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Apple has locked me out of my developer account

rambo.codes

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Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#251

Post by Answerawake »

slavik81 wrote: post #195
Answerawake wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the alternative to Apple? I don't see Linux being solid in a few years time (or ever really). I say this after trying Linux again every year in the hopes that this is the year it is solid. My anecdotal experience for this year is that the latest Ubuntu release had a problem where after performing a clean install and rebooting, the login screen will not allow me to enter the desktop. Turns out the desktop was…

You'll have significantly fewer problems with Intel graphics. The Linux drivers are all open-source and they're better integrated with the rest of the system. The only question is if Intel hardware is sufficient for your workload. NVIDIA makes great hardware, but the interface to it is complex and poorly documented. It's bad enough that Linus once stated that "NVIDIA has been the single worst company we have ever dea…

You and all the other replies are missing the whole point. The computer is a tool to get work done. I just want a computer that allows me to get my work done in the least amount of pain as possible. I don't see how Apple gets dethroned in a few years time if this is the state of the competitors.

This computer in its current configuration worked fine with last year's Ubuntu distro. Next year I suspect this will be fixed but something else will be broken. I could switch to Intel but I still won't avoid the next random issue. At the end of the day, the time and money spent will be greater on Linux and for what? So I can say I'm running a complete open system?

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#252

Post by aaplthrowaway0 »

arbitcoin wrote: post #243
Operyl wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At that point, you can still authenticate with a Hackintosh anyway. But hey, would you look at that, the person is still _technically_ violating the rules!

Sorry, I refuse to be bullied into buying exorbitantly overpriced shit hardware.

But you'll quite happily develop software for 'exorbitantly overpriced shit hardware,' and even violate terms of the software provided by using a VM running macOS to make sure you get a piece. The unheeded irony of that position is so transparent as to be Windex clear. That'd be fine on its own, but of course, the truth of the matter is also no impediment to you disingenuously blaming the party enforcing terms you agreed to in your pursuit of the aforementioned piece which, again, all centers around 'exorbitantly overpriced shit hardware' that you disdain.

If you'd like to address iOS and macOS users, the ramp to doing so is quite clear and navigable. If you'd like to avoid 'exorbitantly overpriced shit hardware' while ignoring say, secondhand MacBook Airs, well, also good news: Android is a perfectly addressable market. If that's an untenable position for your particular sensibilities, you are totally free to compete.

If that seems like bullying, capitalism is going to be tough to navigate. You're already ignoring the rules to get your own piece of it, so chastising those who are more successful at the exact same game you're playing simply obliterates your whole philosophy in general and makes you an unreliable narrator, and I hope you see that.

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#253

Post by chipotle_coyote »

tener wrote: post #235
cmcd wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying I am in favor of how locked down iOS is currently, but you have to admit it does create the safest mobile environment especially for less technical people. Apple is selling a product in which they have not decided to include a way to easily download unsupported Apps. I do not think it is the government's role to tell Apple they have to allow a easy way for users to install Apps from different channels.

It is very much the role of the government to watch monopolies and act if necessary. Even if that means passing arbitrary restrictions on their business practices. Surely not all conceivable restrictions would be good, but some (like GDPR) are clearly net positives.

The question is whether or not Apple's control over iOS counts as a monopoly for this purpose -- do you look at iOS products as their own self-contained market, or do you look at them as "the mobile device market" that includes Android (and, at least on tablets, Windows and ChromeOS)? You can make an argument for that either way.

(Personally, I wouldn't be heartbroken if Apple was forced to allow apps to be installed outside the App Store and to not require all in-app purchases to go through them -- I think that would actually end up being healthier for the platform in the long run, especially if they're serious about positioning it as a general purpose computing platform rather than an "application console" -- but I'm not at all sure American antitrust regulators will see it that way.)

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#254

Post by FussyZeus »

chipotle_coyote wrote: post #245
FussyZeus wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have no doubt you have been tricked by a multibillion dollar company to moderate their site in your free time for 0 compensation. Wrong. Haven't in years. Gave it up because it's thankless work. > And it doesn't surprise anyone here than you don't work with the community, you just enforce the rules as strictly as you possibly can. You don't know a thing about where I worked or the rules I enforced. You're swingin…

I think people are a little frustrated with your replies in this thread because it seems like you're pushing back hard against even relatively mild criticisms of Apple's behavior like "they should at least be clear about the reasons for the suspension." Assuming Rambo's describing what's happened here correctly, Apple isn't even being clear about whether the account is suspended at all, they're just saying "we'll loo…

> When you had to take a moderation action against someone, you didn't just lock them out of their account with no explanation as to why and ignore any request for clarification, right?

We did that all the time, for the reasons I've outlined above. If I consider all the years I spent working on this sort of stuff, I could count on two hands the number of people who, when confronted with clear and unambiguous proof that they had broken rules, simply owned it and left it at that. And I was never policing something even remotely approaching something the size of the Apple developer community.

Yes, I could've explained it to each other person. I could've exchanged a number of emails back and forth, trying to make them understand. But I come back to the simple problem that 99% of people will never interact with moderation staff of any kind, because they follow rules. They don't bend them, they don't look for loopholes, they don't push envelopes. They're fine. We'll never talk. That 1% however, we talk all the time because they're constantly pushing buttons, trying wording, looking for exceptions, looking for ways to get around things.

Why? I don't know. It seems to be just a thing humans like doing. And after you've entered your roughly 500th conversation with someone who knows they got busted and doesn't want to own up to it, or wants it excused, or wants to plead ignorance or whatever, it just all starts to sound the same. The same excuses, the same pleas, the same insults.

I was always open to check something out that another mod had done. Review is never a bad thing, and sure, we reversed a few. And other mods I'm sure reviewed me all the time, too. But again, the vast, vast majority of situations were just people who broke rules they disagreed with. And once we verify that, you go in the bin. Further discussion is not warranted.

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#255

Post by cmcd »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #242
johndubchak wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unmoderated free for all app store I think we should call it Android. Given that, and a lack of a closed ecosystem, is why Android is hacked as much as it is, which is why I would never get rid of my iPhone in favor of an Android device - well, that and the lesser quality hardware, of course. But I think you see my point.

> well, that and the lesser quality hardware, of course. As an Apple user, I don't say this very often, but you're seriously drinking the Kool-Aid here. Neither mobile OS has a significant advantage in hardware quality at the high end.

Yeah, this might have been true several years ago but these days you can get Androids with the same specs as iPhones at half the price.

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#257

Post by michaelmrose »

cmcd wrote: post #175
saagarjha wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The App Store is the only Apple supported way to release apps, there are unsupported third party app stores as well. On iOS, these are nothing more than hacks.

Right, third party app stores are not officially supported and for good reason. I am not sure what the alternative is, create a unmoderated free for all app store? That goes pretty heavily against the Apple ecosystem's philosophy and would make it easy for people to download damaging apps which Apple would then get blamed for because they added an official channel for installing them.

The alternative has been functional for decades.

You have a single "store" interface with user configurable channels which users can add at their own risk.

If you don't make it trivial for an attacker to induce a user to configure such a channel you avoid most bad outcomes for stupid people. For example you shouldn't be able to click a link and prompt the user as such prompts do not work.

Personally I would expect

- A setting in configuration menus to enable 3rd party channels

- explicitly entering the channel data

- a white list of known safe channels run by good actors even if not reviewed

- a black list of known bad channels that can't be enabled

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#258

Post by heavyset_go »

cmcd wrote: post #231
vageli wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and would make it easy for people to download damaging apps which Apple would then get blamed for because they added an official channel for installing them. Do Android users blame Google or the phone manufacturer when they download a damaging app?

Yes they do, the most recent example is apps using a vulnerability to steal images. Many people are blaming Google and Samsung for not addressing this problem sooner and of course having a faulty permissions system that allowed this in the first place. Samsung is frequently attacked for security issues since they take so long to push out updates. Apple avoids these problems entirely by sandboxing apps and thoroughly…

> It is very rare to hear about security issues for iOS yet we hear about a new one for Android monthly.

This exploit existed in the wild for iOS for years[1], and all a user had to do is visit a website for their device to be exploited.

There are plenty of other recent exploits found in the wild for iOS[2][3]. This implant is undetectable and uploaded iOS users' photos and location data to the attackers[4].

All four of these iOS exploits were found in the same month.

[1] https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2019/08/jsc-exploits....

[2] https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2019/08/in-wild-ios-e...

[3] https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2019/08/in-wild-ios-e...

[4] https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2019/08/implant-teard...

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#259

Post by Despegar »

asabjorn wrote: post #244
rgovostes wrote: post #39

> I’m just an indie developer trying to make good products. Apple should separate Rambo's software development from his reporting rather than retaliate against him, if that is indeed what is happening, but it is a little disingenuous for him to make the above claim. Rambo reverse engineers Apple products and publishes findings on 9to5Mac.com, in particular future product references that have slipped prematurely into…

If we are to trust Apple on the claim that they are a platform and not a publisher, removing for an editorial reason like this put their claim in doubt and I don't think they have the leeway you describe here as a platform. If Apple is now a publisher with editorial control, why would anyone trust them as a middleman to their customer base? Seems risky.

What claim? Apple has not ever disclaimed that they have complete editorial control over what happens on their platform, in fact they've advertised that fact repeatedly over the years. Being "curated" has been a central part of the App Store selling proposition.

Re: Apple has locked me out of my developer account

#260

Post by michaelmrose »

cmcd wrote: post #231
vageli wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and would make it easy for people to download damaging apps which Apple would then get blamed for because they added an official channel for installing them. Do Android users blame Google or the phone manufacturer when they download a damaging app?

Yes they do, the most recent example is apps using a vulnerability to steal images. Many people are blaming Google and Samsung for not addressing this problem sooner and of course having a faulty permissions system that allowed this in the first place. Samsung is frequently attacked for security issues since they take so long to push out updates. Apple avoids these problems entirely by sandboxing apps and thoroughly…

Not having adequate permissions or timely updates isn't the same as being mad at Google because they manually enabled a malicious app.
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