Apple exchange iPhone blocked for Snapchat
Apple allows app providers to lock certain iPhones via a persistent framework. This can become a problem with refurbished devices.
Unplugged: Apple allows app providers to block iPhones.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch)
Anyone who has taken out Apple's AppleCare+ device insurance or paid privately for a repair will still receive replacement devices for various types of defects on iPhones. These can also be refurbished hardware – even if this is highly controversial among buyers (including legally). Normally, the iPhones issued are well-functioning goods that Apple has put through their paces in advance. However, there are rare cases in which the use of refurb hardware can also have problematic consequences for software use, as Irish developer Finn Voorhees has now reported.
When the "new" device is locked
As a member of AppleCare, he had dropped his iPhone down a flight of concrete stairs. The damage – broken rear glass plus defective volume button – was to be repaired by an authorized service provider (ASP). However, for a price of 99 euros, a "brand-new replacement iPhone" was provided, as there were still scratches on the front. Voorhees was initially satisfied with the device. But after a restore and logging into all his accounts, a problem suddenly arose: The Snapchat app wouldn't let him back in. All that appeared was the error message "SS06: Device Banned" – Device banned. "That surprised me after I had no problems with another device."
As it turned out, SS06 means that Snapchat's parent company Snap Inc. has banned the device in question due to misuse or repeated violation of the Snapchat community guidelines. In addition, the device can no longer be "unbanned" once it lands on this list. It turned out that Voorhees' replacement device was a refurb model that was already in circulation. The developer then called Apple, where he was told that the company had never encountered the problem before. "After about two hours on the phone and some back and forth, they offered to replace my phone simply again. There is a chance that the new phone could have the same problem, but I accepted the offer."
The DeviceCheck framework was to blame
As it turned out, Snapchat was using a function that Apple has been offering for several years – the DeviceCheck framework, which has been available since iOS 11 and is also available on iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS and watchOS. This allows individual apps to set a total of two data bits that belong to the respective app and the respective device – and are stored in the cloud at Apple and therefore cannot be deleted by the user. This makes it possible to persistently recognize a device. It is conceivable, for example, that a developer could block devices for free trial periods that they have already completed – or ban iPhones completely from a service.
Incidentally, Snapchat itself could not and would not help Voorhees. However, there is at least a way for Apple to resolve the problem: The company controls the responsible server called "api.devicecheck.apple.com". The company could reset all the relevant data bits for refurbished devices there. "My conclusion from this whole process is an appeal to all app developers: only use DeviceCheck to check whether a request comes from an official Apple device. There is no reliable way to determine if the same person is still using the phone," Voorhees explained. Even worse, users themselves cannot currently determine whether their device is on such a "blacklist".
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