Do you have Settings > Apps > App Store > (Automatic Downloads) App Downloads turned on?
I noticed apps appearing on my Home Screen I’d never heard of before. Turns out with that setting and Family Purchase sharing turned on, every time my wife installed a new app, it installed on my phone too.
That may not be your exact scenario, but I wonder if turning off that Automatic App Downloads setting (if enabled) changes anything. Could give you a clue, if so.
_-x-_ 4 minutes ago [-]
App Downloads and App Updates are both turned off. I don't have anyone else's devices on my account, just me. Thank you for the suggestions though!
Based on that I'd guess either a meditation app company has figured out how to circumvent a lot of controls put in place by Apple, or it's a bug on Apple's side
a34729t 8 minutes ago [-]
Or it is a mandated backdoor, and someone internally objected, and made it easier to exploit than it should be, or leaked how to exploit it?
_-x-_ 46 minutes ago [-]
Yeah, I think the latter is more likely than the former. Perhaps a server side bug that's silently downloading the app on any device that's installed it previously?
donkey_brains 10 minutes ago [-]
But why this one specific app and no others?
a34729t 9 minutes ago [-]
I would call Apple support; you might even get an engineer call you back. I am sure they would love to know what the hell is going on.
janstice 2 hours ago [-]
Is your phone connected to some work mobile device management? I could imagine someone has a jinxed Jamf or intune rule that is pushing things out.
_-x-_ 2 hours ago [-]
No, this is my personal device. It has never been connected to any MDM.
Schiendelman 1 hours ago [-]
Have you actually checked your device management settings?
_-x-_ 1 hours ago [-]
Yes. In Settings > General > VPN & Device Management, it says 'Sign in to Work or School Account'. Is there a different device management setting that I should be looking at?
Schiendelman 29 minutes ago [-]
That's the one. I was worried you might have something you didn't know about!
teruakohatu 1 hours ago [-]
Yes, there are alt app stores that try to get you to agree to installing a MDM
treexs 39 minutes ago [-]
this is the plot of Persona 5
rootsudo 13 minutes ago [-]
He can be the joker we need.
k310 2 hours ago [-]
Did you ever install it, or Ginger?
An app store search also turned up "Headspace Care" (Ginger)
Ginger is now Headspace Care
It would be beyond malware for an app to install itself, since there's that app store hurdle to leap. (IMO)
_-x-_ 2 hours ago [-]
I installed the app in March of last year, and then deleted it the same day because I didn't want to pay for the subscription
rglover 2 hours ago [-]
If you've ever installed any companion app on your desktop macOS, your phone will try to sync apps (I think the same with Apple TV). Caught me off guard a few times.
_-x-_ 2 hours ago [-]
No, I've never downloaded it on my desktop. It appears that I downloaded it onto my phone over a year ago (I got an email in my inbox), but didn't want to pay for it so I deleted it.
psynixx 3 hours ago [-]
I’ve been getting this too, same app same behaviour…
Anyone been able to figure out what is causing this?
_-x-_ 2 hours ago [-]
Have you downloaded the app before?
mandeepj 2 hours ago [-]
How did you find that? Any notification?
_-x-_ 2 hours ago [-]
It just appears on my homescreen
2 hours ago [-]
throwaway5465 2 hours ago [-]
Maybe a competitor is trying to FUD them?
_-x-_ 2 hours ago [-]
I would imagine that this isn't (or at least shouldn't be) possible based on Apple's security. The app is automatically downloading to my phone without my permission.
xinji-standard 1 hours ago [-]
[dead]
lovich 24 minutes ago [-]
Guess the corporations are taking the mask off.
And before anyone accuses me of being paranoid, this should have never been possible.
The fact that it’s happening shows that they always had the ability and either made a mistake to show their hand now or stopped giving a shit if we cared.
anon84873628 12 minutes ago [-]
At least they're exposing their nefarious plans for the purposes of... Offering people mental healthcare?
It's probably just some Apple bug.
lovich 12 minutes ago [-]
[flagged]
slater 9 minutes ago [-]
Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.
I noticed apps appearing on my Home Screen I’d never heard of before. Turns out with that setting and Family Purchase sharing turned on, every time my wife installed a new app, it installed on my phone too.
That may not be your exact scenario, but I wonder if turning off that Automatic App Downloads setting (if enabled) changes anything. Could give you a clue, if so.
An app store search also turned up "Headspace Care" (Ginger)
Ginger is now Headspace Care
It would be beyond malware for an app to install itself, since there's that app store hurdle to leap. (IMO)
And before anyone accuses me of being paranoid, this should have never been possible.
The fact that it’s happening shows that they always had the ability and either made a mistake to show their hand now or stopped giving a shit if we cared.
It's probably just some Apple bug.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html