4 ms·

To me this feels like a shortcut taken by the tvOS team more than a push for the user to own more Apple devices. What I'm guessing has happened is that that th

To me this feels like a shortcut taken by the tvOS team more than a push for the user to own more Apple devices. What I'm guessing has happened is that that there's probably no standardized dialog in the tvOS SDK that is suited to a scrolling ToS/EULA screen and in the interest of pushing a release out the door faster an engineer was told to shove this message in an alert and call it a day. It's bad and should be fixed either way.

rgovostes 4y ago
This is almost certainly the correct answer. It might also be a generic dialog populated with a server-provided message. Apple TV definitely is not intended to require that you own another Apple device. Even the Apple TV+ subscription service is supported on other platforms like Roku (https://www.roku.com/blog/apple-tv https://www.roku.com/blog/apple-tv). Apple has never required that you run the latest iOS to use iCloud (see minimum requirements on https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204230 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204230). Also, you can definitely accept the iCloud T&C with a Mac, which the error message omits. It's clearly just a very dumb bug and an inaccurate message, one that will likely be fixed in a few days. Not really worth the #1 slot on HN with 190+ comments.
- fortran77 4y ago
  Except that he tried it and it didn’t work. There was no message to accept the TOS.
  - rgovostes 4y ago
    Except what? Tried what? What are you responding to? Edit: If you are responding to the part about accepting T&C on a Mac, I meant in the iCloud system settings panel, and not through the browser. (Though I would also expect that to work. The fact that it doesn't just underscores that this is a dumb bug.)
- assttoasstmgr 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - ipqk 4y ago
    > aggressive planned obsolescence What?! Apple devices have the longest usable lifespans out there (and best resell value to boot, which is also indicative of their lifespan).
    - vetinari 4y ago
      > Apple devices have the longest usable lifespans out there Are you serious? This is Apple policy: > Products are considered vintage when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 5 and less than 7 years ago. > Products are considered obsolete when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago. Monster-branded Beats products are considered obsolete regardless of when they were purchased. > Apple discontinues all hardware service for obsolete products, with the sole exception of Mac laptops that are eligible for an additional battery-only repair period. Service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products. If you suggested, that you cannot use 10 years old PC (and I actually have one Thinkpad that old here), you would be laughed out of the room. > and best resell value to boot, which is also indicative of their lifespan That's what some users think; up until they try to do that. Then the reality kicks in.
  - chrischen 4y ago
    There are certain things Apple does that are user hostile like pushing people to buy cloud storage by neglecting their local backup and local syncing user experiences, but planned obsolescence is definitely not one of them. If you are accusing that person of being biased for Apple then ai am here to tell you that you are definitely being biased again.
    - autoexec 4y ago
      > There are certain things Apple does that are user hostile like pushing people to buy cloud storage by neglecting their local backup and local syncing user experiences, but planned obsolescence is definitely not one of them. They've had their issues there too with irreplaceable batteries (remember this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idVmnvcQnLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idVmnvcQnLg), slowing people's older devices to encourage them to buy new ones (I'm aware that apple's got another more "helpful" sounding excuse for that, just as they're aware their actions would drive more upgrades regardless), and using pentalobe screws to make repairing older devices more difficult. They've earned their reputation.
- cameronh90 4y ago
  I have the Apple TV app on my Google TV, and certain actions require me to use my iPad, such as buying films. I guess they didn't want to give Google a cut of their revenue but also couldn't be bothered making a web interface.
  - scarface74 4y ago
    You can buy films from a Windows computer using an iTunes
patmcc 4y ago
Even if the Apple TV can't handle the TOS for some reason there's no reason it shouldn't be possible on any device with a browser rather than something with iOS or iPadOS. That's the part that's really ridiculous.
pvg 4y ago
It's bad and should be fixed either way. It's also an annoyance rather than what the title says: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34406723 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34406723

rgovostes 4y ago

This is almost certainly the correct answer. It might also be a generic dialog populated with a server-provided message. Apple TV definitely is not intended to require that you own another Apple device. Even the Apple TV+ subscription service is supported on other platforms like Roku (https://www.roku.com/blog/apple-tv https://www.roku.com/blog/apple-tv). Apple has never required that you run the latest iOS to use iCloud (see minimum requirements on https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204230 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204230). Also, you can definitely accept the iCloud T&C with a Mac, which the error message omits. It's clearly just a very dumb bug and an inaccurate message, one that will likely be fixed in a few days. Not really worth the #1 slot on HN with 190+ comments.

fortran77 4y ago
Except that he tried it and it didn’t work. There was no message to accept the TOS.
- rgovostes 4y ago
  Except what? Tried what? What are you responding to? Edit: If you are responding to the part about accepting T&C on a Mac, I meant in the iCloud system settings panel, and not through the browser. (Though I would also expect that to work. The fact that it doesn't just underscores that this is a dumb bug.)
assttoasstmgr 4y ago
[flagged]
- ipqk 4y ago
  > aggressive planned obsolescence What?! Apple devices have the longest usable lifespans out there (and best resell value to boot, which is also indicative of their lifespan).
  - vetinari 4y ago
    > Apple devices have the longest usable lifespans out there Are you serious? This is Apple policy: > Products are considered vintage when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 5 and less than 7 years ago. > Products are considered obsolete when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago. Monster-branded Beats products are considered obsolete regardless of when they were purchased. > Apple discontinues all hardware service for obsolete products, with the sole exception of Mac laptops that are eligible for an additional battery-only repair period. Service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products. If you suggested, that you cannot use 10 years old PC (and I actually have one Thinkpad that old here), you would be laughed out of the room. > and best resell value to boot, which is also indicative of their lifespan That's what some users think; up until they try to do that. Then the reality kicks in.
- chrischen 4y ago
  There are certain things Apple does that are user hostile like pushing people to buy cloud storage by neglecting their local backup and local syncing user experiences, but planned obsolescence is definitely not one of them. If you are accusing that person of being biased for Apple then ai am here to tell you that you are definitely being biased again.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    > There are certain things Apple does that are user hostile like pushing people to buy cloud storage by neglecting their local backup and local syncing user experiences, but planned obsolescence is definitely not one of them. They've had their issues there too with irreplaceable batteries (remember this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idVmnvcQnLg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idVmnvcQnLg), slowing people's older devices to encourage them to buy new ones (I'm aware that apple's got another more "helpful" sounding excuse for that, just as they're aware their actions would drive more upgrades regardless), and using pentalobe screws to make repairing older devices more difficult. They've earned their reputation.
cameronh90 4y ago
I have the Apple TV app on my Google TV, and certain actions require me to use my iPad, such as buying films. I guess they didn't want to give Google a cut of their revenue but also couldn't be bothered making a web interface.
- scarface74 4y ago
  You can buy films from a Windows computer using an iTunes

patmcc 4y ago

Even if the Apple TV can't handle the TOS for some reason there's no reason it shouldn't be possible on any device with a browser rather than something with iOS or iPadOS. That's the part that's really ridiculous.

pvg 4y ago

It's bad and should be fixed either way. It's also an annoyance rather than what the title says: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34406723 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34406723