in having two Microsoft accounts. There is full support for two MS accounts in the built in applications such as the People Hub, Emails, Picture Hub, Office etc, but downloaded apps do not have this level of support. There are several reasons why it would be good and several as to why it would not be good to have it. I suspect that the primary reasons include the complexity involved in an SSO solution for multiple platforms. They would have to code an interface layer that supports each account type and automatic authentication pass-through would require input from the other vendors. Google, Yahoo etc would likely be loathe to providing this deep of authentication access to a Microsoft Product.

Hopefully in the future, Microsoft Apps such as the Skydrive app will allow some type of 'drop down' selection of pre-authenticated microsoft accounts on the phone. If you have two MS accounts already in the accounts on the phone, simply have the app show those two accounts in a drop down list and allow you to select which one to log in with. No need to the password then.

Of course, security purists might complain about not having to enter a password each time, but that's why your phone has a lock screen.

 

[jwdaigle]

Wow, thank you all for the well thought out detailed responses. I learned a lot from your answers. Learned enough that I now have more detailed questions
Thank you in advance for any help/guidance...

My issue with the way things are currently implemented is that it is hard to "share" the phone amongst two identities. In my case, a home account (where I do all my photos, gaming, app purchases & social networking), and a work account (where I use Skydrive extensively to share stuff and Skype for communication).

From what you are saying I need to pick one and only one ms account. I'm hoping you can leverage your experience to help me choose.

The way I would like it to work (but not sure if possible at the current time):

XBox Live Gaming: Home
Windows Store: Home
AutoUpload of photos: Home
Wallet: Home
Music & Video: Home
Nokia Apps - Maps, Drive etc: Home (don't think there is any deep integration here so not a problem?)
Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn: Home (Is there deep integration here?)
Email/Calendar/Contacts (via outlook.com) : Both
SkyDrive: Work as primary (but would like to be able to switch between - if not possible to switch, is there a workaround besides using the IE interface?)
Skype: Work as primary (but would like to be able to switch between)
OneNote: Work as primary (but would like to be able to switch between them) (NOT CRITICAL, I might just Evernote instead)
Mobile Office: Work, don't need to switch (not sure if Office is even an issue for identity)

Given this list, it would appear a no brainer to specify my home acct during initial setup, but I think that SkyDrive versus PhotoUpload would be an issue. I have to have access to my work documents in SkyDrive but really want to have PhotoUpload to my home SkyDrive account. I noticed I had to login to the skydrive app - can that login be different than the primary MS account on the phone?

Lastly, and haven't researched this yet, but we will be developing WP8 apps (moving away from Android), and I'm not sure about the whole registering your phone as a dev phone thing. I could however just use my home account for this if its an issue I think.