IOS 14.5 and iPassword app developer update

HHG424 wrote:

Have you heard from the developer of ipassword. The email address we found was kicked back

I would never store my passwords in an app like that. The sad truth is that the App Store is filled with scams, abandoned apps, and junk apps.

I only replied to this question because it was in the "Developer" forum in Apple Support Communities. This forum is meant as a place to discuss Apple developer tools like Xcode. Unfortunately, people sometimes think this "Developer" forum is a venue to contact a "developer".

I could give you all kinds of tips on how to spot these kinds of scam/junk/abandoned apps, but that isn't going to help you if you are already stuck with such an app. I'm afraid your passwords are gone forever. If you did have some knowledge of Xcode and were able to pull data from your phone, you might be able to recover your passwords. They probably aren't even encrypted or anything.

There is a story that has been circulating for a few weeks of one particular developer who has developed a bit of an obsession with exposing scam apps. People seem to have the reaction, "OMG!! How can this be true???" But any legitimate developer would have the reaction, "OMG!! People are just now finding out about this???"

For the future, here are some things to look out for:

1) Look for the existence of the developer outside the App Store. Is there a web site? No? Better not download!

2) Who is the developer - specifically? Is it a company name or a business name. Ignore the "Copyright" field. That's fake. Look at the "Seller" field. A company name will have been verified by Apple to actually exist as a company. It may be a company that makes worthless, junk, or scam apps, but it is a real company. But if it is just a person's name, then literally anything goes. Do not even assume that person actually exists. Malicious apps are always registered under these personal accounts - always.

3) Look for an "App Support" link on the App Store web site. You will only find this on the Apple web site: https://apps.apple.com. Do a google search for the app and click on the app.apple.com hit. You won't find the App Support link in the actual app on your iPhone or iPad.

4) Do the same with the "Privacy Policy" link. At least this one is in the App Store app.

5) If either of the "App Support" or "Privacy Policy" links are fake or dead, don't download!

6) Double-check those "App Support" or "Privacy Policy" link even if they work or don't appear to be fake. Are they just templates or are they real? Does the privacy policy even mention the app or the developer? Compare it to any real privacy policy you find on the web.

7) App rating - always fake. Well, not always. If the app rating is junk, then it is probably real. Don't download. If the app rating is 5 stars, it is always fake. Any real, legitimate app will have a good number of 1-star reviews from clueless people. My apps reviews were virtually perfect and I only had 4.6 or 4.7.

8) App reviews - again, fake. Again, not always. If the recent reviews are all trashing the app, they are probably real. If the app reviews openly discuss scams or illegal practices from the developer, don't download!

9) Look for the new Apple Privacy Dashboard. Is that real and trustworthy? Of course not! But if the developer as actually entered something, it means that the app has recently been updated and will probably run on iOS 14. It means the developer actually cares, which is a good thing. Maybe the developer only cares about scamming people, but that's still caring!

10) Look at the developer's other apps. Do they look like scams? If so, they are. Are there more than 3? From a single person? Impossible! That's fake and/or a scam. Are there 50! Total scam!

I realize all of this will not help anyone who has already downloaded a bunch of scam apps and handed over their passwords. But please review these steps for any future downloads - yes, every single one.

If your passwords are all gone now, or if you have given all of your passwords to some other app that fails any of the criteria I listed above, you should start now and go through your accounts and do a "forgot my password" on each and change them.

Apple provides a password manager built into the operating system. That's what I use. Another legitimate password manager is 1Password: https://1password.com

Don't mourn over what has been lost. Learn a lesson and move forward with more knowledge and more cynicism.

All,

I was able to restore my my password! Here is what I did. You will need itune, and old ipad and you current device.

1. Backup you current device on itunes app.
2. Verify that your sharing via icloud
3. connect the old ipad to itunes
4. add the old version of ipassword to the old ipad.
5. open itunes, select the device, File Sharing -> ipassword
6. create a backup of your password from the old ipassword via the old app with itunes running.
7. save the file.
8. Install password manager version 7.0.6
9. follow the restore procedure in the app.

;-)

Hey Guys

Here is a fix for those of you affected by the “iPassword app” issue after updating to IOS 14.5

I will begin by saying that this should work for 80% of those affected. First things here is a 

List of what you will need:

1.) A backup of your device that had the password app prior to the IOS 14.5 upgrade which can be either iTunes or iCloud based

2.) Either an iPhone or iPad running IOS 14.4.2 (I will talk about this in the next step)

In step 1 before you say I never backed up (iTunes or iCloud) consider that the default for most devices

iPad or iPhone is to backup to iCloud so you may not even realize that you are backed up. You should be able

To click on Settings, Your name, iCloud, iCloud Backup and from there see your iCloud backups.

In step 2 above I say 14.4.2 but you may have jumped from an earlier version say iOS 13 but what you are looking

For is the backup previous to IOS 14.5. Here is what you may not realize that you can restore an iPhone backup to

an iPad or vice versa.

I will detail my steps and my situation and from there you can apply it to your situation. I have an iPhone running on

IOS 14.4.2…an automatic update to 14.5 and iPassword no longer works. My daughter has an iPad still running 14.4.2

1.) I backup her iPad via Itunes,

2.) I then erase her iPad and select restore this iPad from iCloud during setup.

3.) I use my Apple ID and password when asked to log in

4.) I am told not all settings will be restored as they are different devices…I agree

5.) Upon restore iPassword and all passwords are there

6.) In iPassword running on the iPad I select settings and select backup via Dropbox

7.) I create a dummy/Free Dropbox account

8.) I then select backup to Dropbox

9.) From a web browser on a laptop/computer (Chrome Safari etc) I login to my Dropbox account I created and download the iPassword backup file

10.) From my iPhone that is running IOS 14.5 I go to the App Store and download the free app called “Password Manager” Lock Apps Safe Vault …

very important you download that app as there are many that are similarly named!!!

11.) On my Dropbox account via laptop/desktop I delete the Directory that was created by iPassword in Step 8 above

12.) From my iPhone running IOS 14.5 I launch “Password Manager” (interface is the same as iPassword…same app different name) I click on 

Settings and select Backup via Dropbox

13.) I again login to my Dropbox via a laptop/Desktop and delete the iPassword backup file….NOT THE DIRECTORY

14.) I upload the iPassword backup file I downloaded in Step 9 above to the New Directory

15.) On my iPhone I click on restore from Dropbox…and here is the trick….you need to do it twice!! So after the first restore ….

close the app and do it a second time

TADA you have your passwords in the exact same way they were presented in iPassword just in an app with a different name. Here is a gotcha to be

 aware of, whatever device you use to restore your backup has to be running the same IOS that your backup was running at the time….in my case my 

last backup of my iPhone via iCloud prior to IOS 14.5 was 14.4.2 so I needed a device (iPad or iPhone running IOS 14.4.2) your previous backup may

be different

My advice…copy out your passwords and start using a well known Password app and take this as a lesson learned…yes this is working but for how

Long??

My last step was to again wipe the iPad but restore via iTunes (see step 1 above) so I could return the iPad to my daughter exactly the way it was

When I borrowed it.

Here is the question I am sure some will ask..”What if I don’t have a device running the IOS version prior to the update in iCloud or iTunes?” Get one

Beg, borrow, steal….if the passwords are that critical… go on your local buy and sell and buy a cheap iPhone or iPad running the IOS version you

Need

If you have to borrow a friends iPad or iPhone I have shown you a way to back it up in advance so you can return it to them just the way it was when you

Borrowed it.

I realize this won’t help everyone but it should help out some!!!

~Metal~

Many threads on this. Please let me know when/if you get an answer. FWIW, I have an old copy of iPassword on an old phone without 14.5. I was only able to backup the data using the DropBox option (couldn't get Wi-Fi work and iTunes no longer allows you access to apps). However, when I tried to update the new version of iPassword using the DropBox, I got the same message, i.e., the new version did not recognize the backup on DropBox. Since the App Ids are different on the two apps, old and new, I don't see how we can get around this. I think the only answer is for them to allow us to access the old version and at least download the data to a .txt file so we have a paper copy, then have to reenter all the data by hand into the new one. Or, what I'm going to do... put them into a new app.

What does the developer of iPassword say when you ask them about this?

If you backed up your phone on your Mac / PC prior to the upgrade this will work. If you didn’t well good luck.

if did your in luck.

Ask a friend or family member if you can use their phone to restore your backup from your Mac / PC. The phone needs to be the same like iPhone 12 or 11 or you get what I’m saying. It will work believe it or not.

This is just a work around if you had a backup and a older phone to restore it on. Apple refuses to help. They will only give you the BOX answers no help whatsoever.

Hope this helps for a few of you lucky ones that backed up on your computer. Don’t trust the cloud or Apple you will just be disappointed.

I posted a solution to this problem yesterday search for "iPassword data recovery for iOS 14.5". I don't know how to get this out to more people. No one has replied to my post yet so I assume no one has seen it.

Everyone starts tweeting on apple support accounts or Instagram and all other online platform of apple so atleast they start doing something by seeing so many people raising similar issue

This is a lost cause do ur best to recover your passwords from Google or other sites that remember your passwords. Cut your losses and move on.

The only hope you have if you have an old backup. Apple Will do nothing nor will the app provider.

Best of luck to all. Lesson learned.

I’m thinking postits.

Agreed we all need to collectively do something. Suggestions have been to tweet at apple and comment on their Instagram page. I will start there!

IPassword and not One 1Password

It is still there. I think if you search for "iPassword data recovery for iOS 14.5" it comes up.

I have an old backup on my Mac and a iphone 12 without 14.5 on it. I am trying to restore it now and going to see if that will work. I will keep you posted. No help from tech support, not sure why they they don't allow you to revert back to old software so you can recover you info if needed.

Problem is developer and Apple. No one will help. I don’t care any longer I found a solution. Never relay one on Apple or developer. Oh ya btw Apple takes a cut off developer app.

But cries when you complain to them saying it’s not our issue. It’s like wait it worked prior to ur upgrade but now it now longer works? Hmm wait one sec do you have a few extra million $ kicking around because this one will cost you. As of Tuesday morning my company will be filing against Apple and it’s “Developer” . This way beyond just the app. Apple has refused to deal with the issue. Now I’m sure this get there attention.

i will post on my webpage the ongoing dispute with Apple.

Apple great product but has lost touch.

I hope this may wake them up.