u/sazzer

I know I've posted this in a bunch of places a bunch of times, but every single time I come to look for a CIAM service for a project, I'm pretty much overwhelmed with how awful/broken they all are.

My requirements are, in my opinion, very modest. Especially for 2026. And I just can't find any provider that actually works for them:

• Cloud-hosted. I don't want to have to run my own, with all of the privacy and security concerns that comes with.
• Free tier. At least whilst in development.
  • I don't mind paying a reasonable amount when live, but I don't want to have to pay whilst I'm still building.
  • However, I don't want the paid plans to be overly expensive for an app that's got no income yet.
• Hosted login and signup UIs. These can get complicated fast, especially with things like MFA and Passkeys.
  • This likely means proper OIDC flows, but doesn't need to mean that.
  • I still want to build my own user profile pages using their APIs, since otherwise the UX will just be jarring.
• No forced requirement to use frontend SDKs. I want my frontend(s) to stay clean and do everything through my own backend.
  • This means that there must be APIs for managing everything in the user profile.
• Local auth with password.
• MFA support. At least TOTP.
  • It's 2026. MFA is not optional.
  • This also needs to support recovery if you lose your second factor. Typically this is through single-use recovery codes but there are other options.
  • This is where almost all of the offerings fail.

That seems a pretty basic list, so I'm wondering if anyone here can suggest anything that fits - or at least comes close.

For reference, and I don't want anyone to think I'm just bashing here:

• Cognito - MFA is broken. No support for recovery codes, so if you lose your authenticator app then you're screwed.
• Clerk - OIDC authentication is broken, so you're forced to use the SDK for logging in. Also, some features just aren't possible at all through the APIs - e.g. querying password complexity rules
• Descope - I've not yet been able to work out how to support both password authentication and TOTP. The custom flow that you have to install for password auth to work doesn't prompt for TOTP, which means that's just broken.
• Auth0 - MFA is gated behind the paid tier, and that's expensive. It works out to be over $2k per month to get close to the same user levels that Clerk gives for $20 per month.
• Zitadel - the usage counts are way too low. You only get 100 users before you have to start paying.

And my list does go on, but you get the idea.

Cheers

One thing that I keep thinking would be really useful is the ability to have bridges in different places to where they currently are.

I know that there's already a town upgrade that adds a couple, but they're again in predefined places.

I don't know if such a mod already exists - if so, I couldn't find it - and I don't know if it's even possible to make, but it would be really good to have one where you can buy/build bridges wherever you wanted. For example, if I decide I want a bridge by Pam's trailer, or direct to the triangle island south of the wizards lake, or additional bridges on my farm then I can have them - at a suitable cost.

Obviously mods that totally randomize what they're doing every day will make it much harder to find them, but are there any mods that do things like:

• Randomize their routes from A to B
• Randomize their exact locations when they get somewhere
• Make them interact with each other if they happen to be close enough

For example, Wednesday afternoons Caroline is always in the exact same spot - by the fountain. And she just stands there for 5 hours. But she could just be in that general area. Maybe even wandering around looking at things. That would make the gameplay basically the same but feel a bit more alive.

I'm currently dithering between the Lenovo Idea Tab or the Tab Plus to replace my current Tab M8 FHD.

I know that the Idea Tab has a better screen, but I'm concerned about the processing on it.

My use cases are:

- reading - kindle, web pages, comics, etc

- streaming

- some gaming - things like Stardew Valley, BG1, Icewind Dale, etc. Nothing super modern.

Some reviews seem to suggest that the Idea Tab will be more than capable here. Others are less clear - one suggested they were getting about 15fps on Fortnite for example! (Which I've never played so I don't know how bad that really is)

So, can anyone suggest which of these is likely to be better for my wants? Or share experiences with what they're really like to use.

Cheers

(Before anyone asks - I've got a £200 voucher to spend at Currys PC World, so the choice is limited to whatever I can get from there within that budget, and these two appear to be the best they have)

I've been looking for ages for a hosted CIAM solution I can use for my apps. I've got what is, in my opinion, a very reasonable set of requirements that they must meet. But, from what I can tell, there are zero solutions out there that actually meets them! What am I missing?

• Cloud-hosted. I don't want to have to run my own, with all of the privacy and security concerns that comes with.
• Free tier. At least whilst in development.
  • I don't mind paying a reasonable amount when live, but I don't want to have to pay whilst I'm still building.
  • However, I don't want the paid plans to be overly expensive for an app that's got no income yet.
• Hosted login and signup UIs. These can get complicated fast, especially with things like MFA and Passkeys.
  • This likely means proper OIDC flows, but doesn't need to mean that.
  • I still want to build my own user profile pages using their APIs, since otherwise the UX will just be jarring.
• No forced requirement to use frontend SDKs. I want my frontend(s) to stay clean and do everything through my own backend.
  • This means that there must be APIs for managing everything in the user profile.
• Local auth with password.
• MFA support. At least TOTP.
  • It's 2026. MFA is not optional.
  • This also needs to support recovery if you lose your second factor. Typically this is through single-use recovery codes but there are other options.
  • This is where almost all of the offerings fail.

I'd also like support for social auth - Google, etc - but that's not a hard requirement like the rest of the list is.

Now, I don't need anything enterprise-y - SSO, SCIM, RBAC, etc. But the above list is non-negotiable. And in 2026 it really should be the minimum that every provider is offering. And yet I can't find a single provider that is offering them.

It's almost getting to the point of thinking Screw it, and building my own CIAM solution. There's clearly a gap in the market for one that does a decent job. But I also know that's a stupid idea - the actual CIAM software is pretty straightforward, but the privacy and security concerns are huge. That's the reason I want to use a hosted solution in the first place!

So if anyone has any suggestions then please let me know! :)

I've been looking for ages for a hosted CIAM solution I can use for my apps. I've got what is, in my opinion, a very reasonable set of requirements that they must meet. But, from what I can tell, there are zero solutions out there that actually meets them! What am I missing?

• Cloud-hosted. I don't want to have to run my own, with all of the privacy and security concerns that comes with.
• Free tier. At least whilst in development.
  • I don't mind paying a reasonable amount when live, but I don't want to have to pay whilst I'm still building.
  • However, I don't want the paid plans to be overly expensive for an app that's got no income yet.
• Hosted login and signup UIs. These can get complicated fast, especially with things like MFA and Passkeys.
  • This likely means proper OIDC flows, but doesn't need to mean that.
  • I still want to build my own user profile pages using their APIs, since otherwise the UX will just be jarring.
• No forced requirement to use frontend SDKs. I want my frontend(s) to stay clean and do everything through my own backend.
  • This means that there must be APIs for managing everything in the user profile.
• Local auth with password.
• MFA support. At least TOTP.
  • It's 2026. MFA is not optional.
  • This also needs to support recovery if you lose your second factor. Typically this is through single-use recovery codes but there are other options.
  • This is where almost all of the offerings fail.

I'd also like support for social auth - Google, etc - but that's not a hard requirement like the rest of the list is.

Now, I don't need anything enterprise-y - SSO, SCIM, RBAC, etc. But the above list is non-negotiable. And in 2026 it really should be the minimum that every provider is offering. And yet I can't find a single provider that is offering them.

It's almost getting to the point of thinking Screw it, and building my own CIAM solution. There's clearly a gap in the market for one that does a decent job. But I also know that's a stupid idea - the actual CIAM software is pretty straightforward, but the privacy and security concerns are huge. That's the reason I want to use a hosted solution in the first place!

So if anyone has any suggestions then please let me know! :)

I've got a gift card I can use at a select few stores and I'm hoping to get a new tablet with it. I've currently got the Lenovo Tab M8 FHD, which works fine but is feeling a bit dated now... (I did get it 6 years ago!)

My main uses for it are reading, and playing a handful of games - Stardew Valley, Baldurs Gate 1/, Icewind Dale, and similar.

I'm looking at the ~9" - 10" range, so the choices I can get are:

- Samsung Tab A11

- Lenovo Tab One

- Lenovo Tab 10.1"

- Lenovo M9

- Acer ACTAB1025

- Entity GM 10.1"

- Honor Pad X7

- TCL Tab 10L

I am obviously still looking into them all myself, but I'm curious what other people's opinions of these are too?

Cheers

My wife is a fan of the UK TV show "Don't Tell The Bride". However, streaming over here (UK) doesn't have it all available. We can watch seasons 1-5, then 13 and 14, and I'm not sure about any of the specials. And as best I can find, you can only buy seasons 1 and 2 on DVD. So there are at least 7 seasons that we can't find anywhere.

Does anyone know of anywhere we can get either all of it, or else just the missing ones? I'm not too fussy about the format - though preferably not VHS! ;)

Cheers