8 ms·

iOS 16 has hidden system to restrict specific feature based on user location

36 points by quyleanh 3y ago

quyleanh 3y ago
Can I say EU did give Apple a legitimate reason for officially tracking its user?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
rektide 3y ago
While being developed mostly likely to take the most spiteful/limited approach to sideloading they can, it's worth noting just how scary this system is, in that it seemingly well could be or could develop into a nation-state controlled over the air tool to deny ad-hoc capabilities on a phone. Rather than there being some kind of protest or strike & the government disconnects the internet, with countryd here there seemingly is potential to fine-grained flip flags for what people can do on their devices at will. Apple's regime of securing phones against their users intensifies. Amazing that Apple is making such bold leaps towards 1984 grade systems to spite & be petty about sideloading, is sliding into even worse paternalistic authoritarianism. To see a company so bitterly & visibly fight on the dark side of The War Against General Purpose Computing is incredible. The rebel anti-1984 Think Different spirit is writhing in it's grave, could not be more betrayed by these petty small minded chumps.
- junofan 3y ago
  Apple has had plans for 10+ yrs AFAIK for China and Russia. All a totalitarian regime needs to do is say the word.
- ChatGTP 3y ago
  Can you name a single for profit technology or tech company that doesn’t seem dystopian anymore ? The whole world seems to have an “inevitable dystopia” vibe about it to me. Open AI + Governments + World coin is the absolute epitome of it for me personally.
- D13Fd 3y ago
  I couldn’t disagree more. On my Mac and PC, I write tons of little programs and scripts to make my day easier. It’s great that any and all software runs. But on my phone, I just want it to work reliably every time I pull it out of my pocket. I don’t want to hear from the rent-a-car place that I have to side-load their crappy invasive malware app on my phone if I want to rent a car (or do the same to order food at a hospital, or to use my new printer, or to shop at my grocery store, and on and on). Sideloading will open the floodgates to horrible crappy malware- or spyware-ridden apps that companies will force you to install, without the protections and benefits offered by the App Store. No thanks.
  - flangola7 3y ago
    No it won't or that would already be the case on Android. Your fears are entirely fabricated
    - consumer451 3y ago
      I have heard that the DJI control app requires sideloading on Android. That's a huge install base and seems to be a sign of a pretty bad system, no? The system being that an major app provider wants to do something potentially shady, and the sideloading system allows it.
  - rektide 3y ago
    It hasn't been a problem on Android ever. No one expects folks to bypass the Google App Store. More so though, I think it's incredibly malignant a position to demand everyone else be trapped on a Think Apple paradigm forever. You're putting an extreme outside risk with no signs of being a problem ahead of everyone else having basic liberty to use the most important most popular electronic device on the planet (the smartphone) as they wish. Apple should split into two companies if this is the path they want. The iPhone control apple shouldn't be given license to ruin & piss on the Think Different past like this. The small hew & cry of "I dont want to think" or let anyone else think is just the saddest.
AdamJacobMuller 3y ago
Good, this should effectively nerf side-loading. Apple should also be able to reasonably add T&Cs to the apple developer program which says that if someone wants to sell an app in, say, the EU on an alternate app store if they want to sell it on any country app store they must also offer it in the EU on the Apple app store.
- flangola7 3y ago
  EU law would crack down if Apple tried that
  - dmitrygr 3y ago
    Where was this "EU" when I could only get playstation games that sony approved and got a chunk of the profits for?
    - shjake 3y ago
      Generally they seem to be leaning towards applying different standards to game consoles and ‘general purpose’ computing devices. Which I don’t think is completely unreasonable. The gaming market also is much more diverse and competitive. Which is another argument against intervention .
  - AdamJacobMuller 3y ago
    I'm not exactly sure why you would assume so. This gives consumers more options, which, wasn't that the stated goal even if I strongly disagree with what the result will look like.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
supriyo-biswas 3y ago
What I fear the most is now that Apple has a framework for disabling its “advanced data encryption” and other features that serve the best interests of the user. In this fight against side loading, it’s sad to see Apple doing the same things they made so much noise about opposing.
- andirk 3y ago
  To be fair and malicious to Apple, they oppose _other people's_ side loading.
alden5 3y ago
If it ends up that side-loading is region specific locked by gps i'm trowing a rock at one of the giant panes of glass at my local apple store.
- techdragon 3y ago
  Btw… If you do… make it clear such an act of criminal violence/vandalism was motivated by your grievance otherwise it’s likely to just be considered random crime and no one will know how much you cared. Not in favour of crime, just don’t want someone who cares strongly enough they wish to throw the first stone for their cause, to go unnoticed or ignored… that would make it pointless violence instead of violent protest. My first suggestion is the classic “wrap the rock in a piece of paper with your message on it” followed closely by fold the note up and tape it to the rock with good tape like duct/cloth tape but not in a way that won’t make it possible to remove the note and read it.
ok_dad 3y ago
Look, as a software developer, this functionality is the easiest part. Do you think Google couldn't do this on Android? It's basically the simplest thing in the world to determine a user's location if you are the OS manufacturer. The key here is to see why Apple built this feature and how they use it. Until then, we can't really pickup the pitchforks. The whole article has no sourcing and is based on zero information from Apple themselves, from what I can gather.
warning26 3y ago
This will also have so many user-focused abilities, like blocking random features in China if people figure out a way to use them to protest! (AirDrop, anyone?) Amazing! Apple really cares about their UX!
edandersen 3y ago
The uncharitable takes are obvious. However, if this system allows "unlocking" of features that your current government has banned in your country when you go abroad without having to buy a new phone (for example now being able to use Facetime on your UAE bought phone automatically outside the UAE) then there is a small silver lining.
neom 3y ago
In Korea & Japan, you can't turn off the camera sound, it's very annoying.
Someone 3y ago
That title is clickbait. I don’t see any indication the system is ‘hidden’. They wouldn’t call the process countryd if they tried to hide it, and the iOS release notes often state Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213407 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213407) Given (FTA) “Currently, Apple uses hard-coding techniques to restrict iOS features in specific locations”, it looks more like a refactoring to me (“we have several places where we try to determine the country a device is in. Let’s do that well in one place instead”) that makes the ‘feature’ less hidden. Now: feature or misfeature? It depends on whether one wants Apple to act like a law abiding citizen. I would think almost everyone will say that depends on the law they’re abiding to, but opinions will differ on what laws they should fight. For example, should they prevent searches for abortion clinics or change country borders in maps depending on location?
xtiansimon 3y ago
Damn. I thought this was going to be an article about context/location aware applications. E.G. triggered actions based on your location.
longitudinal93 3y ago
I don't know if it's a "hidden feature" but Android clearly has something similar going on already. I saw it in action the other week when, as soon as I landed in Tokyo and for my whole time in Japan, my and my wife's phones made a classic SLR-like click whenever I took a picture. We both have our phones in silent-mode all the time so it was a noticeable and immediate change - and we couldn't turn it off. Fortunately I knew the reason for it - to avoid having us ticketed for breaking the local law that requires all cameras to make an audible sound when a picture is taken. As soon as we left Japanese airspace they returned to normal.

36 points by quyleanh 3y ago

quyleanh 3y ago

Can I say EU did give Apple a legitimate reason for officially tracking its user?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

rektide 3y ago

While being developed mostly likely to take the most spiteful/limited approach to sideloading they can, it's worth noting just how scary this system is, in that it seemingly well could be or could develop into a nation-state controlled over the air tool to deny ad-hoc capabilities on a phone. Rather than there being some kind of protest or strike & the government disconnects the internet, with countryd here there seemingly is potential to fine-grained flip flags for what people can do on their devices at will. Apple's regime of securing phones against their users intensifies. Amazing that Apple is making such bold leaps towards 1984 grade systems to spite & be petty about sideloading, is sliding into even worse paternalistic authoritarianism. To see a company so bitterly & visibly fight on the dark side of The War Against General Purpose Computing is incredible. The rebel anti-1984 Think Different spirit is writhing in it's grave, could not be more betrayed by these petty small minded chumps.

junofan 3y ago
Apple has had plans for 10+ yrs AFAIK for China and Russia. All a totalitarian regime needs to do is say the word.
ChatGTP 3y ago
Can you name a single for profit technology or tech company that doesn’t seem dystopian anymore ? The whole world seems to have an “inevitable dystopia” vibe about it to me. Open AI + Governments + World coin is the absolute epitome of it for me personally.
D13Fd 3y ago
I couldn’t disagree more. On my Mac and PC, I write tons of little programs and scripts to make my day easier. It’s great that any and all software runs. But on my phone, I just want it to work reliably every time I pull it out of my pocket. I don’t want to hear from the rent-a-car place that I have to side-load their crappy invasive malware app on my phone if I want to rent a car (or do the same to order food at a hospital, or to use my new printer, or to shop at my grocery store, and on and on). Sideloading will open the floodgates to horrible crappy malware- or spyware-ridden apps that companies will force you to install, without the protections and benefits offered by the App Store. No thanks.
- flangola7 3y ago
  No it won't or that would already be the case on Android. Your fears are entirely fabricated
  - consumer451 3y ago
    I have heard that the DJI control app requires sideloading on Android. That's a huge install base and seems to be a sign of a pretty bad system, no? The system being that an major app provider wants to do something potentially shady, and the sideloading system allows it.
- rektide 3y ago
  It hasn't been a problem on Android ever. No one expects folks to bypass the Google App Store. More so though, I think it's incredibly malignant a position to demand everyone else be trapped on a Think Apple paradigm forever. You're putting an extreme outside risk with no signs of being a problem ahead of everyone else having basic liberty to use the most important most popular electronic device on the planet (the smartphone) as they wish. Apple should split into two companies if this is the path they want. The iPhone control apple shouldn't be given license to ruin & piss on the Think Different past like this. The small hew & cry of "I dont want to think" or let anyone else think is just the saddest.

AdamJacobMuller 3y ago

Good, this should effectively nerf side-loading. Apple should also be able to reasonably add T&Cs to the apple developer program which says that if someone wants to sell an app in, say, the EU on an alternate app store if they want to sell it on any country app store they must also offer it in the EU on the Apple app store.

flangola7 3y ago
EU law would crack down if Apple tried that
- dmitrygr 3y ago
  Where was this "EU" when I could only get playstation games that sony approved and got a chunk of the profits for?
  - shjake 3y ago
    Generally they seem to be leaning towards applying different standards to game consoles and ‘general purpose’ computing devices. Which I don’t think is completely unreasonable. The gaming market also is much more diverse and competitive. Which is another argument against intervention .
- AdamJacobMuller 3y ago
  I'm not exactly sure why you would assume so. This gives consumers more options, which, wasn't that the stated goal even if I strongly disagree with what the result will look like.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

supriyo-biswas 3y ago

What I fear the most is now that Apple has a framework for disabling its “advanced data encryption” and other features that serve the best interests of the user. In this fight against side loading, it’s sad to see Apple doing the same things they made so much noise about opposing.

andirk 3y ago
To be fair and malicious to Apple, they oppose _other people's_ side loading.

alden5 3y ago

If it ends up that side-loading is region specific locked by gps i'm trowing a rock at one of the giant panes of glass at my local apple store.

techdragon 3y ago
Btw… If you do… make it clear such an act of criminal violence/vandalism was motivated by your grievance otherwise it’s likely to just be considered random crime and no one will know how much you cared. Not in favour of crime, just don’t want someone who cares strongly enough they wish to throw the first stone for their cause, to go unnoticed or ignored… that would make it pointless violence instead of violent protest. My first suggestion is the classic “wrap the rock in a piece of paper with your message on it” followed closely by fold the note up and tape it to the rock with good tape like duct/cloth tape but not in a way that won’t make it possible to remove the note and read it.

ok_dad 3y ago

Look, as a software developer, this functionality is the easiest part. Do you think Google couldn't do this on Android? It's basically the simplest thing in the world to determine a user's location if you are the OS manufacturer. The key here is to see why Apple built this feature and how they use it. Until then, we can't really pickup the pitchforks. The whole article has no sourcing and is based on zero information from Apple themselves, from what I can gather.

warning26 3y ago

This will also have so many user-focused abilities, like blocking random features in China if people figure out a way to use them to protest! (AirDrop, anyone?) Amazing! Apple really cares about their UX!

edandersen 3y ago

The uncharitable takes are obvious. However, if this system allows "unlocking" of features that your current government has banned in your country when you go abroad without having to buy a new phone (for example now being able to use Facetime on your UAE bought phone automatically outside the UAE) then there is a small silver lining.

neom 3y ago

In Korea & Japan, you can't turn off the camera sound, it's very annoying.

Someone 3y ago

That title is clickbait. I don’t see any indication the system is ‘hidden’. They wouldn’t call the process countryd if they tried to hide it, and the iOS release notes often state Some features may not be available for all regions or on all Apple devices (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213407 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213407) Given (FTA) “Currently, Apple uses hard-coding techniques to restrict iOS features in specific locations”, it looks more like a refactoring to me (“we have several places where we try to determine the country a device is in. Let’s do that well in one place instead”) that makes the ‘feature’ less hidden. Now: feature or misfeature? It depends on whether one wants Apple to act like a law abiding citizen. I would think almost everyone will say that depends on the law they’re abiding to, but opinions will differ on what laws they should fight. For example, should they prevent searches for abortion clinics or change country borders in maps depending on location?

xtiansimon 3y ago

Damn. I thought this was going to be an article about context/location aware applications. E.G. triggered actions based on your location.

longitudinal93 3y ago

I don't know if it's a "hidden feature" but Android clearly has something similar going on already. I saw it in action the other week when, as soon as I landed in Tokyo and for my whole time in Japan, my and my wife's phones made a classic SLR-like click whenever I took a picture. We both have our phones in silent-mode all the time so it was a noticeable and immediate change - and we couldn't turn it off. Fortunately I knew the reason for it - to avoid having us ticketed for breaking the local law that requires all cameras to make an audible sound when a picture is taken. As soon as we left Japanese airspace they returned to normal.