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Uninstall FaceTime Mac Beta

What is the process to uninstall/remove the Mac FaceTime Beta?

The installer package doesn't seem to offer an uninstall, and deleting the FaceTime app bundle doesn't do it either. There is a process tied to the FT bundle too (apsd-ft?).

Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Oct 21, 2010 8:46 AM

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18 replies

Oct 21, 2010 9:14 AM in response to d33t33

And ... since FaceTime isn't installed by dragging the app bundle into the Applications folder but has an install package, I am sure there are other files outside the FaceTime app folder and Application Support folder that get created or updated. I would want to delete or update those files as necessary as part of removing FaceTime.

Oct 21, 2010 10:40 AM in response to kmillecam

That process didn't work for me. I signed out of FaceTime, rebooted, and after rebooting it still says "operation can't be completed because FaceTime is in use" when I try to empty the trash.

I just did a reinstall of FaceTime while running fs_usage piped to a file ... so I will look through that resultant file to see which files it touches (but it a LARGE file!).

Oct 21, 2010 12:10 PM in response to d33t33

FaceTime comes with two resident running services but both are placed in the FaceTime.app
/Applications/FaceTime.app/Contents/PrivateFrameworks/IMCore.framework/imagent.a pp/Contents/MacOS/imagent
/Applications/FaceTime.app/Contents/Frameworks/ApplePushService.framework/apsd-f t

To remove complete the App open a Terminal and type in:
sudo rm -rf /Applications/FaceTime.app
rm /Users/[YOURUSERNAME]/Library/Preferences/com.apple.FaceTime.plist
rm -rf /Users/[YOURUSERNAME]/Library/Caches/com.apple.FaceTime

That's all ... otherwise TrashMe will do the job for you as too
Restart your lovely Mac... done

Oct 22, 2010 7:10 PM in response to d33t33

For those interested in such things, the apsd-ft process phones home to an Apple server whenever your Mac gets a new IP address on its LAN interface. Thus, Apple is probably collecting your WAN IP address as you and your laptop moves from place to place. (they need to know your IP address so they can initiate a FaceTime call to your Mac).

If they're clever, they will also collect the SSIDs and MAC addresses of all the WiFi access points visible to your Mac (if you have wireless). In conjunction with Skyhook, or their own geo-location database, they'll know where you are whenever your FaceTime-equipped Mac is turned on.

In the hour since installing FT, I've seen connections from apsd-ft to:
34-courier.push.apple.com
24.courier-push-apple.com.akadns.net
28-courier.push.apple.com
13-courier.push.apple.com
47-courier.push.apple.com
29-courier.push.apple.com
and several more.

Oct 23, 2010 2:08 PM in response to D.R.C.

D.R.C. wrote:
For those interested in such things, the apsd-ft process phones home to an Apple server whenever your Mac gets a new IP address on its LAN interface. Thus, Apple is probably collecting your WAN IP address as you and your laptop moves from place to place. (they need to know your IP address so they can initiate a FaceTime call to your Mac).


Just to be clear, having your WAN IP address would not, in most real-world situations, get an outside server directly back to you. The system has to leave the apsd-ft connection open.

If they're clever, they will also collect the SSIDs and MAC addresses of all the WiFi access points visible to your Mac (if you have wireless). In conjunction with Skyhook, or their own geo-location database, they'll know where you are whenever your FaceTime-equipped Mac is turned on.


Isn't this already done by CoreLocation on Macs with or without FaceTime installed? I'm not sure what privacy controls are included for CoreLocation, but "locationd" on my MacBook Pro under SL talks out all the time. I don't think that there's a FaceTime specific privacy issue here above and beyond the ones already in OS/X.

Oct 23, 2010 3:13 PM in response to weisen

weisen wrote:

Just to be clear, having your WAN IP address would not, in most real-world situations, get an outside server directly back to you. The system has to leave the apsd-ft connection open.


Strictly speaking, the TCP connection doesn't have to stay open. At minimum, the Mac only needs to make a connection often enough to keep the NAT mapping alive in your NAT router. This has been a standard trick in the VoIP world for years, using STUN servers and other mechanisms to permit a WAN connection back to the host through a previously-established NAT mapping.



weisen wrote:
Isn't this already done by CoreLocation on Macs with or without FaceTime installed? I'm not sure what privacy controls are included for CoreLocation, but "locationd" on my MacBook Pro under SL talks out all the time. I don't think that there's a FaceTime specific privacy issue here above and beyond the ones already in OS/X.


You're probably right. I've never sniffed the locationd traffic. It's entirely plausible that Apple/locationd has been collecting data about who we are, what IP we have, what WiFi is nearby, what programs we're running, what shows we're watching, what snack foods we're eating...

Still, I think it's notable that FT installed yet another process that persists in the background.

Uninstall FaceTime Mac Beta

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