Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

Posted by _-x-_ 17 hours ago

Every day for the past 3 days around 1pm EST the 'Headspace' app has been silently appearing on my iPhone (13 Pro). Automatic downloads are turned off and I've updated to the latest iOS since this started happening.

I googled around and found a couple reddit threads with people reporting the exact same thing starting 2 or 3 days ago. There were reports from people on iPhone 12 and iPhone 17 so it doesn't seem device-specific.

Anyone else seeing this? Does anyone understand how or why this is happening?

435 points | 164 commentspage 5

mandeepj 16 hours ago|

How did you find that? Any notification?

_-x-_ 16 hours ago|

It just appears on my homescreen

psynixx 17 hours ago||

I’ve been getting this too, same app same behaviour… Anyone been able to figure out what is causing this?

_-x-_ 16 hours ago|

Have you downloaded the app before?

NetOpWibby 13 hours ago||

_Severance intensifies_

dvh 9 hours ago||

This is clearly bug in "automatic updates are turned off" feature, and the fix should be made there.

bofia 12 hours ago||

Are other people using your phone?

_-x-_ 4 hours ago|

agentbc9000 7 hours ago||

[flagged]

csomar 13 hours ago||

> Does anyone understand how or why this is happening?

They are drowning in tech debt. Here are two main issues I have with my iPhone/iOS: I can't search for the telegram app. It doesn't show up. It shows fine on the iPad. Also just a few minutes ago, app search decided not to work. I usually use it to pull my Wallet to pull my card. It was an awkward moment as I had no idea where the wallet app actually is.

I have lost count of the minor polish issues. The experience has degraded so much that you no longer care.

snailmailman 12 hours ago|

Regarding the telegram app I’d check iOS settings->apps->telegram->search and make sure “show app in search” is checked

You can intentionally hide apps from search. If you did this, it’s not very obvious that its hidden from search unless you dig for the setting. Similarly, “hidden” apps refuse to show up in search results anywhere, even in settings.

nathanwh 11 hours ago|||

Thank you for this, I have wondered for more than a year why Google Maps would not show up when I searched for it.

csomar 11 hours ago|||

Thank you. I wonder how that happened as I was not aware such a feature existed.

hmokiguess 4 hours ago||

Now imagine if they added some AI feature and it’s trying to escape

userbinator 8 hours ago||

Now you understand how it feels to be reminded that the device you "bought" from Apple isn't actually yours as they still have control over it, and if they decide to do something you don't want, you're powerless to stop them.

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