Posted by ibobev 17 hours ago
Just went through this yesterday. And often my main contact at a company is not the same as the person who can sign the agreement so there is yet another person I need to reach out to.
But heck, even at my company, I don’t control signing that agreement and so I have to bug someone higher up to do it. It’s such a PITA. I curse Apple every time my CI fails due to this.
The only thing I hate more is enterprise signing, literally landlines everywhere.
It actually surprise me how many Linux users that do care about their security & privacy just seem to apply poor judgement when it's about their mobile devices, sure, you might not get the LATEST phone but who cares? Why are people trading their values and expertise the moment they touch the latest Samsung or iPhone? What's so special about them anyway, there is literally alternatives (or just vibe code it) for most softwares on it.
I think it's one of the last remnants of "don't be evil" at Google -- the Pixel devices are quite friendly toward alternative installs, much more so than most manufacturers.
And, now that Motorola and Graphene OS have announced a partnership, future Motorola devices may be a good option as well.
I am sorry to tell you but the perfect timing was 8 - 12 months ago before the price of components shot up.
So we should "Kill" a CEO because you cannot temporarily accept a ToS to backup your photos and move to another platform?
Wild.
> Apple is committing extortion
The 5GB is also free so how is this extortion?
> but a class action suit or an organised protest may raise awareness.
It won't, just don't use Apple devices.
This is possible to override, of course. But it's not the default, so only the most tech-savvy users make use of the settings that keep your videos and photos local.
All in service of getting you to pay for iCloud storage when your phone starts to contain more data than they offer for free (5GB, which is laughable in 2026).
For photos you need to upgrade.
One also has to wonder if people actually regularly go through thousands of pictures...
Not that I agree with the practice of rug-pulling, but "hostage" is a strong term.
Apple, Google, and Microsoft act like ransomware gangs when it comes to photos. I hope we see the day where all 3 get split into a thousand different companies.
Edit: I just checked and my photos stopped syncing 14 days ago. Thanks for the garbage Apple!!
> I never paid for Apple’s iCloud service so I am a little surprised that not only were my pictures uploaded, the local copy was deleted.
no worries, apple can do what microsoft did.
> I never paid for Apple’s iCloud service so I am a little surprised that not only were my pictures uploaded...
Yes?
Apple’s iCloud service provides 5GB for free?
That seems a lot like: "You're going to be using our service, whether you like it or not!"
Pretty uncool?
And I'm not even avoiding it because of data hostage fears, just because I don't understand it and thus I can't trust it.
If you don't like this, you can backup your device and move to Android or use a camera.
Got it.
Let's hope that your phone won't be part of the 70 million smartphones that get lost each year and your photos aren't backed up.
How does a normal person get the same service as iCloud for their personal device while syncing _all_ their photos, app data to it?
They literally deleted his personal photo's from his phone without his consent. They didn't even ask.
If he'd actually signed up for it, then sure, in that case they're offering a desired service. That's clearly not the situation though.
I am just saying what a normal person would do not a HN or tech user would do.
> They literally deleted his personal photo's from his phone without his consent. They didn't even ask. If he'd actually signed up for it, then sure, in that case they're offering a desired service. That's clearly not the situation though.
Except it is not 'deleted', it is on iCloud, it is your choice for this to be temporary or permanent.
Again, every Apple account has 5GB of iCloud for free, it has always been like this and even the author knows it.
The real problem is that the author accepted Apple's terms without even knowing or reading the terms like most people do. By using the iPhone he agrees to their ToS.
I know this because the terms of service shows up you setup the iPhone and when you update the iPhone OS.
But i'm sure you and him have read every line in most Terms of Service right?
The solution is to accept the terms, and move on.
If you don't like Apple, backup your photos and move to Android.
Come on.
People don’t do that because the terms basically say “you can use the service if you act normal. In the context of providing the service we may do any number of things a normal person would expect us to do.”
Reading them isn’t a good use of tim because most people using the service were going to act normal. But we collectively forced them to make the terms this long by suing companies when the terms weren’t clear and by deciding that the letter of the law matters more than what’s sensible. Accepting long terms of service is just the consequence of our collective decisions.