Fr, 15:12·Hardware: iPhone·imj
If you book AppleCare+ when you buy an iPhone, you can rest assured that you will be covered for two years – warranty claims are covered for this period (instead of one year). If you choose the “AppleCare+ with theft and loss” package, the coverage goes even further: Apple will repair the iPhone for a low flat rate; alternatively, you will receive a replacement device. The developer Finn Voorhees had booked this additional package – when his iPhone was lost on a concrete staircase. fell downApple provided him with a replacement iPhone for a $99 deductible. However, after transferring all of his data, there was a surprise: when he opened the social media app “Snapchat,” he received a message saying that his new device was blocked for Snapchat.
It couldn’t be due to his own activities on the social media platform – he was still able to log in without any problems on other devices. Only on the iPhone that Apple provided him as a replacement did the message “Device banned” appear. SnapChat’s support forum provided some clues as to a possible cause. According to the forum, a device is permanently blocked from use with this app if users have repeatedly violated the terms of use.
Refurbished device – lock remains
Voorhees’ assumption: Apple did not provide him with a brand new iPhone, but a refurbished one. These are devices that have been returned to Apple for various reasons. Apple restores them to new condition and sells them at a discount – or issues them as an AppleCare+ replacement device. As far as installed software and user profiles are concerned, an iPhone is completely reset. However, a small amount of information remains: a developer-specific device identification that is sent via the DeviceCheck-Framework is managed.
Developer-specific device identification
DeviceCheck promotes Apple in a WWDC-Session as a means against fraud.
In order to strengthen user privacy, Apple prevented app developers from accessing the unique device ID a few years ago. To compensate, app developers were given a limited amount of storage space for each Apple device. It is not stored on the device in question, but resides on Apple’s servers. Its size: two bits. An app developer can therefore define a maximum of four different states for a device. According to Apple’s documentation, app providers themselves are responsible for resetting the two bits when an iPhone changes hands.
AppleCare was amazed – and accommodating
Contacting Snapchat failed, and Voorhees only received automated replies from the social media platform: the device had been blocked due to multiple violations of the “Community Guidelines” and this block could not be removed. His research showed that the previous owner had probably repeatedly distributed images of illegal drugs via the platform. When he contacted AppleCare employees with his findings, he was surprised: this problem seems to occur extremely rarely. In this case, Apple showed understanding and replaced the device once again.
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