Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

developer.apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–380 of 515 posts

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#371

Post by [deleted] »

jeroenhd wrote: post #40
anarchogeek wrote: post #27

What about inmutable systems? My app (using scuttlebutt) creates an 'account' but it's located as crypto keys only within the app and apple keychain. So far the apple reviewers refused to believe that it works like. It's open source, they've got the code... but still.... Same is true for anything crypto. The account as it were exists on many devices, but it's not something you as the app creator can manage. I think a…

This is why using the blockchain got user data is such a stupid idea. The immutability makes it impossible to redact or remove information, even if that information is encrypted. The same is true foor P2P services where there is no central accounting system. Deleting the account shouldn't be a problem if all the "account" info is stored on the device itself, so if your reviewers aren't completely incompetent I don't…

[deleted]

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#372

Post by makeitdouble »

colechristensen wrote: post #357
murgindrag wrote: post #131

As much as I like the change, the 3-month window seems unreasonable. I don't currently have AppStore apps, and these kinds of whiplash changes are part of the reason. Microsoft, for all its faults, is much better than Apple or Google here. Businesses take planning and strategy, and these things lead to drop-everything fires. Economies rely on stability.

You’re also responsible for supporting new hardware and responding to security problems and other bugs. If you can’t be bothered to implement a rather straightforward feature like account deletion in three months I don’t really have a problem with you being excluded from the App Store

User accounts tend to be a central part of any application that stores data somewhere, and is prone to custom logic and assumptions. From experimental todo list apps to POS management software.

I can’t imagine account deletion is straightforward for most of the implementation, even just from a legal standpoint when money changing hands is involved.

I think it’s a complicated enough issue that it should be tackled from the start (which is usually the case) and kept track of as the product/service evolves.

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#373

Post by x0x0 »

asdff wrote: post #185
bobbylarrybobby wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that you don't want someone re-registering on iCloud with that gmail address because then they could impersonate you when interacting with Apple.

I still don't get it. You cancel the account, it should be gone like it never happened. Poof. If you make a new account with the same email, it should be a new account with no relation at all to the old account since that one has been deleted and is gone forever and there would be nothing to impersonate here.

Idiots -- like yahoo -- recycle emails.

Also, emails probably persist in some systems as a guid.

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#374

Post by tomjen3 »

philwelch wrote: post #59
st3ve445678 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to say the same thing! They are the WORST. I had to cancel my subscription and the process was like a legal battle with the customer representative. He fought me so hard and it took so long. I lost all respect for the times after that.

I had the same experience with The Economist. And they've been harassing me for months trying to get me to subscribe again.

That is interesting. I cancelled mine by writing an email and threatning a charge back.

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#375

Post by balancemayvary »

echelon wrote: post #83
jackdeansmith wrote: post #16

Feels to me like public pressure is on Apple to actually justify their argument that their App Store policies are for the benefit of their customers. If that results in more policies like this that really do improve customer experiences, that's not the worst outcome.

Feels like a celebration of "Apple sticks it to the stupid app developers, hooray!" Except app developers are mostly small shops and startups. One-person operations. How would we like it if the web were forced to behave according to some governing body? It feels like some North Korean 1984 dystopia and we've all got explosive collars around our necks. It's anti-freedom, anti-American, anti-ownership, anti-Stallman. A…

why's this being downvoted, even? I mean, (personally "Anti-american" means nothing to me and) while I've developed for OSX plenty, I've got no stake in this game...but this post is not wrong lol. In fact, this sentiment is precisely why I've long-refused to ever own an apple product for anything save for devices from employers.

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#376

Post by EastOfTruth »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #227
EastOfTruth wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It probably could be fine for public user data that you want to spread out and be somewhat resistant to censor from governments. > but that's not relevant to the point I'm trying to make. why do you talk about it if it isn't relevant?

> It probably could be fine for public user data that you want to spread out and be somewhat resistant to censor from governments. Can you give an example? “spread out and be somewhat resistant to censorship from governments” is just a description of blockchain's strengths¹. > why do you talk about it if it isn't relevant? If I didn't mention it, I'd be lying by omission. In order for this discussion to make sense, I…

> Can you give an example?

it is very easy to find an example of censorship, not sure why you need one but let's say: "World marks 32 years since Tiananmen massacre as China censors all mention of it"

There is also daily examples of censorship on this website.

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#377

Post by nunez »

Oh man; this is amazing (in theory).

Earlier this year, I went through an attempt to purge myself from some internet services that I wasn't using.

Many of the SaaS-type services I tried to remove myself from didn't make account deletion obvious at all. All of them had an email address to contact in their Privacy Policies, but whether you got a response back or not was a different matter.

In practice, I could imagine apps just telling their users that their account deletion "will be processed in 24-48 hours" with a 50/50 chance of it getting processed.

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#378

Post by davidtcook »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #154
bpodgursky wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> all apps that allow for account creation must also allow users to initiate deletion of their account from within the app No, that doesn't seem true.

What bank lets you create an account just from the app? … Okay, the digital-only ones, maybe. But virtually all other banks I've used make you go to a branch.

ANZ Bank, in Australia - and I'm assuming the others of the Big 4 do as well (CBA, NAB and Westpac, that is). It's been added to the App for some account types over the past year or so.

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#379

Post by busymom0 »

I am the developer of HACK (Hacker News client for iOS, MacOS and Android) and have no idea what happens in my case since HN doesn't seem to offer account deletions. The guidelines doesn't seem to specify what happens with third party clients.

@dang is there a way to delete accounts on HN?

Re: Apple requires account deletion within apps in AppStore starting January 31

#380

Post by busymom0 »

spinax wrote: post #202
codetrotter wrote: post #5

For the most part a very good thing. Wonder what that means for third-party HN client apps though, since HN accounts cannot be deleted.

Not sure which reply to post this under, so I'll just reply under GP - it took me about 3 minutes to locate a popular HN client which specifically advertises account creation in the overview. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal/id1308885491 (Android user, can't test it)

I am the developer of HACK which is a HN client for iOS, MacOS and Android and I support account creation too:

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/hack-for-hacker-news-developer...

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pranapps.h...

I have no idea what happens to third party apps as Apple doesn't specify.

Post reply on HN