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usef-
This isn't the first system bug that primarily was visible due to headspace: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/02/ios-11-1-2-date-bug-cra...
In 2017 it was an endless crash loop caused by any app with local time-based notifications.... Which for almost everyone at the Apple store I visited was meditation apps with daily meditation reminders (in Australia we were among the first to wake up on that affected date. The fix went out before most of the remaining world woke up)
I wonder if the daily reminder is triggering a reinstall? Perhaps try disabling the reminders before uninstalling.
wolvoleo
For an app that's supposed to help people relax it can certainly cause a lot of stress.
Ps I have access to a subscription through my Revolut card but I don't find it very compelling. I much rather use plain nature sounds through the FOSS moodist web app. https://moodist.mvze.net/ (self hostable in docker too)
But guided meditations aren't my thing.
_-x-_
Here's a Reddit thread of other people experiencing the same issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1su82sc/headspace_app_...
cortesoft
This is fascinating. I am very curious to find out what the actual cause of this turns out to be.
dyauspitr
It downloaded itself on my phone as well. I thought it was some quirk with the Apple Watch sync because I used to have headspace installed at some point and that automatically shows up on the Apple Watch but deleting an app on the iPhone doesn’t always delete the corresponding Apple Watch app. So if you open headspace on the Apple Watch I assumed it redownloaded itself on the iPhone.
trueno
same. i get blasted with ads for this app on whatever platform, never installed it myself. the amount of promotions + this = my underdeveloped brain is so ready to assume the worst here. been a while since i used my pitchfork & i'm here for the riot.
if it is, in fact, something nefarious at play that would be a pretty crazy 2026 era exploit. but i'm certain it's a bug/artifact of some sort that, for whatever reason, affects this specific app.
powersnail
Maybe the developer was using Headspace as part of the test data and it bled into production?
It's hard to imagine what Headspace would like to achieve if this were an exploit executed by them. It's so salient, that it makes no sense to do on purpose. At least some portion of Apple employees and their families are going to be affected by this, and this would escalate to the legal department immediately.
My money is on Apple being the buggy one here.
0123456789ABCDE
when "explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary."
could be an ios bug; a bug with the notification library they use, any other app behaving similarly?
considering the possibility this was on purpose, they would risk getting banned from the appstore. no, they are not big enough to avoid that. so it's unlikely this was intentional.
altairprime
There's an Apple discussions thread now, too: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256288392
Has 4 'me too'. Do go click that 'me too' button to report the issue if you're seeing it!
Bjartr
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
_-x-_
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
But why this one specific app and no others?
joenot443
My guess is it's a bug on the App Store side which will actually hurt Headspace in the long run. If this was a casino app I'd feel a bit differently, but I'd be shocked if someone at Headspace did this deliberately.
I'm trying to imagine the headspace of a user who deletes an app, only to see it pop back the next morning. Probably not a very relaxing experience :)
a34729t
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?
8cvor6j844qw_d6
> mandated backdoor
Probably one from the repository of backdoors "accidentally" introduced or "never" discovered.
The mechanism's there, just needs to be woven with other exploits.
jdiff
Makes no sense for headspace to be using it if that were the case.
0123456789ABCDE
what's the more likely explanation though?
aaron695
[dead]
bharat1010
looks like, no where its safea anymore
visiondude
My hypothesis is that headspace registered many user notifications and since user notifications trigger an app launch and perhaps you have optimize storage by offloading apps enabled? ios has a quirky app state where some local data exists but the app itself (ipa package) is offloaded
m463
I might be way off base here, but recently ios added "Settings -> Privacy and Security -> Security Improvements -> Automatically Install"
Might be just OS security updates, but I wonder if it works for apps too?
threecheese
This is the most interesting idea imo; do you think it’s testable? For example: allow the installed app to persist, turn on notifications, do some stuff to let a queue drain. Then remove.
_-x-_
Agreed, this is an interesting idea. I just checked and offloading unused apps is disabled on my phone
codezero
I wonder if this app is also an “app clip” - the small size applets that can bypass download size restrictions (and maybe, because of that, other restrictions).
How big is the installed size, and can you go to settings and delete app data before deleting the app? You may also check to see if it’s installed on other devices connected to your iCloud account or if you have any devices you never disconnected including Apple Watch as they have a watch app.
My wife works for macrumors and she once found an incomprehensible HomeKit bug and we had an Apple engineer come to our house to diagnose (we lived nearby to Cupertino)
It turned out to be a bug in the legacy HomeKit after upgrading on the backend. Totally opaque to the end user.
lwhi
In which case, perhaps the app doesn't correctly remove notifications on delete which would mean Headspace could be to blame?
sandoze
There’s no indication to the developer or app when a deletion happens. We rely on the OS to clean it up.
dylan604
We've already seen where iOS notifications was storing messages, so it does seem plausible that notifications are involved. Especially as the latest release patches the notifications issue used by law enforcement. It's possible something new was introduced, revealed, etc. The timing feels right
aaronbrethorst
I wonder if U2, or Bono, has taken a significant stake in Headspace recently (kidding).
fmajid
It's not good four my blood pressure to be reminded of that sanctimonious tax-dodging hypocrite.
andy_ppp
Have you considered meditation? ;-)
ex-aws-dude
I feel like I’m the only one who listened to that album when it appeared and thought it was pretty good
steve1977
A 50th anniversary gift you mean?
meindnoch
It was so fucking funny. I wonder what the engineer thought, who had to issue the SQL query which added Bono to literally everyone's collection. Like, I'm not surprised that management was so out of touch, but I'd expect the engineers to have a bit of common sense...
baq
And do what? Quit and have someone else execute the query for something that’s in the grand scheme of things irrelevant?
Barbing
There’s only a 99% chance they would’ve been fired for refusing though right?
kotaKat
"We wanted to deliver a pint of milk to people's front porches, but in a few cases it ended up in their fridge, on their cereal. People were like, 'I'm dairy-free.'" -Bono
Literally imagining the milk man bursting in to dump a gallon of milk on some poor sod's cereal this morning.
chihuahua
Not only that, but the milk man also acts like he did them a huge favor. And hides his huge fortune in a tax haven, while relentlessly campaigning for the government to increase the tax burden on those who actually pay taxes.
mort96
I feel like that's the kind of thing it's easy to not recognise as a terrible idea until after it's done, because so much of what makes it a bad idea is a consequence of the rest of the system.
Imagine if everything else surrounding the Apple ecosystem worked better. Imagine if people who don't actively use Apple Music never experienced Apple Music starting to play music by itself. Imagine if people who do use Apple Music never had an album play without being actively interacted with. Imagine if the album cover wasn't low-key softcore gay porn. Imagine if you could "uninstall" an album you own, like how you can uninstall an app you own and never ever see it again unless you actively go out of your way to search for it on the App Store.
Would it still have been a violation of consent? Sure, yeah it would. But almost everything people complain about is related to how it starts to play when they don't want to (an issue with iOS/macOS and Apple Music that would be annoying regardless), or how the album cover sometimes unintentionally pops up on your screen (such as when you hit the play/pause button on Mac when macOS doesn't think that there's any active paused media, so macOS opens Apple Music), or how there is no way for them to get rid of the album once they own it. These things are pretty large problems regardless of Songs of Innocence.
I can sort of understand an engineer thinking that surely there can't be any major downsides to just giving away a digital good. And if the rest of iOS, macOS's, Apple Music and the album itself didn't have all these issues, it wouldn't have been much of an issue. Again, it would've been a consent violation, but developers at tech companies aren't exactly known for valuing consent anyway and everyone would've certainly forgot it by now.
nottorp
> Imagine if people who don't actively use Apple Music never experienced Apple Music starting to play music by itself.
Nice dream. My wireless headphones act like in the manual when paired with my phone, but the buttons on them always start apple music when paired with my laptop instead of muting or controlling noise canceling.
basisword
>> I feel like that's the kind of thing it's easy to not recognise as a terrible idea until after it's done
I don't even think it was a terrible idea. It was just one of those things lots of people irrationally hooked on to. "We're giving you all a free record". Enough people made it 'bad' because people like to make a fuss. The only real issue with it was the inability to remove it which they later rectified.
PunchyHamster
What he was going to do, ignore management ? There is always someone else clueless or not caring enough to do it
umanwizard
Have you ever worked at a big company? There are plenty of people who don’t give a shit and just do whatever their boss tells them.
actionfromafar
They follow orders, like soldiers do.
edbaskerville
Deep cut
swiftcoder
Jesus, I hope not. That happened just a few years ago... right?
dtech
More than a decade ago
stingraycharles
Wasn’t that around the release of the iPhone X?
COFyumo
I have the same exact thing happening. I deleted the app a few days ago when was surprised to see it in my app list.
I had previously downloaded the app but and removed it because I never used it. A few days ago I noticed the app when browsing through my app list and thought maybe I didnt delete it properly, so I made sure to delete it. Then this morning my iPhone updated software versions and I found he Headpsace app again on my home, except this time it was grayed out and waiting for me to go on wifi to download.
I just deleted it again but am equally dumbfounded
_-x-_
That's interesting that it still showed up on your homescreen despite not being able to download
yokuze
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-_
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!
wallst07
Even with auto downloads turned off, does it show up in your app library or as a purchased app?
You can still have a app library with apps that "should be" downloaded, what happens if its removed from that list?
undefined
trinsic2
Speaking of which. Under Cellular Data There is a setting right below Automatic Downloads call "App Downloads". I wonder if that works independently of whether or not Automatic Downloads is off. The only options are: Always allow, ask if over 200mb and always ask.
nostromar
This was happening for me also. 3-4 days in a row it would reinstall in the evening. I’m on a new iPhone that never had the app installed. Automatic downloads wasn’t on, etc. finally noticed that signing out of “Media & Purchases” and then signing in again would make it install almost immediately. Could reliably repeat this any time of day. At one point I preempted the install by long pressing on the Headspace icon and selecting “Cancel Download”. It disappeared and hasn’t been back since.
nottorp
Meanwhile, I can't install an iOS game i bought in 2021 (Azure Saga if it matters) because it's delisted from the app store.
Damned if you pay them, damned if you don't.
forsalebypwner
Took me a minute but I found it https://archive.org/download/iklassika_archive/AzureSagaPath...
nottorp
Probably requires a jailbroken ipad?
I'll take it as a lesson to not even look at games on iOS [1]. I added it to my wish list on Steam, i might get it on a sale.
[1] Not that iOS has many games. I can't afford the free ones.
forsalebypwner
No jailbreak required, just sideload it with a tool like Sideloadly. There are plenty of games, but it's understandable if you don't want to support Apple's practices.
verisimi
Side point, re this:
> Automatic downloads are turned off
Isn't it funny that we're so used to the misuse of language (ie lies) that this isn't even a point? I'm talking about software flags to represent your choices, that are merely an 'aspirational intention' and don't actually correlate with reality.
In my world, it shouldn't be possible to override 'turned off automatic downloads'. 'Off' shouldn't be a pacifier for the user, while Apple, Google or whoever can continue installing whatever they like. This isn't what words mean. There isn't actually a choice, but it misleads you into thinking there is. I'm sure there are legal words around this in the "ownership" contract, but "off" can't really mean "on".
gcr
Do you have any MDM profiles installed? Go to Settings → General → VPN And Device Management. If you use your phone for work your employer may have asked you to install one, but check anyway. MDM profiles can specify apps to be installed automatically.
Also, is developer mode enabled?
doncho
Very interesting, especially if it found a way to bypass the explicit disabling of automatic downloads…
Now imagine you’re roaming during a 10-day vacation…and you think you’re in control :) …
janstice
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-_
No, this is my personal device. It has never been connected to any MDM.
Schiendelman
Have you actually checked your device management settings?
_-x-_
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?
teruakohatu
Yes, there are alt app stores that try to get you to agree to installing a MDM
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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?