diff --git a/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.h b/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.h
index 5464418cd9..d84c6ddb03 100644
--- a/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.h
+++ b/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.h
@@ -15,6 +15,15 @@
 
 - (instancetype) initWithDelegate:(id<BITAuthenticationViewControllerDelegate>) delegate;
 
+/**
+ *  can be set to YES to show an additional button + description text
+ *  and allowing to login via external website/UDID.
+ *  if this is set to yes, no further email/password options are shown
+ *
+ *  defaults to NO
+ */
+@property (nonatomic, assign) BOOL showsLoginViaWebButton;
+
 /**
  *	can be set to YES to also require the users password
  *
@@ -41,6 +50,8 @@
  */
 - (void) authenticationViewControllerDidCancel:(UIViewController*) viewController;
 
+- (void) authenticationViewControllerDidTapWebButton:(UIViewController*) viewController;
+
 /**
  *	called when the user wants to login
  *
diff --git a/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.m b/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.m
index 24a181d937..7af3114653 100644
--- a/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.m
+++ b/Classes/BITAuthenticationViewController.m
@@ -33,10 +33,14 @@
   return self;
 }
 
+#pragma mark - view lifecycle
+
 - (void)viewDidLoad {
   [super viewDidLoad];
   
   [self.tableView setScrollEnabled:NO];
+  
+  [self updateWebLoginButton];
 }
 
 - (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
@@ -60,6 +64,7 @@
   [[UIApplication sharedApplication] setStatusBarStyle:_statusBarStyle];
 }
 
+#pragma mark - Property overrides
 - (void)setShowsCancelButton:(BOOL)showsCancelButton {
   if(_showsCancelButton != showsCancelButton) {
     _showsCancelButton = showsCancelButton;
@@ -77,6 +82,44 @@
   }
 }
 
+- (void)setShowsLoginViaWebButton:(BOOL)showsLoginViaWebButton {
+  if(_showsLoginViaWebButton != showsLoginViaWebButton) {
+    _showsLoginViaWebButton = showsLoginViaWebButton;
+    if(self.isViewLoaded) {
+      [self.tableView reloadData];
+      [self updateWebLoginButton];
+    }
+   }
+}
+
+- (void) updateWebLoginButton {
+  if(self.showsLoginViaWebButton) {
+    static const CGFloat kFooterHeight = 60.f;
+    UIView *containerView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0,
+                                                                     CGRectGetWidth(self.tableView.bounds),
+                                                                     kFooterHeight)];
+    UIButton *button = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeSystem];
+    [button setTitle:BITHockeyLocalizedString(@"Show login page") forState:UIControlStateNormal];
+    CGSize buttonSize = [button sizeThatFits:CGSizeMake(CGRectGetWidth(self.tableView.bounds),
+                                                        kFooterHeight)];
+    button.frame = CGRectMake(floorf((CGRectGetWidth(containerView.bounds) - buttonSize.width) / 2.f),
+                              floorf((kFooterHeight - buttonSize.height) / 2.f),
+                              buttonSize.width,
+                              buttonSize.height);
+    button.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleBottomMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleTopMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleLeftMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleRightMargin;
+    [containerView addSubview:button];
+    [button addTarget:self
+               action:@selector(handleWebLoginButton:)
+     forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
+    self.tableView.tableFooterView = containerView;
+  } else {
+    self.tableView.tableFooterView = nil;
+  }
+}
+
+- (IBAction) handleWebLoginButton:(id)sender {
+  [self.delegate authenticationViewControllerDidTapWebButton:self];
+}
 #pragma mark - UIViewController Rotation
 
 - (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)orientation {
@@ -101,16 +144,24 @@
 }
 
 - (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
-  NSInteger rows = 1;
-  
-  if ([self requirePassword]) rows ++;
-  
-  return rows;
+  if(self.showsLoginViaWebButton) {
+    return 0;
+  } else {
+    NSInteger rows = 1;
+    
+    if ([self requirePassword]) rows ++;
+    
+    return rows;
+  }
 }
 
 - (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView titleForFooterInSection:(NSInteger)section {
   if (section == 0) {
-    return BITHockeyLocalizedString(@"HockeyAuthenticationViewControllerDataDescription");
+    if(self.showsLoginViaWebButton) {
+      return BITHockeyLocalizedString(@"HockeyAuthenticationViewControllerWebLoginDescription");
+    } else {
+      return BITHockeyLocalizedString(@"HockeyAuthenticationViewControllerDataDescription");
+    }
   }
   
   return nil;
diff --git a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.h b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.h
index 79ba306f90..2ab9bc1c91 100644
--- a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.h
+++ b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 typedef NS_ENUM(NSUInteger, BITAuthenticatorAuthType) {
   BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmail,
   BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmailAndPassword,
+  BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeWebbased,
   //TODO: add Facebook?
 };
 
@@ -87,6 +88,35 @@ typedef void(^tValidationCompletion)(BOOL validated, NSError *error);
  */
 @property (nonatomic, readonly) NSString *installationIdentification;
 
+#pragma mark - HandleURL Helper
+
+/**
+ *	should be used by the app-delegate to forward handle application:openURL:sourceApplication:annotation calls
+ *
+ *	@param	url	URL that was passed to the app
+ *	@param	sourceApplication	sourceApplication that was passed to the app
+ *	@param	annotation	annotation that was passed to the app
+ *
+ *	@return	YES if the URL request was handled, NO if the URL could not be handled/identified
+ *
+ *  Sample usage (in AppDelegate)
+ *  - (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application 
+ *              openURL:(NSURL *)url
+ *    sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation {
+ *    if ([[BITHockeyManager sharedHockeyManager].authenticator handleOpenURL:url
+ *                                                          sourceApplication:sourceApplication
+ *                                                                 annotation:annotation]) {
+ *      return YES;
+ *    } else {
+ *      //do your own URL handling, return appropriate valu
+ *    }
+ *    return NO;
+ }
+ */
+- (BOOL) handleOpenURL:(NSURL *) url
+     sourceApplication:(NSString *) sourceApplication
+            annotation:(id) annotation;
+
 @end
 
 @protocol BITAuthenticatorDelegate <NSObject>
diff --git a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
index a96f82e6d7..f8e568185f 100644
--- a/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
+++ b/Classes/BITAuthenticator.m
@@ -135,6 +135,9 @@ static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorLastAuthenticatedVersionKey = @"BITAuthe
     case BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmailAndPassword:
       params = @{@"auid" : self.authenticationToken};
       break;
+    case BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeWebbased:
+      params = @{@"udid" : self.authenticationToken};
+      break;
   }
   return params;
 }
@@ -197,19 +200,21 @@ static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorLastAuthenticatedVersionKey = @"BITAuthe
     BITHockeyLog(@"Already authenticating. Ignoring request");
     return;
   }
-  
-  BOOL requiresPassword;
+
+  BITAuthenticationViewController *viewController = [[BITAuthenticationViewController alloc] initWithDelegate:self];
   switch (self.authenticationType) {
     case BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmailAndPassword:
-      requiresPassword = YES;
+      viewController.requirePassword = YES;
       break;
     case BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeEmail:
-      requiresPassword = NO;
+      viewController.requirePassword = NO;
+      break;
+    case BITAuthenticatorAuthTypeWebbased:
+      viewController.requirePassword = NO;
+      viewController.showsLoginViaWebButton = YES;
       break;
   }
   
-  BITAuthenticationViewController *viewController = [[BITAuthenticationViewController alloc] initWithDelegate:self];
-  viewController.requirePassword = requiresPassword;
   switch (self.validationType) {
     case BITAuthenticatorValidationTypeNever:
     case BITAuthenticatorValidationTypeOptional:
@@ -375,6 +380,65 @@ static NSString* const kBITAuthenticatorLastAuthenticatedVersionKey = @"BITAuthe
   }
 }
 
+
+- (void)authenticationViewControllerDidTapWebButton:(UIViewController *)viewController {
+  NSURL *hockeyWebbasedLoginURL = [self.hockeyAppClient.baseURL URLByAppendingPathComponent:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"apps/%@/authorize", self.encodedAppIdentifier]];
+  [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:hockeyWebbasedLoginURL];
+}
+
+- (BOOL) handleOpenURL:(NSURL *) url
+     sourceApplication:(NSString *) sourceApplication
+            annotation:(id) annotation {
+  BOOL isValidURL = NO;
+  NSString *udid = [self UDIDFromOpenURL:url annotation:annotation isValidURL:&isValidURL];
+  if(NO == isValidURL) {
+    //do nothing, was not for us
+    return NO;
+  }
+  
+  if(udid){
+    [self didAuthenticateWithToken:udid];
+  } else {
+    //reset auth-token
+    self.authenticationToken = nil;
+    
+    if(self.validationType == BITAuthenticatorValidationTypeOptional) {
+      //dismiss view-controller if login was optional
+      [_authenticationController dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
+      _authenticationController = nil;
+    } else {
+      //keep the viewcontroller and thus block the app
+    }
+  }
+  return YES;
+}
+
+- (NSString *) UDIDFromOpenURL:(NSURL *) url annotation:(id) annotation isValidURL:(BOOL*) isValid{
+  NSString *urlScheme = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"ha%@", self.appIdentifier];
+  if([[url scheme] isEqualToString:urlScheme]) {
+    if(isValid) {
+      *isValid = YES;
+    }
+    NSString *query = [url query];
+    NSString *udid = nil;
+    //there should actually only one
+    static NSString * const UDIDQuerySpecifier = @"udid";
+    for(NSString *queryComponents in [query componentsSeparatedByString:@"&"]) {
+      NSArray *parameterComponents = [queryComponents componentsSeparatedByString:@"="];
+      if(2 == parameterComponents.count && [parameterComponents[0] isEqualToString:UDIDQuerySpecifier]) {
+        udid = parameterComponents[1];
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+    return udid;
+  } else {
+    if(isValid) {
+      *isValid = NO;
+    }
+    return nil;
+  }
+}
+
 #pragma mark - Validation Pseudo-Delegate
 - (void)validationFailedWithError:(NSError *)validationError completion:(tValidationCompletion) completion{
   if(completion) {