iTunes: Trust this computer?

The existing method that allowed the computer to remain trusted was determined to provide a potential exploit which is why it has been disabled. I don't know if Apple will revisit this at some point, but it is intentional behaviour right now, not a bug. From the linked article:

• With iOS 16 and later, the alert message appears when you back up your device. If you turn on automatic backups, the alert message appears every time that you connect your device to the computer.

tt2

That doesn't help. It seems the last year or so, I have to enter my passcode to trust the same computer every time I sync. Multiple devices behave the same way. All on latest iOS.

This used to work, but it does not work anymore. It seems this was changed in iOS 16.1, not very friendly for the user, had to get a longer cable to tap on the iPhone from the front of the computer to get the sync to work.

There should be a cryptographical method to provide this trust constantly. Mutually verified signatures using a stored public key from the first trust event comes to mind.

Thanks for the response. Given their wording, I was hopeful that this would provide a bypass - i.e. to turn off automatic backups. However, I do not seem to have an option to do this? It’s a “radio button” control that merely offers me the option to backup to iCloud or my computer. How to I select “neither”?

You don't get to select neither. Apple tries hard to ensure you make at least one backup. Personally I backup to the cloud as the process is automatic and I don't need to connect my devices to iTunes that often. I do take an additional manual backup for security before changing devices or if I want to restore and reload the system to fix an issue I cannot otherwise resolve.

tt2

OK - different experience then. I don’t use iCloud and have been very happy for years having the iPad and iPhone backups on my computer. If Apple is indeed keen for me to do backups then (IMHO) they should fix this vulnerability in a different way. I synchronise iTunes with both my devices (and my iPod) every day, so this is a major irritant.

Answer Trust (or Yes) to the Trust This Computer question.

Agreed - iPhone and iPad - same (recent) bug.

This needs to be fixed.

Let them know at Feedback - iTunes - Apple.

tt2

Yes. - I did that a few days ago :)