The IT Nerd

Researchers are warning that hackers are increasingly targeting iOS devices tied to unvetted and mobile apps via methods like privilege escalation, the misuse of private APIs, and sideloading exploits that bypass Apple’s app review process entirely. More than 40,000 apps were found to be using private entitlements with 800+ relying on private APIs. 

You can find out more here: https://zimperium.com/blog/preventing-malicious-mobile-apps-from-taking-over-ios-through-app-vetting

Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, commented had this to say:

“Mobile devices are such an important part of our everyday lives, most of us can’t imagine living without them. They can be incredibly useful, especially with the use of so many great applications available. Unfortunately, people place a lot of trust in these application developers, and will even go out of their way to sidestep built-in security features to install potentially dangerous applications without considering the ramifications.

“The official app stores for most devices do a pretty good job vetting applications and removing or denying publication of those that are malicious or could be problematic, however even that is not foolproof. In some cases, the device owner is willing to bypass the safety features to install applications that seem especially useful or entertaining. Cybercriminals and bad actors take advantage of this desire and will work hard to market dangerous applications as useful, then use them to access bank accounts, steal passwords, and perform other dirty deeds. This can be especially problematic if the devices contain information from their employer or have access to the employers’ network.

“Individuals need to understand that official app stores are in place to protect them, and even with those officially approved applications, there have been issues where the application has turned out to be insecure, or malicious. Organizations should have policies in place to dissuade users from installing unofficial applications, and should ensure that mobile devices have controls in place to safeguard organizational information from potential bad actors.”

The best way to stay secure on the iOS platform is to only download apps from the App Store and be careful about what apps you choose to download even if they come from the App Store. That way the threat actors behind schemes like these can are less effective.

I am asking this question because a reader of this blog pinged me via email on Sunday asking this question and directing me towards this Reddit thread which has a few people who have lodged complaints about their Apple TV+ accounts being locked hours or days after signing up for the service. I have to admit that I have not heard of this issue, but a quick search found a this thread on Apple’s own support forums. Not to mention this and this on Reddit. All of which have similar enough experiences to get my attention .

Now Apple does have this support document that offers some advice in terms dealing with this issue. But given that these Reddit and Apple Support Forums post exist, I wonder how effective this document is. Thus I am asking for your help on this. Have you had this issue? If so, how did you fix it? Or have you not fixed it? I’d love to figure out how widespread this problem is. Leave your feedback in the comments and let’s get a discussion going.

Apple has a list of vintage and obsolete products. And as of today Apple has added the 2018 Mac mini. By adding that Mac to the list, every single Intel Mac is now either vintage or obsolete. So what does that mean? We’ll there’s a couple of things:

• A device is vintage after five years since it was put on the market. Vintage devices can still be supported for repairs though.
• When the device hits seven years, it is given the ‘obsolete’ label. At this point, you can’t get repairs.

But the larger issue is that if you have an Intel Mac you should start considering making a move to an Apple Silicon Mac as clearly the days of Intel Macs are clearly numbered.

Apple’s problems related to their shambolic Apple Intelligence rollout seems to be increasing. First there was this lawsuit in the US. Which was followed by this one in Canada. And now a new lawsuit filed in California that says this:

This action arises from Apple’s materially false and misleading statements relating to Apple’s artificial intelligence (“AI”) suite of features, branded as “Apple Intelligence”—in particular, promised AI enhancements to Siri, Apple’s software-based virtual assistant. The Siri AI makeover was the centerpiece of the promised Apple Intelligence platform and was touted by the Company in advertisements and other public statements in an effort to increase sales of the iPhone 16 and spur iPhone upgrades. Those promises were false and nearly a year after they were made, Siri’s touted “In-App” and “On-Screen” AI functions still do not exist.

This really smells like BatteryGate where Apple’s problems went from bad to worse until Apple was not only forced to make substantial changes to their software, but also they had to pay a lot of money to settle the multitude of lawsuits that were filed around the planet. My sense is this situation is heading in that same direction. Eventually. There’s been no comment from Apple as of yet. But you get the feeling that they will have to address this at some point.

Apple’s problems with Apple Intelligence go from bad to worse it seems. After this lawsuit dropped over Apple Intelligence not showing up on iPhones and other iDevices as promised comes this:

A Canada-wide class-action lawsuit has been launched in B.C. alleging Apple Canada engaged in misleading advertising when it marketed the iPhone 16, by promising it would include innovative artificial intelligence features that it did not have.

The “pervasive” marketing campaign included “misrepresentations and/or misleading statements” that the iPhone 16 would be equipped with its new Apple Intelligence, to induce consumers into buying, according to the notice filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

“As such, consumers paid an unlawful price premium for the … iPhone 16 model smartphone that they did not need, based on artificial intelligence features that did not exist,” it alleged.

The suit names Apple Inc. and Apple Canada as defendants.

Now the usual disclaimer of these claims have not been tested in court applies as always. But boy, Apple really is not in a good place here. These are lawsuits that really don’t help their cause in any way. Thus you have to wonder what the brain trust at Apple Park are going to do. I say that because you have to assume that other jurisdictions will have, or have had similar lawsuits pop up. Which means that this has the potential to get very ugly for Apple.

Get that popcorn ready.

Seeing as Apple was hyping Apple Intelligence to sell iPhones and Macs, and then had to back away from that when they delayed the new Siri, you knew that a lawsuit was going to be inbound. And sure enough, here’s the lawsuit:

The suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, seeks class action status and unspecified financial damages on behalf of those who purchased Apple Intelligence-capable iPhones and other devices.

And:

“Apple’s advertisements saturated the internet, television, and other airwaves to cultivate a clear and reasonable consumer expectation that these transformative features would be available upon the iPhone’s release,” the suit reads.

• “This drove unprecedented excitement in the market, even for Apple, as the company knew it would, and as part of Apple’s ongoing effort to convince consumers to upgrade at a premium price and to distinguish itself from competitors deemed to be winning the AI-arms race.”
• “Contrary to Defendant’s claims of advanced AI capabilities, the Products offered a significantly limited or entirely absent version of Apple Intelligence, misleading consumers about its actual utility and performance. Worse yet, Defendant promoted its Products based on these overstated AI capabilities, leading consumers to believe they were purchasing a device with features that did not exist or were materially misrepresented.”

Now I am not a lawyer, but I think that this has merit. Apple did hype Apple Intelligence massively and they did tie it into product launches. So I can see how someone might be a bit ticked off if they bought a new iPhone and some of the key features of Apple Intelligence were not there or didn’t work the way one would have been led to believe. Thus I think Apple might have a problem here that their team of lawyers might have difficulty swatting away. The usual this hasn’t been tested in court applies here. But I suspect Apple is going to focus their efforts in terms of settling this out of court as fast as they possibly can.

I’ve been saying for years that Apple’s QA has become pretty bad as there’s been example, after example, after example, after example,  after example of Apple dropping the ball when it comes to their QA processes.

Well, they’ve done it again with iOS 18.3.2. While this update contains an important security fix that was actively exploited in highly targeted attacks. Which is good. It also breaks iCloud mail for many. Which is bad. There are complaints on Reddit from users who have discovered that iCloud email is not pushing automatically to their devices. Instead, you have to open the mail app and have them come down to your iPhone. Push email from other providers like Microsoft appears to be working fine.

There’s no known fix for this that I am aware of. So it’s on Apple to come out with a fix for this, which will likely be iOS 18.4 seeing as that’s due to be released in April sometime. But honestly, this issues should never have gotten out the door. And to add to that, the fact that this is happening with Apple’s own email service is downright embarrassing. I have to honestly wonder if Apple is trying anymore to make quality products that excite and delight people. It really doesn’t seem so.

For those who don’t know, John Gruber has been writing and covering the Apple space for a couple of decades now. He’s even been on stage interviewing top Apple execs. So when he says something about Apple, you should pay attention.

With that in mind, Gruber has posted this piece on his site and it should get the attention of people within Apple. In short, he pretty much takes Apple to the woodshed over Apple Intelligence:

In the two decades I’ve been in this racket, I’ve never been angrier at myself for missing a story than I am about Apple’s announcement on Friday that the “more personalized Siri” features of Apple Intelligence, scheduled to appear between now and WWDC, would be delayed until “the coming year”.

I should have my head examined.

This announcement dropped as a surprise, and certainly took me by surprise to some extent, but it was all there from the start. I should have been pointing out red flags starting back at WWDC last year, and I am embarrassed and sorry that I didn’t see what should have been very clear to me from the start.

And:

What Apple showed regarding the upcoming “personalized Siri” at WWDC was not a demo. It was a concept video. Concept videos are bullshit, and a sign of a company in disarray, if not crisis.

He’s clearly not pulling any punches here. And I’ve just posted a couple of snippets of what he said. If you really want to get the full flavor of his epic takedown of Apple, I encourage you to read the whole piece. But let me get to the TL:DR: He’s basically said that nobody should have believed the Apple Intelligence demo at WWDC 2024 because Apple was lying. And now they’re scrambling to somehow catch up when they were already behind the 8-ball so to speak.

And the thing is he’s right as far as I am concerned. Just like I said here. And hopefully this is the wake up call that Apple needs to get its act together. Because if not, Apple’s credibility at the very least is screwed. And at worst, the company may be screwed as well.

Are you listening Tim Cook?

When iOS 18.3 dropped, users who had turned off Apple Intelligence found out very quickly that the software update turned it back on without their permission. At the time I said this:

This is the single dumbest thing that Apple has done in a very long time. I say that because you should be able to opt into things rather than be forced to opt out. And with something like Apple Intelligence which is AI by another name, users shouldn’t be forced into running it if they are not comfortable with the implications of running AI on their devices.

Well, Apple has now done it twice because the company has dropped software updates that fix a security issue that is in the wild, which is good. But at the same time they have once again turned on Apple Intelligence on devices that didn’t have it on.

Like WTF Apple? Can you not respect users and the choices that they make? I guess not because you’ve now done this twice. Are you so desperate to get any sort of adoption of your half baked AI that you’re willing to emulate Microsoft to achieve that goal? How about putting out an AI that people find value in and maybe then people will turn it on. Until you do that, stop trying to turn it on every time you push a software update and prove that you’re better than the behaviour that you’re displaying right now.

On Friday, Apple put out a rare statement saying that the new Siri features including a more conversational Siri were being delayed. But perhaps it’s not a rare statement as they did something similar a few months ago with next generation CarPlay. Regardless it highlighted that Apple is in full catch up mode when it comes to their AI related ambitions with their competition is clearly far out in front of them.

This honestly feels like AirPower all over again where Apple announced it. Apple missed their 2018 ship date. Apple stopped talking about it. Then Apple killed it. Except that with their AI ambitions, they cannot quietly make this go away like they did with AirPower. They have to deliver something more than what they’ve delivered. Which to be frank has been underwhelming to date. And if that doesn’t change, Apple is done. That does sound over the top, but it’s not. Apple was late to the party when it comes with AI. But that was fine as Apple is often late to the party. And typically when they show up, whatever they ship is great. So they have maybe 6 – 12 months at most to show up to the party with something meaningful in the AI space that will start to claw back the ground that they have lost to companies like Google, Amazon and Samsung. And given their recent track record with next generation CarPlay and now AI, I question if Apple is capable of delivering something that will make this delay worth it for users. Though as always I am free to be proven wrong by Apple.

What are your thoughts? Is Apple done like dinner? Or are they going to deliver something spectacular in 6 – 12 months time? Leave a comment and let us know.