Q: iphone 5, redirects from safari links to app store

Shoeguy wrote:

 

The Seattle Times seems to be the worst offender and their webmaster directed me to this discussion. There is nothing the Times can do

The problem is either an issue with the Seattle Times site - in which case their webmaster is yanking you around, because they certainly do have control over their advertising and could do something about it - or it's a problem with your network, like a hacked wireless router, causing ads to be injected in the page.

II'm not a power user, but I have reset the password on my AirPort router, and leave the rest of it up to DishNet. I have been told that hacking satellite internet is fairly difficult. Also I should mention that, while the majority of the re-directs are from the Seattle Times site, they are not the only company's we page that redirects to the App Store. Also, using the same setup, my MacBook Air never does this redirect dance.

Shoeguy wrote:

 

II'm not a power user, but I have reset the password on my AirPort router, and leave the rest of it up to DishNet. I have been told that hacking satellite internet is fairly difficult.

Depending on the modem you are provided by DishNet, hacking it may be a completely trivial thing done easily by a botnet that finds your device after port scanning your IP address. Your AirPort router should be fine, but if your DishNet device gets hacked, a password change won't be sufficient to fix the problem.

Also I should mention that, while the majority of the re-directs are from the Seattle Times site, they are not the only company's we page that redirects to the App Store.

I never said that other sites don't use these unethical advertising techniques. They do. When they do, that's a signal that the site should be avoided.

Also, using the same setup, my MacBook Air never does this redirect dance.

That's because sites can tell the difference between an iOS device and other devices, and will serve up ads that target iOS devices when loaded on those devices. In fact, some sites display completely different pages on iOS (and other mobile systems) than on traditional computers.

Thanks for the explanation, but I don't think I can do anything about it from here. Every time I look into the settings on the satellite router I run away screaming. It does seem Apple could put a radio button that would turn off redirecting from web pages to the AppStore.

This just started happening to me and it happens only on Drudgereport.com, a very common website. I doubt that Drudge put this on his site, since it makes it impossible for me to read his site. There must be some way to stop this. It doesn't happen on my pc. Only on my Iphone.

That's an awful lot of sites that are at fault, then. Even if Apple was not at fault, it would still be nice if they could see what they could do.

And why didn't this occur when I had my iPhone 4? This has only begun happening when I got my iPhone 5s.

Same problem here. No thomas it's not my router, thanks for asking

MMy iPad has been redirecting Safari to the App Store page that is selling some silly game for at least six months. It is obvious to me from seeing that almost thirty thousand apple customers have accessed this thread. The only fix I can think of is for Apple to kick those offending apps out of the store. That would stop this annoying practice quick.

• So, if a thief breaks a window to enter your house, does that mean that there is something wrong with a window as a feature?

It means you get a better window with a more secure frame, or you do something else to make your facility secure.

• If a pickpocket picks your pocket, should you stop wearing pants with pockets?

No, you don't stop wearing pants with pockets, but whether you buy a chain, move it to your front pocket, or you do something else, you protect your wallet.

If you're an Apple rep I believe that you are seriously discounting your customers and showing a great deal of disrespect. If you are not an Apple employee or contractor, you should consider refraining from discounting those of us - myself included - that are having a problem caused by inferior security. I just upgraded to 8.1.2, my Iphone 5, 32 gb, is NOT jailbroken, all of my apps are up to date, and I still have these issues. Could it / is it a problem with websites? Most likely it is. Most likely it is advertising that is linked, not hosted by those sites. Is it Apple's fault? No. Is it Apple's problem? Yes. Thousands of their customers seem to be having the same issue and an intermittent release should include a way to disable redirect scripts that link to the App store. It might make browsing milliseconds slower, but it could be done with a simple sniffer.

If this was a problem with MS Windows most of the crowd would be crucifying the Redmond folks. It's time Apple RE-steps up to the plate to satisfy it's customers and shareholders instead of just telling us what we want and should buy. This may be my first post, but that's probably because like many others, I have a technical background (started with Novell certifications and have moved to CCIE) and have not needed to look or respond here for answers.

The problem IS a problem and Apple SHOULD fix it for Apple products.  If it is easy enough for people to hijack our ability to use Safari, then Apple should fix that ability to hijack us to the App Store - or ANY other place.

My hijack doesn't happen on Facebook. It happens in EVERY Safari page I am on now.  To me that says it is malware in my iPad. I can't use Safari at all now.  If it is, in actuality, in my modem software, then there should be a fix for that. Someone should know SOMETHING.

Thanks Marc for the support and smart answer.

I think you are one of the brightest people on the forum and have read your many posts over the years, but I think you are wrong on this one…not that I am bright or understand anything much about Apple, Apps, and web sites and how they work.  What I can say is that the problem is only with the iPhone or the iPad.  It doesn't occur on the iMacPro or the iMac. So that makes it some sort of a bug or virus or whatever you want to call it targeting the two products.

I watch the url's showing up on the redirection and it appears that it is going through SEVERAL different places to be redirected.  Even a UK address shows up. All those could be fake.  My girlfriend when she visited had the same problem.  My brother when he visited had the same problem (all after I posted earlier). It doesn't happen on ONE particular site. It happens, now, on every site. I can't get my Safari to do anything other than redirect me every time I open it. I don't even have to try and find a site…it opens and the redirect starts. So it has rendered my use of Safari on the iPhone USELESS. To me that is now an Apple problem as their product cannot function.

As soon as my guests left here the problem left.  My brother believes that my particular problem is within the Frontier internet delivery service.  I, of course, never quite understood what he was saying, but it had something to do with Frontier having a bug or redirect trojan of sorts get in from their third party interface….whatever you call it. Another place that they use for routing.  Not in the phone and not in the iPad, but in the routing process that only attacks phones and iPads.

I called Frontier and they were useless, too.  I don't think most of their "helper bee's" know anything other than to read their script. He did not understand in the slightest what the problem was, and had no clue on where to look within their system.

As far as I am concerned, Apple should do more to find out why this is happening. They have the resources and they have the intelligence in their workers.  As soon as one of the big wigs over there start having this problem with THEIR iPhone and THEY can't use Safari EVER then perhaps they WILL do something. It's only going to get worse and honestly - if you can't use the iPhone or iPad for their intended use, then why have them?

As a follow up I just tried something on my iPhone….I turned off the Wi-Fi and used the cell service to go to a web page in Safari.  As soon as I did that the redirect page popped up for just a second as it had been on the phone…then it disappeared and the web site I wanted to use was there, and it hasn't redirected me since that time.

That makes me believe I am right in that it isn't in the phone and it isn't in the web sites.  It is in the Wi-Fi system and in my case it is Frontier and whatever system they have to bring me internet.

I think others should try this, too, and see if it works.  If so, it means that the internet providers are using some of the same people along the internet line and they should help clean this mess up!

Cassie Cookie wrote:

 

What I can say is that the problem is only with the iPhone or the iPad.  It doesn't occur on the iMacPro or the iMac.

Well, of course! There's not much point in trying to redirect anything other than an iOS device to the iOS store. Remember, a web page you load can tell what browser and OS you are using, and can adjust its display accordingly.

In any case, though, it sounds like you've already determined that the problem is an issue with your network, and not with the devices. See:

http://www.adwaremedic.com/kb/hackedrouter.php

(Fair disclosure: I may receive compensation from links to my sites, TheSafeMac.com and AdwareMedic.com.)

All this happens when your router is infected by The Moon Worm.  Its time to get a new router and please throw away the old wireless routers for all the big companies wants you to buy new routers for they dont have a solution to this problem.  The big companies like LInksys, DLink, Netgear they want you to keep on buying and updating.

Search for the Moon Worm and you will come to know...all your devices will work fine when you switch to cellular data network ...as soon as you connect to wifi...boom....ur safari, your apps and your appstore will go nuts....Suprisingly Apple is also involved.....

Just imagine Apple, Linksys, Dlink, Cisco, Android, Microsoft and big IT companies sitting on a table and had decided to screw everybody for more money......

https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1435362

It is not necessary to throw away your router over this issue. Even if it's no longer supported by the manufacturer, you can probably fix it by installing third-party router firmware (such as DD-WRT) on the router. Contact the router manufacturer (or your internet service provider, if the router is theirs) for help fixing the problem.

Not sure what you're talking about with regard to Apple being "involved." Apple's routers actually don't get infected by the Moon worm, and have yet to be affected by any of the numerous other router-specific hacks and malware going around. If you're implying that Apple and the other big companies you mentioned are involved in causing the Moon worm or other router hacks, that's pretty silly.