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Allow Me to Disable Game Center

Why did Apple change the Terms of Use for Game Center to make it re-enable every time I play a Game Center game? I've disabled it because I don't want to share that info with anyone. I'm not playing to "network" with anyone. Why do I HAVE to share my gaming info via game center? I don't want to share it. I am just playing for myself. How often I play Angry Birds is my business. My scores are my business. Really, Apple. Change this back for iOS6.1. Please. What were they thinking?

iPhone 4, iOS 6

Posted on Sep 27, 2012 9:19 PM

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Posted on Sep 30, 2012 2:41 PM

I agree, and to me this is the straw that has broken the camel's back. Why Apple insist on ruining an excellent product with arrogant and frustrating features that can not be disabled beggars belief. Their arrogance would be tolerable if their decisions were good ones, but they are NOT.


I have no interest in game center whatsoever, yet my gaming experience is being negatively impacted every time I open a game (even those I PAID FOR) by some 12-year old 'genius' that thinks all I care about in life is comparing my scores with other people's.


We all know the solution, until now I've resisted it, but it's time I BUSTED OUT.

26 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Sep 30, 2012 2:41 PM in response to lildebweb

I agree, and to me this is the straw that has broken the camel's back. Why Apple insist on ruining an excellent product with arrogant and frustrating features that can not be disabled beggars belief. Their arrogance would be tolerable if their decisions were good ones, but they are NOT.


I have no interest in game center whatsoever, yet my gaming experience is being negatively impacted every time I open a game (even those I PAID FOR) by some 12-year old 'genius' that thinks all I care about in life is comparing my scores with other people's.


We all know the solution, until now I've resisted it, but it's time I BUSTED OUT.

Oct 2, 2012 8:15 AM in response to lildebweb

Completely ridiculous and horribly aggrevating. Press cancel 3 times and it goes away, but then you go through it again if you launch the same game a couple hours later. This is the worst type of spam, because we are trapped if we want to enjoy any of the titles offered on iOS (and yes Apple... forcing your garbage in the users face hoping they break down from annoyance IS spam). This is the casual game market... I have no interest in or intention to compare myself and my fieldrunner results to anyone else in the world. I cant think of a reason they would do this aside from game center notnbeing as widely adopted as they hoped... doesnt that just indicate its not a sought after service in the casual game market? Game center isn't even a good service and it's honestly offensive to look at. Its the ugliest application ive seen in ages which makes it that much worse when it keeps popping up. This did it for me... Apple just told us we are no longer allowed to use products we've already purchased without either a) sharing personal information or b) being pestered everytime we launch a game. I'll be dumping my ipad and ordering a surface tablet when they come out later this month... selection of games may be more limited for a while but at least i know this nonsense will never happen. Goodbye Apple... this was the straw for me.

Oct 3, 2012 1:47 AM in response to lildebweb

I was having the same issue on my iPad and think I might have found a solution. Here's what I did:

Open Game centre and sign out if it is auto signed in already.

Change username and password to something completely wrong so that it can't sign in with what is entered.

Press sign in and when it tells you it can't sign in just press cancel.

Now when you open a game app that tries to sign you into game centre it will try to use the wrong username that you entered and come up with an error message and you can just cancel it and play in peace.


I tried this with a few apps then powered off and on again and it still couldn't login. After a couple of times it then popped up with an option to disable games centre and I haven't had any problems since. Hopefully it continues to work!

Oct 5, 2012 9:26 AM in response to lildebweb

I also have the same issue. I want to play games but I don't want to share anything. I do feel that Apple is making the wrong choices when updating iOS (and also osx) by forcing people into changes, especially with clouds or centralization of data so I'm increasingly disappointed but I will not say anymore about that for fear my post will be deleted likes earlier one. I'm just growing increasingly disappointed when I cannot disable something so annoying as the Game Center automatic login without going through so much research work and waste so much time when I'm using a product which is great but not cheap.


I had read somewhere outside this forum that you needed to login to Game Center and that from there you would fine a way to make it stop asking to login. So I went there and found that the names of my games were actually added in there. When I went to delete the entry I found I had to be quite cautious because what next looked like a confirmation of my action was actually asking me to confirm that I wanted to delete the application from my Device (why?! I can do that from the normal interface so easily.)


But the thing that caused the gravest concerns was the fact that in the Game Center settings an option was preset to share my game information including my name. So I disable all options.


But even after all that I kept being prompted.


Later on when I loaded my game and was asked to login again (I was so disappointed), I clicked Cancel and it gave me an option to disable but it sounds as though (above) that this is not permanent either. I guess I will find out but I'm still highly disappointed in Apple for putting features preset like this with no obvious ways to turn them off.

Oct 11, 2012 11:20 PM in response to lildebweb

Yes there is three new things that apple has seriously messed up on.

1. The constant popping up of Game Center which is ridiculous.

2. The deleting of YouTube which is outrageous because that was the number one used app for me and everyone I know and a lot of people will be switching phones and tablets now because of this.

3. They switched the connection at the bottom of the iPhone 5. And it is now impossible to order the adapter. I am now going without music on my dock and in my vehicle. This is by far the worst thought out idea of apple. I have had every I phone since they came out. But after this. I will be switching to Samsung galaxy.

Step your game up apple seriously. Losing many loyal customers.

Oct 15, 2012 10:29 AM in response to MzIan

Thanks. I found that solution in another discussion. I also opened the Game Center app and changed my email account name to something invalid (which is not suitable for general audiences but starts with "f" and ends with "apple"). After canceling the verification three times, it allowed me to disable the account. I have not been bothered since. ...Until the next OS update...

Oct 15, 2012 2:42 PM in response to MzIan

I went and did that. I had previously the 'open 3 times, disable' routine and had not had the pop up in several days. After changing the settings you said and nothing else, the next time I opened my game I got the little box that said 'welcome back to the game center' which I thought was strange because I made absolutely sure to logout of Game Center and kill the app the last time I had the pop up...


It's the 2nd time that after doing settings changes related to the Game Center, I find myself with that welcome screen after opening a game. First time I thought I must have done something wrong or missed something. BUT THIS TIME I know for a fact I had logged out of Game Center and had never gone back in. Had only changed the settings as you suggest.


So does that mean that this is set up in such a way that you automatically get relogged in given certain conditions. That seems kind of crazy borderline fraudulent and totally a security hole if not simply a door wide open and with a big flashing neon sign that says: "Hackers Enter HERE"


I'm amazed that Apple did this. It reminds me of certain things that ran in the background in windows that sucked up all your resources. Or Adobe with incessant update popups in windows and osx that you can never get rid of short of removing the adobe software. But at least you can remove it if you don't like it, unlike Game Center.

Oct 15, 2012 2:50 PM in response to GinoMolino

Tried to reproduce the problem but could not so I have no idea on how I was relogged in to GC. Unless another authentication I did somewhere (such as installing an app) logged me in to GC at the same time. If anyone else noticed something similar pls let me know. But I know I had not gone to Game Center and logged in or logged in at any GC screen presented to me. I know. Sounds crazy. Totally! Big red flag "USER ERROR" ...!!! Like I'm saying I DID see a UFO. Or Elvis IS alive cuz I saw him at CVS getting pain killers.

Oct 18, 2012 11:57 PM in response to slothisevil

For those of you who may have agreed to the Terms of Service, there is a way to turn off your public profile.


Game Center > Me (Lower left) > Account > View Account > Public Profile > Turn Off.


When the public profile is turned off, only your friends can see your profile. Delete any friends you may have accidentally added (in the friends tab swipe across their name and unfriend) and you will be the only one who can see your profile.


Not exactly allowing you to turn off Game Center, but it gives you an option to prevent anyone from viewing your information.

Allow Me to Disable Game Center

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