Flickr ditching Facebook and Google sign-in for Yahoo accounts

By Rich Edmonds
published

Some viewed it as inevitable that Yahoo would flip the switch for both Facebook and Google sign-in options to be disabled in favor of its own account system. The popular photo sharing service offers a solid platform for hobbyists to upload and share snaps they've captured with smartphones and/or more professional setups. If you access Flickr through Facebook or Google, you'll soon be prompted to create a new Yahoo account.

"Starting this month, we will be requesting that everyone use a Yahoo username and password to sign in to Flickr. Eventually, Facebook and Google sign in will be removed."

The change hasn't yet occurred so rest assured you're able to access stored content on your Flickr account using connected accounts, but once Flickr removes support for both social networks there'll be no looking back. If you require a helping hand with moving across, or would like to find out more details on the switch, be sure to hit up the Flickr support forum (linked below).

What do you make of the changes? Will you continue using the service with a new Yahoo account? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: Flickr (account update page, support forum)

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

102 Comments
  • Good luck with that... Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • I'm gonna be logging in one last time with my google account and downloading all my pics before this shit happens.
    My Yahoo account been inactive for so long and I've no need to create a new Yahoo account.
    WTF uses Yahoo anyways.
  • I only use Yahoo cause it's tied into my sbcglobal account. Posted via Windows Phone Central App
  • I only use it because its chat is universal, you can access it from ANY WAP enabled mobile ! From the browser, and offers a clean chat experience, with a nice web backup. Unlike google hangouts which only work on android and iOS.
  • WAP? is it 2001?
  • Hold on, I just partied like it was 1999.
  • Its tied to rogers @home in Canada
  • Yahoo employees use Yahoo.
  • Even they dont use it.
  • +520
  • I've been inactivated from Yahoo so many times that I'm starting to take it personal. That's not going to work.
  • Should be fine. I'm using a live account anyway.
  • I don't give a flickr.
  • That made my morning.
  • LOL that made my evening
  • Lol
  • :) I'm glad I made you laugh (Made my day too) lol
  • hehe, good laugh.:)
     
  • This is weird yahoo allows users to login through facebook or google.
    ..
  • Many sites do
  • Exactly!
    For example: The site you're online in right now.
  • And that's how you kill a product ;)
  • And they don't need our help for that. ;-)
  • didn't know it was still alive, though
  • Well, no ships are sinking then. I don't use Flirck, Facebook, Google and Yahoo!
  • Same boat here
  • We are the proud and the few...
  • Same here.
  • Slowly waning myself off of Scroogle. No Yahoo and I flip Flickr the bird a long time ago.
  • Me too.. wish they`d never integrated youtube ,else I would most definitely have deleted that account too..
  • Do you really exists
  • totally weird..need to use yahoo email back..
  • 500px anyone?? And dumb move Yahoo btw
  • Yup, 500px is great
  • I don't like the limits they place on free users.
  • Seems faster!
  • I got s notice about this in an email this morning, I thought it was a phishing scam.
  • M2. I saw it too
  • Some one should by them already.
  • Microsoft needs to hurry up and buy Yahoo before someone else does...
  • Yahoo pulling a Scroogle there.. Way to duck up a service.
  • I feel Marissa got inspired by the stats that showed an increase in Google + users once they made google account mandatory to even comment on a YouTube video..smh
  • That was the final straw for me. I avoided their f'n bs ploy to force G+ on my Gmail account and their pressure to get me to combine my YouTube account with my Gmail account. I've since deleted All my Google accounts including my YouTube account. Leaving google is like ending a bad relationship. Once you do you feel so liberated. I say F Google. I'll never go back.
  • Good luck, indeed. I'm no longer a fan of the behemoth wolves pretending to be sheep, for sure, but this isn't going to help them. They should probably stick with adding yahoo! auth as tertiary...
  • The problem is yahoo makes its password requirements so strict I don't even remember what mine is anymore
  • LOL i feel you bro! ;)
  • I have a Yahoo email account I use for signing up for things. However, now with the password requirements being so strict, I switched to Google for my spam account.
  • +620 This was the only thing for which i ditched YAHOO!
  • Do you remember Who you are
  • And not a crap was given that day.
  • The words"ditching google" always bring a smile to my face....
  • Those moments are rare though...
  • Yahoo doesn't even have 2 tier authentication using a mobile app, you still need to receive a text, who the hell would want a yahoo account. Plus this: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/03/yahoo-email-terminated-idUSL1N0OE13020140603  
  • Ouch! Read the Reuters article and bookmarked. Cheers for the link.
  • Wow. That article really makes me think I should backup my important data from my Yahoo account. I feel really bad for that guy.
  • Yahoo is my email for all those Facebook, Twitter, WPCentral and other forums notifications. Never looked at those 5K unread email msgs ever sing except if I need to verify an account
  • I get much lesser spam in my live account than Yahoo...
  • Hell yeah. The spam I get with Outlook is from things I've chosen to receive. What I get at Yahoo is a lot! And I haven't chosen to receive any of it.
  • You will be supprised how many people still use yahoo emails still, I am a part-time CSR and when I ask for the email 6 out of 10 still use a yahoo email, My toughts is what the..... 
  • It makes sense. Yahoo owns Flickr and they should do whatever they can to promote dependence on a Yahoo sign in over their competitors.
  • That's fine because I already use my yahoo ID.
  • I was a test case for this I guess.  Yahoo notified me May 2 I could no longer use my Facebook or Google logins for accessing my Flikr account. I tweeted Goodbye to Yahoo as a result.
  • is there any official flickr app for wp8.1?
  • Nope. There are some good 3rd party ones though like 2flicka
  • Flickr seems to run faster now...ha ha ha....
  • Smart move on the part of Yahoo. Hopefully that will help keep yahoo email spam from spilling outside it's walled garden.
  • I still don't understand why Yahoo isn't dead. I know no human with a Yahoo account.
  • It seems to be pretty big in asia.
  • Can one use his/her Yahoo account to login to Google?  If the answer is no, then why is the reverse so bad?  And BTW, I've been a Flickr (paid) user for several years now.  No complaints AND I use my Yahoo account credentials to get there. Don't want to use Yahoo to login to Flickr?  Don't use Flickr.  Problem solved.
  • Actually, that's why I don't use google. I use my yahoo login because I've had it for nearly 15 years, and I don't like going places that wont let me use that email to log in.
  • I hate Yahoo with all my being. Their emails NEVER worked properly for me, in 9 years of usage. I'm not talking about how their Messenger client has become a fosil, never evolving beyond its 2009 design. Also, their mail service has just recently become more HTML5-ish ... but it's still low-rez, and not as responsive as it should be (it should be taking cues from Outlook)
  • Yahoo has the worst spam out of any free email service I've ever encountered... No yahoo for me!
  • What's a Yahoo?
  • I like this, This was long over due Yahoo. Posted via the WPC App for Android!
  • I don't use Flickr though I do use their e-mail service.
  • Haha, bye Flickr
  • Goodbye Flickr
  • I cancelled my PAID Flickr service as soon as this happened. Taking away single sign-on is a huge step backwards.
  • My yahoo passwords managed to get compromised so many times that I had to reset it four times. Really a PITA. Although, I'll still use Flickr to backup. Their 1TB of space prevents me from filling up my other precious cloud storage with photos.
  • I prefer this. I don't really want to use my personal accounts for anything and any site that lets me only sign in with FB, twitter or whatever is a site I don't use.
  • no zuo no die
  • Well this is only natural I think, why not exploit their service to 'expand' their mail offering if possible? It also enables them to offer much more robust and engaging back end services to users. Besides every other company that has a mail service does it right? Like on Android and Gmail, WP and W8/8.1 and live/hotmail/outlook, in fact I wonder what took Yahoo so long! They could as well also try how many more users for ymail they can get with this!
  • Microsoft lets you make a Microsoft account with any email address you want.
  • Buy you'll be missing out on really useful advanced back-end features like synching settings, themes, bookmarks, OneNote, OneDrive etc across all your devices! That's why I also think it makes sense for Yahoo to do this if they really want to expand the user experience..
  • It will also make a live account too, which does include OneDrive etc. I found this out when setting up my uncles window phone using his yahoo account. You can go to live.com and sign in with his account name @live.com instead of @yahoo.com access his OneDrive. Thought that was pretty cool.
  • It`s what they hope will happen but will not in reality, yahoo mail isn`t superior to the competition in any regard nor do they have a lot of services which a lot of people use other than that to warrant making an account for, most people will just look at the alternatives to Flickr which allow facebook or google sign in
  • I'm pretty much migrating to 500px for quite some time. But all in all I like this move because I always considered linking a Google account to Flickr was my bad move. Now that will be fixed.
  • This is related to Microsoft or windows or windows phone because...
  • Only a Public Service Announcement for those Windows/WP users that may use Flickr service.
  • I wish there was a way to turn off "General News" and news about kickstands, cases etc. -______-
  • Bwahaha I know right lol
  • Why use Google Chrome for the pic?
  • I don't use Yahoo mail but have had a Yahoo ID for years.  It's been working well since day one.  Better Yahoo than use Google....
  • Standard practice. Like say.....Youtube. Calm down people.
  • Yahoo should just sell themselves to someone already. Only older people or ppl who don't have the recent techs still use yahoo as their primary.
  • I never use social accounts to login to other sites. Why would you want those sites to be able to access your Facebook information.
  • Well this sucks... I use Flickr and really hate this change... I wish Microsoft made a site for photographers.
  • Have to be honest, I couldn't tell the last time I've used Flickr....or my Yahoo account for that matter.
  • good thing! im sick of fb! :G
  • Prefer yahoo to google any day.
  • Not partial to either company, so well done yahoo!
  • Closed all my Yahoo accounts just before they got hacked.