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Ask HN: My Apple ID is locked for a week, Apple is a single point of failure

16 points | 2d ago | Discuss on Hacker News | Back to Radar

Comments

akerl_ 2d ago on HN
I store my digital ID, payment cards, etc in my phone’s wallet. But I also still have my physical wallet.

If I lost my phone (either because it was locked or smashed or stolen), I’d use my physical wallet to access my money.

jqpabc123 2d ago on HN
Locking everything in one walled garden is a blatant and obvious security and safety concern --- but many don't think much about such things.
akg_67 (author) 2d ago on HN
Yes, learnt this the hard way. Now, I am trying to figure out how to spread out to not get stuck again in a walled garden.
notemaker 39h ago on HN
I always share this post of my experience [1] whenever I hear of others encountering similar issues.

I was able to regain access to my phone and laptop eventually, but my airpods are still "someone else's" and my air tags were permanently broken (ringing a bell whenever they are moved).

As for derisking things from Apple:

- Whenever you buy apps on App Store, ask yourself whether you'd be OK buying it again if you get locked out

- Don't use icloud for email

- Don't use icloud for permanent storage (it's OK for transfer)

- Don't use safari

- Ideally don't use "Find My" - it's what locks your device to your Apple ID

- Use an external password manager like Bitwarden

[1]: https://skogsbrus.xyz/dont-put-all-your-apples-in-one-basket...

akg_67 (author) 36h ago on HN
Interesting read, your experience gave me some ideas to reduce dependency on Apple ecosystem. A few questions:

1. "Don't use safari" Why?

2. Is there an alternative to "Find My" that I can use with AirTag?

Some of the things, I have done since this experience:

- Exported all my passwords from Apple Password Manager to BitWarden. Also, now I better understand why my wife was keeping her passwords in a notebook (no service can be trusted).

- Looking at ways to export Contacts and Notes and sync.

- Keeping Dropbox storage subscription instead of considering migration to iCloud storage.

- Dropped the idea of upgrading my iPhone13 and wife's MacBook (light user) to Apple devices.

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