Blocking Starlink access in iOS 18.3

xrayman394 wrote:

Thanks!

I strongly suggest NOT updating to 18.3 until we know more, we must try and learn more about this before upgrading.

That's not something you should be recommending to others. Are you a T-Mobile customer who has joined the beta testing for Starlink? If no, I'm not sure why you are concerned at the moment?

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Zachyy wrote:

KiltedTim wrote:

Okay but if you go read about any other news source you will read that there were 29 security vulnerabilities fixed in iOS 18.3.

I just went to the source: About the security content of iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 - Apple Support

and miscounted. From the point of view of the importance of updating, a distinction without a difference.

I didn’t realize Apple publicly disclosed that information, so thank you.

The original post was based on rumor and speculation. If you want to make your decisions based on those parameters, that is your choice.

But, at least read some of the replies from other users with a lot more factual information.

Move to Android? Your decision. Ooops, Android already has it.

KidRockYou wrote:

It’s actually a hardware feature that is on androids as well.

Yes, certain model iPhones have the ability to connect to satellite networks. Which satellite network can be carrier dependent.

CS3838 wrote:

I am extremely unhappy that Apple or any of the carriers would have anything to do with Musk and Starling, extremely unhappy.

You can be disappointed, but as Jeff Donald suggests, you can't be unhappy with Apple. They didn't partner with Starlink. T-Mobile did. So if you want to complain, complain to T-Mobile. Apple has no legal basis for denying access to the N51 Band which was granted to them to access Starlink.

Choices_Matter wrote:

I think folks letting Apple know they don’t want this is the right thing to do - especially if they don’t have T-Mobile. Why not make it downloadable for T-Mobile customers instead of pushing it to everyone without disclosing ?

Choices matter very much. And one important choice we can make is to educate ourselves (by listening to experts not people on TikTok or Facebook) before posting. This is crucial right now.

Choices_Matter wrote:

I think folks letting Apple know they don’t want this is the right thing to do - especially if they don’t have T-Mobile. Why not make it downloadable for T-Mobile customers instead of pushing it to everyone without disclosing ?

Since you responded to me, I think what others have responded to you, should be enough. Maybe read and learn before you post things which don't make sense and are wrong.

M8lues wrote:

Well I guess it's time to buy a new phone and pc. I 'm done with apple.

So, what are you going to buy? Android (which includes Samsung and Google)? Nope, they've had Starlink through T-Mobile far longer than you could access Starlink through T-Mobile on iPhone. And again, you can ONLY access Starlink through T-Mobile. And PCs can't make Satellite calls, so I'm not sure what buying a different PC will accomplish? But knock yourself out and spend your money however you want. Doesn't matter to anyone here what you buy.

Perhaps this will be your next cell phone:

If enough people actually officially submit feedback to Apple (and not just talk about it in forums or social media), there’s a better likelihood that they will get the message and make changes. I often forget to actually contact the company I’m upset with, but it’s what makes an impact.

Whoever you heard this news from doesn't know what they are talking about.

You got the truth. If you don't find that helpful, I'm sorry for you. There's nothing more we can do for you.

I don’t want starlink on my phone so I blocked all updates until there’s an option to not have it.

Johnathan Burger wrote:

Car Phones have been around since 1946.

Early in my carrier with AT&T I worked in a business office. We got calls daily from people who wanted a car phone. The typical wait for one in 1978 was 5 years (there were only so many channels available and you had to wait for someone to cancel their service). The cost was around $500/mo as I recall. Didn’t get many requests to be put on the waiting list. 😩

I had a friend with one. You picked up the handset and to place a call, asked for the mobile operator. You could not dial direct. He drove a huge Cadillac and the equipment took up about ⅓ of the trunk.

Jeff Donald wrote:

I had a friend with one. You picked up the handset and to place a call, asked for the mobile operator. You could not dial direct. He drove a huge Cadillac and the equipment took up about ⅓ of the trunk.

Private eye shows from the sixties often showed off such phones. Mannix was one, if I recall.

Ali1O1O11O1 wrote:

So you mean you trust only Apple for your information?

how about google?

Your ISP?

your smart tv?

your gadgets?

You raise a reasonable point, one voiced by Scott McNealy (Founder of Sun Microsystems and current venture capitalist) in 1999: You have no privacy; get over it. Much worse than what you mentioned:

• Your carrier knows the location of your phone all the time, even if you turn off location services, because it can triangulate from the towers that receive your phone’s periodic “I’m here” ping. They are required by law to do this to support E911. They upload this information to databases where your location and whereabouts are known to law enforcement and any business that cares to know where you are.
• License plate scanners are ubiquitous, in police vehicles and repo trucks. And also along limited access highways, toll roads, bridges and tunnels. And every time your plate is scanned it goes into a location database.
• Electronic toll tags are obviously used every time you use a toll facility, but transponders are located everywhere along highways for traffic control. Have you see signs that display how long it will take to get to an upcoming milepost? Where do you think they get that information?
• Do you use public Wi-Fi, your cable provider’s hotspots or the “free” convenient Wi-Fi networks in malls and stores? Did you think that your location wasn’t tracked by those?
• See those cameras in stores, malls and other public places? Have you heard about facial recognition?
• Did you ever post your picture in Shutterfly?
• Did you ever use Avast?
• Do you have a Transit Pass account?
• Do you use an urban bicycle rental like New York’s CitiBike? Have you noticed that your usage history shows the location and time you picked up the bike and likewise when you dropped it off?
• Do you use credit cards in stores? Did you know that the location where you use a card is recorded in a worldwide central database, ostensibly to detect card fraud through what’s called a “velocity check” (AKA as the “superman test”)?
• Have you heard of iBeacon? It’s a feature that tracks and reports the location of any device that has Bluetooth enabled on a device.
• What about Find My iPhone, which always knows where your phone is? And its feature added in iOS 12 that uses the Bluetooth signals from other phones to anonymously crowdsource the location of a missing phone? Even when the phone is powered off?

Apple is about the only business in the world that does NOT track you.