Apple bans entire dev account, no reason given
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When travelling in Hungary my AWS account was banned the moment I tried to log in. I got basically no reason. I was able to call support but the guy very polite fobbed me off and I got the idea that they weren't even able to disclose the reason why they banned me.
https://old.reddit.com/r/imguralternatives/comments/1kr11nw/...
while flaunting "Stand with Ukraine!" and all that virtue signaling.
For companies that don't serve customers there it's very common to just block those network ranges. Of course, it's no real solution, but some people are convinced every security layer contributes to 'defense in depth'.
Thanks for clarification
Then don't use any uncommon tools, e.g. ones associated with 'hacking', or store any copyrighted files in their cloud.
If there's any issue or error with logins etc., don't retry too quickly or too often or that in itself will be suspicious. Wait a day between requests, and double-check everything before retrying. Do not retry from a different IP or worse a VPN, or that will also be suspicious.
That should just about cover the bases for most providers.
Yes, it's insane and obviously you still need a backup of all your stuff just in case.
This reads like some list of instructions from the Brazil film.
Apparently I got flagged as suspicious, and every time I jump through the hoops to prove who I am, I get rejected.
I just stopped buying from Amazon.
Lost all my books, movies, tv shows. Everything. No recourse.
This is why I never "buy" anything I cannot keep my own copy of. Yes, I sometimes miss out, but fuck those guys.
One upshot of this is that I tend to buy more indy books where the author sells directly and DRM-free. Put the money right in their pockets.
Here Apple not only owns the device but also the software it's running as well as distribution of apps for this device except for CLI tools distributed by brew or other package managers. At least with a Mac I can install and run applications over the Internet. With an iPhone that's not at all possible (not sure about the status of side loading with the EU ruling and all)
Installing Windows without a key is not exactly straightforward, then there's that constant gentle reminder of how your copy of "Windows is not activated".
Microsoft COULD push an update that encrypts your hard drive, and forces you to pay $1000 for a key, if they wanted to.
It's unlikely, but the same as
> If Apple decides it won't work, you're at their mercy.
I skipped the amazon account registration and directly sideloaded the Google Play apps on my fire tablet.
Even for Google TVs you can skip the setup and use the TV as is. You can sideload APKs on this as well.
AFAIK, the account setup/login circumvention is not possible on fire tv sticks/google chromecasts.
You can take a very old android device factory reset it and continue using at as an offline only device without the blessings of google or amazon. (Except FRP devices)
But that is not the case with Apple, you need to connect it atleast once to the internet to activate the device.
Is this possible even if the account is locked to the device (FRP), which is often the case?
Android phones usually have multiple options (Lineage, Calyx, eos, Graphene, depending on your particular phone) and you can always replace Windows with Linux.
It’s probably similar in Sweden and other neighbouring countries
I guess shop for another country?
Or read the digital letters from government / municipalities.
Also I like my banking app.
In your country? I'm not sure either.
In general? Slovenian government allows authentication via
- TLS client certificates,
- three different third party identity providers,
- ID card via a card reader
- .. or via NFC through a smartphone, and
- SMS OTP.
People who don't or don't want to use a smartphone shouldn't be barred from online government services or forced into a costly and slow authentication scheme when there's numerous better options.
Also, having your banking app on your phone isn't the most desirable thing in reality, if you're security-minded.
Any bank transfers are MFAd via the app, for example. It's the only bank that allows non-citizens in Germany that has English correspondence and wouldn't have taken months in Bureaucracy to open an account when I first moved.
What did people do before such apps?
Old school banks will block access if you make your own keyboard so it doesn't phone home to Google or Samsung. Unless I misunderstood the original conversation.
Honest question: Why not?
I download less random program / files on my phone, then I do on my computer.
Obviously his email was an interference with the "Program" (Apple Developer Program). It probably had consumed an Apple employee's time, or that of an AI.
Imagine the EU or any government being in the position of saying to Apple: "You did not adhere to our terms xyz, therefore we terminate our granted permission for you to operate in this region. Please remove all tools you use to operate in this region and release the premises for other companies to use them, immediately", without explaining why. Because this is what Apple is doing.
Isn't that literally what the EU is doing with the DMA?
Really what people want is "judicial review for TOS bans", which I can see huge benefits to but it's also very expensive.
All we can complain about is that Apple’s rejection letters never go into detail. I’m afraid that’s what you get when the legal department of a large corp is involved.
I think we can all agree this is a poor response and they should give some idea on what the root problem is and how to address it, but to say they just shouldn't ever have conditions at all is absurd.
You also have choices beyond using Youtube.
USPS is the only carrier for many situations. They MUST allow you to mail firearms, baby chickens and weird vials of stuff. They don't get to opt out.
Either the market is full of choices or the sole provider has to do business with everyone for everything and no longer gets opinions.
I read that in a dalek's voice.
It's not as much a failure of Apple's legal department as it's a failure of the legal system where this is a-ok.
Doesn't matter what the app is - maybe user tried to publish an illegal app, but that should be clearly communicated. It's the civilized way.
https://old.reddit.com/r/iOSProgramming/s/oUVIuVWeJe
Hearing tales like these makes me super nervous. I don't think there's anything I can do to protect my app/account.
This is not a new thing though, apple has been doing this for years, here is a similar report from 8 years ago: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/44105523/apple-rejected-...
Also, according to that link, section 3.2f is:
“You will not, directly or indirectly, commit any act intended to interfere with the Apple Software or Services, the intent of this Agreement, or Apple’s business practices including, but not limited to, taking actions that may hinder the performance or intended use of the App Store, B2B Program, or the Program.”
It does suck, A LOT
This isn't to say that the Google Play Store is intrinsically better than Apple's App Store; Google is equally guilty of this what's the cheapest thing we can pass off as due diligence? nonsense. However, it is a good reminder that this sort of thing has been going on for a long time, and is only getting worse.
I think the idea of the smartphone as a general-purpose computing machine is dead, and that instead phones are now the designated Muggle-safe Internet consumption platform. Apart from media streaming, ordinary people aren't using computing machinery for anything they weren't using it for twenty years ago, so I think they won't feel any loss from the stagnation of mobile apps.
The lessons for HN readers are: a) app stores exist within their platform's moat; and b) don't build your business inside someone else's moat.
I bought a used MacBook air from my colleague to give to my girlfriend. It's the first apple device I've owned for more than a decade.
I was expecting smooth sailing. From afar it's supposed to be so well integrated and smooth.
What we experienced was the opposite. Even just the experience in macOS feels extremely janky. Lots of different UI paradigms, lack of feedback when logging into your apple account when it doesn't work in some cases.
Anyway, we updated everything and my gf even purchased something almost immediately - a nearly 100 dollar license for software from the app store.
She puts the laptop away for a couple of days and then we want to use it in the kitchen.. and we are told there's an issue with the account. We end up logging in online where we are finally told that its been blocked and we need to verify it. Whatever, I thought, it's probably just some filter. We verify with phone number and are told we'll need to wait a couple of days.
The result is that her apple id is just banned, and there is no recourse. No one can tell us anything at all except that we broke the terms of service. They can't even refund our purchase because they literally can't find our account in their system. We're literally instructed to do a charge back.
So we end up using another apple id that my girlfriend had, which she had forgotten about since it was only used for Apple tv... And it doesn't work. We are unable to login with it, and when we go online, we enter some sort of verification flow.. which just breaks. The final step is a website with a button which literally doesn't do anything when you press it. Except it does - it sends a request and I can see it return a 500.
We end up having to talk to support on the phone and they tell us this is all intentional, and he just needs to flip a switch in his system and we're good to go.
Literally the most asinine experience I've ever had with any tech company. Also the last time I'm buying anything Apple.
The bar is so low these days...
“You will not, directly or indirectly, commit any act intended to interfere with any of the Apple Software or Services“