Welcome to the January 2025 edition of our monthly developer update, summarizing the latest news and developments in Microsoft Entra. This month, we bring you feature updates, public previews, announcements, and other important updates. Read on to learn more and make the most of Microsoft Entra.

What went Generally Available (GA) since December 2024?

• Microsoft Entra External ID: custom URL domains – Add branding to your application sign-in endpoints with a custom URL domain, instead of the Microsoft default domain name. With this capability, you can change the endpoint .ciamlogin.com to login.contoso.com for example.

• What’s new in Microsoft Entra – Offers a comprehensive view of Microsoft Entra product updates including product roadmap, like Public Previews and recent features in General Availability. Find change announcements, like deprecations, breaking changes, feature changes and Microsoft-managed policies.

New Public Previews

• Microsoft Entra External ID: support for OpenID Connect (OIDC) external identity providers (IdP) – Federate sign-in and sign-up user flows with external IdPs using the OAuth 2.0 authorization standard while conforming to OIDC specifications. OIDC federation enables partner and social IdP integrations through identity federation. Users sign in with their current identities, instead of creating new credentials associated with their accounts.

• Microsoft Entra External ID: support for Apple as OIDC identity provider (IdP) – Set up federation with Apple, and customers sign in to your applications with their Apple ID accounts. Also, you can publish social login-enabled mobile apps in the Apple App Store.

• Managed Identities as Federated Identity Credentials for Microsoft Entra – Securely access Entra-protected resources like Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Graph, and third-party APIs using a managed identity instead of a secret or certificate.

News, updates, and resources

• Microsoft Entra Verified ID authorities set up using the Advanced Setup method before February 2024 utilize a P-256K signing key, which is not FIPS compliant. Customers aiming for FIPS compliance can upgrade their existing Microsoft Entra Verified ID authorities to the P-256 signing key from mid-January 2025. Microsoft Entra Verified ID authorities created with the Quick Setup method already use the FIPS compliant P-256 signing key. For upgrade instructions, visit https://aka.ms/didfips.

• Get Started with the Microsoft identity platform using Visual Studio connected Services – See how you can use Visual Studio’s Connected Services to quickly integrate the Microsoft identity platform into your ASP.NET web apps and configure sign-in experiences, all within Visual Studio.

Stay connected and informed

This blog post aims to keep you informed and engaged with the latest Microsoft Entra developments, helping you harness these new features and capabilities in your identity development journey.

To learn more or test out features in the Microsoft Entra portfolio, visit our developer center. Make sure you subscribe to the Identity developer blog for more insights and to keep up with the latest on all things Identity. And, follow us on YouTube for video overviews, tutorials, and deep dives. 

Stay tuned for more updates and developments in the world of Microsoft Entra!