Home » Featured » Refurbished iPhones are a problem: When apps on new devices suddenly stop working
If some apps on a newly purchased iPhone refuse to work with strange error messages, the device may be on a blacklist with its developers. Apple offers app developers the option of permanently excluding devices from their apps, but this poses major problems when reusing used devices.
The iPhone is a used item that retains its value, and the devices can still be sold at good prices even after a long period of use. There is a reason for this: the long update promise and the robust hardware justify the high prices, even over a longer period of time. At the same time, buyers receive devices that, if well refurbished, can serve them well for years to come.
Apple itself also refurbishes devices and resells them or passes them on to customers with Apple Care+ coverage if their device is a total loss. But now a problem has emerged that was not previously known and that can have unpleasant consequences in individual cases.
Banned iPhones
A developer amazed not bad recently when he could no longer use Snapchat with his refurbished iPhone. He had received the device from an authorized service provider as a replacement for his broken iPhone. When he then tried to set up Snapchat, the app refused to let him do so with the error message “SS06”. This means, as it turned out after some research, that Snapchat had put the device on a blacklist because the previous owner had misused his Snapchat account.
Snapchat refused to take the entry back and the affected user eventually received another replacement device.
What had happened?
The deliberate entry was made using the DeviceCheck framework, which Apple has been offering since iOS 11. This allows developers to permanently mark devices, even if they are reset and used by other customers. The developers can use this for all sorts of purposes, such as preventing repeated use of free trial periods or reacting to violations of the terms and conditions.
Users have no way of checking whether their devices have been marked in this way, nor can they delete them.
Conclusion
Buying a used iPhone carries the risk that certain apps will not work. Since you don’t know anything about the previous owner, the problem cannot be calculated, so it would be advisable to test all important apps within the cancellation period until Apple has solved the problem.
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