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Nope, you don't need an account to use a Mac. You can set it up just fine without one. My Mac doesn't have any Apple ID. You can use Android without an account

Nope, you don't need an account to use a Mac. You can set it up just fine without one. My Mac doesn't have any Apple ID. You can use Android without an account too. I have it set up that way on my phone, I use F-Droid and Aurora Store (in anonymous mode). I previously used MicroG which was amazing but I moved back to OxygenOS for other reasons. But even with full Play Services installed you can use them (and push notifications) without a Google account. It significantly cuts down on tracking doing that. Android pushes a Google account heavily but it's not mandatory. You can't use paid apps then but the only paid Android apps I use (Nine Email and Cryptomator) provide a way to pay them directly and sideload it, using a license key. For which I thank them! It also shows that I'm not the only one wanting this, as they clearly see value in offering this option. Only with iOS it's difficult as Apple is so difficult about sideloading. I don't use iOS as a result (except for work but only for testing). And yes I protest against these practices.

amelius 5y ago
> And yes I protest against these practices. How?
- GekkePrutser 5y ago
  Well, here... And in every other discussion where it comes up. But also directly to the vendors. I manage hundreds of Macs at work, and Apple is always pushing us to use VPP (Volume Purchase Program). However, most of the apps we need are not in their store at all, so there is no point. And their 'federated' accounts don't work for us due to arbitrary limitations on Apple's side (Specifically: The UPN must be equal to email). I really don't want every user creating their own account which we don't manage. It's messy for support and the latest Macs lock themselves to the user's account so we can't recover it when it's returned (Activation lock). Also, because all those accounts have to be manually cleaned up if we ever do move to federated accounts. So I've set everything up to not use Apple accounts at all. So yes my objections have been made clear to Apple. And this is on the work side even, in my personal scope I'm even more against this.
  - amelius 5y ago
    > Well, here... And in every other discussion where it comes up. Not sure if "here" would help in any way, as when it comes to bigcorp-versus-small-guy, HN is basically an echo chamber. Also, I've once heard that Apple employees are discouraged from reading internet forums. That's probably why we never see them here. Kudos for complaining to Apple directly, though.
    - skinkestek 5y ago
      It helps. People gets discouraged from working with these companies, meaning they have to raise wages meaning it is easier for others to compete :-)
    - GekkePrutser 5y ago
      > Also, I've once heard that Apple employees are discouraged from reading internet forums. That's probably why we never see them here. Well, I would never let my employer dictate what I do in my spare time. I'm sure they're here! They're probably forbidden to reveal themselves as Apple employees though. Apple is really strict on that stuff. They love their NDAs. But I don't think it affects Apple directly discussing about it here, no. Agreed.

amelius 5y ago

> And yes I protest against these practices. How?

GekkePrutser 5y ago
Well, here... And in every other discussion where it comes up. But also directly to the vendors. I manage hundreds of Macs at work, and Apple is always pushing us to use VPP (Volume Purchase Program). However, most of the apps we need are not in their store at all, so there is no point. And their 'federated' accounts don't work for us due to arbitrary limitations on Apple's side (Specifically: The UPN must be equal to email). I really don't want every user creating their own account which we don't manage. It's messy for support and the latest Macs lock themselves to the user's account so we can't recover it when it's returned (Activation lock). Also, because all those accounts have to be manually cleaned up if we ever do move to federated accounts. So I've set everything up to not use Apple accounts at all. So yes my objections have been made clear to Apple. And this is on the work side even, in my personal scope I'm even more against this.
- amelius 5y ago
  > Well, here... And in every other discussion where it comes up. Not sure if "here" would help in any way, as when it comes to bigcorp-versus-small-guy, HN is basically an echo chamber. Also, I've once heard that Apple employees are discouraged from reading internet forums. That's probably why we never see them here. Kudos for complaining to Apple directly, though.
  - skinkestek 5y ago
    It helps. People gets discouraged from working with these companies, meaning they have to raise wages meaning it is easier for others to compete :-)
  - GekkePrutser 5y ago
    > Also, I've once heard that Apple employees are discouraged from reading internet forums. That's probably why we never see them here. Well, I would never let my employer dictate what I do in my spare time. I'm sure they're here! They're probably forbidden to reveal themselves as Apple employees though. Apple is really strict on that stuff. They love their NDAs. But I don't think it affects Apple directly discussing about it here, no. Agreed.