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Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

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31–40 of 202 posts

Re: Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

#31
post #20
post #19

Here's a Reddit thread of other people experiencing the same issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1su82sc/headspace_app_...

Based on that I'd guess either a meditation app company has figured out how to circumvent a lot of controls put in place by Apple, or it's a bug on Apple's side

Or it is a mandated backdoor, and someone internally objected, and made it easier to exploit than it should be, or leaked how to exploit it?

Re: Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

#32
Do you have Settings > Apps > App Store > (Automatic Downloads) App Downloads turned on?

I noticed apps appearing on my Home Screen I’d never heard of before. Turns out with that setting and Family Purchase sharing turned on, every time my wife installed a new app, it installed on my phone too.

That may not be your exact scenario, but I wonder if turning off that Automatic App Downloads setting (if enabled) changes anything. Could give you a clue, if so.

Re: Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

#33
post #32

Do you have Settings > Apps > App Store > (Automatic Downloads) App Downloads turned on? I noticed apps appearing on my Home Screen I’d never heard of before. Turns out with that setting and Family Purchase sharing turned on, every time my wife installed a new app, it installed on my phone too. That may not be your exact scenario, but I wonder if turning off that Automatic App Downloads setting (if enabled) changes a…

App Downloads and App Updates are both turned off. I don't have anyone else's devices on my account, just me. Thank you for the suggestions though!

Re: Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

#34
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think the latter is more likely than the former. Perhaps a server side bug that's silently downloading the app on any device that's installed it previously?

But why this one specific app and no others?

Right, that's what confuses me the most. I was very surprised to find the reddit thread showing that other people are also having this specific app silently installed on their devices.

Re: Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

#35
I have the same exact thing happening. I deleted the app a few days ago when was surprised to see it in my app list.

I had previously downloaded the app but and removed it because I never used it. A few days ago I noticed the app when browsing through my app list and thought maybe I didnt delete it properly, so I made sure to delete it. Then this morning my iPhone updated software versions and I found he Headpsace app again on my home, except this time it was grayed out and waiting for me to go on wifi to download.

I just deleted it again but am equally dumbfounded

Re: Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

#38
post #31
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on that I'd guess either a meditation app company has figured out how to circumvent a lot of controls put in place by Apple, or it's a bug on Apple's side

Or it is a mandated backdoor, and someone internally objected, and made it easier to exploit than it should be, or leaked how to exploit it?

> mandated backdoor

Probably one from the repository of backdoors "accidentally" introduced or "never" discovered.

The mechanism's there, just needs to be woven with other exploits.

Re: Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

#39
post #19

Here's a Reddit thread of other people experiencing the same issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1su82sc/headspace_app_...

This is fascinating. I am very curious to find out what the actual cause of this turns out to be.
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