For our new friends

Every app needs authentication and authorization. Logto is an Auth0 alternative designed for modern apps and SaaS products.

In this article, we will go through the steps to quickly build the Azure AD sign-in experience (user authentication) with Android and  Logto.

Prerequisites

• A running Logto instance. Check out the get started page if you don't have one.
• Basic knowledge of Android.
• A usable Azure AD account.

Create an application in Logto

In you browser, open a new tab and enter the link of Logto Admin Console.

Once the page is loaded, in the "Get Started" section click the View all link to open the application framework list page.

Choose your application type

In the opening modal, scroll to the "Native app" section or filter all the available " Native app" frameworks using the quick filter checkboxes on the left.

Click the "Android (Kotlin)" / "Android (Java)" framework card to start creating your application.

Enter application name

Enter the application name, e.g., "Bookstore," and click "Create application."

🎉 Ta-da! You just created your first application in Logto. You'll see a congrats page which includes a detailed integration guide. Follow the guide to see what the experience will be in your application.

Integrate Logto SDK

tip

• The example is based on View system and View Model, but the concepts are the same when using Jetpack Compose.
• The example is written in Kotlin, but the concepts are the same for Java.
• Both Kotlin and Java sample projects are available on our SDK repository.
• The tutorial video is available on our YouTube channel.

Installation

note

The minimum supported Android API level of Logto Android SDK is level 24.

Before you install Logto Android SDK, ensure mavenCentral() is added to your repository configuration in the Gradle project build file:

settings.gradle.kts

dependencyResolutionManagement {
  repositories {
    mavenCentral()
  }
}

Add Logto Android SDK to your dependencies:

Kotlin

build.gradle.kts

dependencies {
  implementation("io.logto.sdk:android:1.1.3")
}

Groovy

build.gradle

dependencies {
  implementation 'io.logto.sdk:android:1.1.3'
}

Since the SDK needs internet access, you need to add the following permission to your AndroidManifest.xml file:

AndroidManifest.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
  xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools">

  <!-- add internet permission -->
  <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />

  <!-- other configurations... -->
</manifest>

Init LogtoClient

Create a LogtoViewModel.kt and init LogtoClient in this view model:

LogtoViewModel.kt

//...with other imports
import io.logto.sdk.android.LogtoClient
import io.logto.sdk.android.type.LogtoConfig

class LogtoViewModel(application: Application) : AndroidViewModel(application) {
    private val logtoConfig = LogtoConfig(
          endpoint = "<your-logto-endpoint>",
          appId = "<your-app-id>",
          scopes = null,
          resources = null,
          usingPersistStorage = true,
    )

    private val logtoClient = LogtoClient(logtoConfig, application)

    companion object {
        val Factory: ViewModelProvider.Factory = object : ViewModelProvider.Factory {
            @Suppress("UNCHECKED_CAST")
            override fun <T : ViewModel> create(
                modelClass: Class<T>,
                extras: CreationExtras
            ): T {
                // Get the Application object from extras
                val application = checkNotNull(extras[APPLICATION_KEY])
                return LogtoViewModel(application) as T
            }
        }
    }
}

then, create a LogtoViewModel for your MainActivity.kt:

MainActivity.kt

//...with other imports
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    private val logtoViewModel: LogtoViewModel by viewModels { LogtoViewModel.Factory }
    //...other codes
}

Implement sign-in

Before starting, you need to add a redirect URI in the Admin Console for your application.

In Android, the redirect URI follows the pattern: $(LOGTO_REDIRECT_SCHEME)://$(YOUR_APP_PACKAGE)/callback:

• The LOGTO_REDIRECT_SCHEME should be a custom scheme in the reverse domain format.
• The YOUR_APP_PACKAGE is your app package name.

Assuming you treat io.logto.android as the custom LOGTO_REDIRECT_SCHEME, and io.logto.sample is your app package name, the Redirect URI should be io.logto.android://io.logto.sample/callback.

Let's switch to the Application details page of Logto Console. Add a Redirect URI io.logto.android://io.logto.sample/callback and click "Save changes".

After the redirect URI is configured, we add a signIn method to your LogtoViewModel.kt, which will call logtoClient.signIn API to invoke the Logto sign-in page:

//...with other imports
class LogtoViewModel(application: Application) : AndroidViewModel(application) {
    // ...other codes
    fun signIn(context: Activity) {
        logtoClient.signIn(context, "io.logto.android://io.logto.sample/callback") { logtoException ->
            logtoException?.let { println(it) }
        }
    }
}

Now setup on-click listener for the sign-in button in your MainActivity.kt to call the signIn method:

//...with other imports
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        //...other codes

        // Assume you have a button with id `sign_in_button` in your layout
        val signInButton = findViewById<Button>(R.id.sign_in_button)
        signInButton.setOnClickListener {
            logtoViewModel.signIn(this)
        }
    }
}

When you click the button, the Logto SDK will navigate to the Logto sign-in page.

Implement sign-out

Similar to sign-in, we add a signOut method to LogtoViewModel.kt to call logtoClient.signOut API:

//...with other imports
class LogtoViewModel(application: Application) : AndroidViewModel(application) {
    // ...other codes
    fun signOut() {
        logtoClient.signOut { logtoException ->
            logtoException?.let { println(it) }
        }
    }
}

After you signed out, the Logto SDK will clear all local credentials even though Logto exceptions occurred when calling logtoClient.signOut API.

Then, we can add a button to call the signOut method in MainActivity.kt:

//...with other imports
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    //...other codes
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        //...other codes
        //...sign-in button codes

        // Assume you have a button with id `sign_out_button` in your layout
        val signOutButton = findViewById<Button>(R.id.sign_out_button)
        signOutButton.setOnClickListener {
            logtoViewModel.signOut()
        }
    }
}

Handle authentication status

In Logto SDK, we can use logtoClient.isAuthenticated to check the authentication status, if the user is signed in, the value will be true, otherwise, the value will be false.

Now, let's add a live data to LogtoViewModel.kt to observe the authentication status, and update the status when the user signed in or signed out:

//...with other imports
class LogtoViewModel(application: Application) : AndroidViewModel(application) {
    // ...other codes

    // Add a live data to observe the authentication status
    private val _authenticated = MutableLiveData(logtoClient.isAuthenticated)
    val authenticated: LiveData<Boolean>
        get() = _authenticated

    fun signIn(context: Activity) {
        logtoClient.signIn(context, "io.logto.android://io.logto.sample/callback") { logtoException ->
            logtoException?.let { println(it) }
            // Update the live data
            _authenticated.postValue(logtoClient.isAuthenticated)
        }
    }

    fun signOut() {
        logtoClient.signOut { logtoException ->
            logtoException?.let { println(it) }
            // Update the live data
            _authenticated.postValue(logtoClient.isAuthenticated)
        }
    }
}

Then, we observe the authenticated live data in MainActivity.kt, when the user is signed in, we hide the sign-in button and show the sign-out button and vice versa:

//...with other imports
class MainActivity : AppCompatActivity() {
    //...other codes
    override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
        //...other codes
        val signInButton = findViewById<Button>(R.id.sign_in_button)
        val signOutButton = findViewById<Button>(R.id.sign_out_button)
        // ...handle button click codes

        // Observe the authentication status
        logtoViewModel.authenticated.observe(this) { authenticated ->
            if (authenticated) {
                // The user is authenticated
                signInButton.visibility = View.GONE
                signOutButton.visibility = View.VISIBLE
            } else {
                // The user is not authenticated
                signInButton.visibility = View.VISIBLE
                signOutButton.visibility = View.GONE
            }
        }
    }
}

Test your integration

Open your Android app to test if the integration works. When you click the "Sign In" button, the page should be redirected to a Logto sign-in page, and you should be able to create a new account by entering username and password and complete the sign-in process.

Add Azure AD connector

To add a social connector, go to the "Connector" tab in the Admin Console, then click on "Social connectors". From there, click "Add social connector".

In the openning modal, select "Azure AD" and click "Next".

On the next page, you will see a two-column layout with the README content on the left and configuration on the right.

Feel free to follow the README file in place or read the following section to complete the configuration process. If you follow the in-place guide, you can skip the next section.

Set up Azure AD

Set up Azure AD in the Azure Portal

• Visit the Azure Portal and sign in with your Azure account. You need to have an active subscription to access Azure AD.
• Click the Azure Active Directory from the services they offer, and click the App Registrations from the left menu.
• Click New Registration at the top and enter a description, select your access type and add your Redirect URI, which redirect the user to the application after logging in. In our case, this will be ${your_logto_origin}/callback/${connector_id}. e.g. https://logto.dev/callback/${connector_id}. You need to select Web as Platform. The connector_id can be found on the top bar of the Logto Admin Console connector details page.
• If you select Single Tenant for access type then you need to enter TenantID, else you need to enter common as Tenant ID.

Configure your client secret

• In your newly created project, click the Certificates & Secrets to get a client secret, and click the New client secret from the top.
• Enter a description and an expiration.
• This will only show your client secret once. Save the value to a secure location.

Compose the connector JSON

• Add your App Registration's Client ID into logto json.
• Add your Client Secret into logto json.
• Add your App Registration's Tenant ID into logto json.
• Add your Microsoft Login Url into logto json. This defaults to "https://login.microsoftonline.com/" for many applications, but you can set your custom domain if you have one. (Don't forget the trailing slash)

{
  "clientId": "<client-id>",
  "clientSecret": "<client-secret>",
  "tenantId": "<tenant-id>", // use "common" if you did't select **Single Tenant**
  "cloudInstance": "https://login.microsoftonline.com/",
}

Config types

Name	Type
clientId	string
clientSecret	string
tenantId	string
cloudInstance	string

References

Web app that signs in users

Save your configuration

Double check you have filled out necessary values in the Logto connector configuration area. Click "Save and Done" (or "Save changes") and the Azure AD connector should be available now.

Enable Azure AD connector in Sign-in Experience

Switch to the "Sign-in experience" tab, then click the "Sign-up and sign-in" tab.

note

If it's the first time you enter the tab, you will see a quick introduction about Sign-in Experience and its basic configuration.

Select "None" for the "Sign-up identifier" to provide minimum sign-up effort for Azure AD sign-in, which may increase your conversion rate.

In the "Social sign-in" section, add "Add Social Connector" and choose "Azure AD". Then you should be able to see a button with text "Continue with Azure AD" in the preview section.

Finally, click "Save changes" on the bottom right corner.

Testing and Validation

Return to your Android app. You should now be able to sign in with Azure AD. Enjoy!

Further readings

⚔️ Protect your API For native and single page apps, you'll need to call one or more API endpoints to retrieve and update data.
Learn more about identifying who's who and keeping your API secure.

🧑‍🚀 Manage users We know you care about user management and activities, as we also do.
Learn more about how to know your users and see the figures like DAU and MAU graphically.

🌐 Localization From one regional business to a global corporate, the willingness to offer the best user experience won't change.
You can change current language phrases or add a new language without friction.

🧑‍🎓 Customer IAM series Our serial blog posts about Customer (or Consumer) Identity and Access Management, from 101 to advanced topics and beyond.