Apple's iTunes, App Store, and iCloud Experiencing Issues [Update: Google DNS Problem, Now Fixed]

SJism23 said:

Someone want to explain what Google DNS is in basic terms and how people would use it? I tried searching for it but I'm still confused…

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in basic terms, it is a public DNS for resolving hostnames.
To use it, fill in 8.8.8.8 for one of the two DNS servers in network configuration.

I suggest using google dns as the first one and ISP DNS as the second one. Or do a benchmark to decide the most optimized:

https://code.google.com/p/namebench/

My ISP's kept giving us awful DNS performance. We switched to Google and OpenDNS and have had pretty much smooth success ever since.

Switches to Google DNS three months ago
Sees this on the front page
Sees it was already fixed an hour ago

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Well that was anticlimactic.

SJism23 said:

Someone want to explain what Google DNS is in basic terms and how people would use it? I tried searching for it but I'm still confused…

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DNS stands for domain name service. It resolves web URLs such as http://www.macrumors.com into IP addresses such as 66.228.59.100 that routers can understand, and forms the basis for internet communications.

The DNS run by Google (8.8.8.8) gives them your detailed web surfing history, which is very useful to index against Google web searches and the contents of your Gmail emails and Google Doc documents.

John.B said:

The DNS run by Google (8.8.8.8) gives them your detailed web surfing history, which is very useful to index against Google web searches and the contents of your Gmail emails and Google Doc documents.

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Simply not true. Google does not correlate the data with any other Google services nor does it store the data with your Google account attached.

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/faq#privacy

That would explain why I couldn't update to iOS 7.1 via iTunes and had to unsync the music on my iPhone so it would update OTA.

John.B said:

DNS stands for domain name service. It resolves web URLs such as http://www.macrumors.com into IP addresses such as 66.228.59.100 that routers can understand, and forms the basis for internet communications.

The DNS run by Google (8.8.8.8) gives them your detailed web surfing history, which is very useful to index against Google web searches and the contents of your Gmail emails and Google Doc documents.

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bozzykid said:

Simply not true. Google does not correlate the data with any other Google services nor does it store the data with your Google account attached.

https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/faq#privacy

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Pfffttt, as if John.B is going to let facts get in the way of a good ol' Google bashing!

LOL ***SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!*** WTF?!?!?!? This will stick as an 'iTunes is down' thing too, with people thinking APPLE is running servers.

WHO uses Google DNS?!?!?

AND... if you do, why would you instantly balme Apple when something DNS-related goes wrong?

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There's absolutely no reason to use Google DNS. I spend a significant amount of time BLOCKING Google on all of my devices. Yep that means no Chrome, Google, Gmail...etc.

Using Google DNS... sure it makes loading many pages faster because it speeds up GOOGLE APSs. Yay, Google can track you faster. Not only that, they can track you EVERYWHERE!!!! Even if the site has nothing to do with Google.

The BIIIIIG elephant in the room is... what further hooks is Google setting up for tracking iTunes?!?!? Quite possibly some iTunes-specific trackers that track YOUR usage at a lower level. NOT COOL!!!

My advice. IF you are using Google DNS, TURN IT OFF RIGHT NOW!!!! While you're at it install Disconnect & AdBlocker plug-ins for Firefox, Safari or Maxthon. DO NOT USE CHROME!!!

SlCKB0Y said:

Pfffttt, as if John.B is going to let facts get in the way of a good ol' Google bashing!

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He DID get his facts straight, read the link. It says:

'Google Public DNS complies with Google's main privacy policy, which you can view at our Privacy Center. With Google Public DNS, we collect IP address (only temporarily) and ISP and location information (in permanent logs) for the purpose of making our service faster, better and more secure. Specifically, we use this data to conduct debugging and to analyze abuse phenomena. After 24 hours, we erase any IP information. For more information, read the Google Public DNS privacy page.'

Summary:
- Google does collect usage data, it's part of their privacy.
- ISP and ***LOCATION*** data are kept forever. i.e. they know where you live AND connect that with what you do.
- IPs are deleted every 24 hours because they are mostly usless after that time.

djgamble said:

He DID get his facts straight, read the link. It says:

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The one that has to read the link is you because this is what every ****ing DNS server does.

But don't let reality break your alternate world.

Oletros said:

The one that has to read the link is you because this is what every ****ing DNS server does.

But don't let reality break your alternate world.

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let them live in their fantasy world where steve jobs, tim cook and apple are gods and everyone else is satan

Oletros said:

The one that has to read the link is you because this is what every ****ing DNS server does.

But don't let reality break your alternate world.

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Back up your condecending bollocks with facts mate.

1) Tell me WHY having an extra computer in between your ISP and every web address would be useful in any way.
2) Prove to me (against what Google has already said in the quote I provided) that Google doesn't use any of this data for targetted ads.

Google aren't any worse than Apple's ad services. My only point is that that they will use usage data for their benefit. That's their business. If you have no technical reason for putting their DNS server in te middle as a 3rd man for every request, why would you volunteer todo it? As I said... all it will do is speed up Google's tracking APIs. Which sure... makes SOME sites faster. As does blocking these APIs.

djgamble said:

Back up your condecending bollocks with facts mate.

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The link are the facts, not what you have understood of them

Oletros said:

The link are the facts, not what you have understood of them

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Show me a quote from it that backs up your understanding then. That or some technical understanding (like I've done) rather than childish chortling of BS.

Also prove there's a logical reason why you'd use their DNS. If anything I'd want to use a DNS because it blocked ads rather than opening the door for them furture. 'Google it' if you must use their search engine. There are significant technical reasons as to why you would NOT connect with Google's APIs/let them track you.

People often use ad blocking DNS'... businesses pay big money for it. Kids who think they are tweaking their connection/being techie use a Google one. I use my ISP's and block connections to tracking APIs because it's FASTER and uses less bandwidth.

Logic - why would Google offer a DNS for 'free' if there was no benefit? Why do they offer a free AndroidOS? Free search engine? Because data is their GOLD!! They make money off data mining.

djgamble said:

Show me a quote from it that backs up your understanding then. That or some technical understanding (like I've done) rather than childish chortling of BS.

Also prove there's a logical reason why you'd use their DNS. If anything I'd want to use a DNS because it blocked ads rather than opening the door for them furture. 'Google it' if you must use their search engine. There are significant technical reasons as to why you would NOT connect with Google's APIs/let them track you.

People often use ad blocking DNS'... businesses pay big money for it. Kids who think they are tweaking their connection/being techie use a Google one. I use my ISP's and block connections to tracking APIs because it's FASTER and uses less bandwidth.

Logic - why would Google offer a DNS for 'free' if there was no benefit? Why do they offer a free AndroidOS? Free search engine? Because data is their GOLD!! They make money off data mining.

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I repeat, learn what a DNS system is, learn what DNS providers log, re read what Google privacy says because that link clearly states that they can't use that data for advertising.

But as it is clear that you don't want to lear, have a good day

Revenge?

Perhaps Google was retaliating. I had a message from a gmail user which was bounced as spam by icloud.com (courtesy of Spamhaus) because it came from 209.85.216.175 which is a Google IP.

Ah, Google DNS. For people who are worried that maybe Google might not have some bit of their online history in their records.

(I kid, I kid...)

How can you change the DNS. I have this problem and cannot upload anything from my iTunes match. I see everyones problem is fixed by mines is still happening


help.

lionellg said:

How can you change the DNS. I have this problem and cannot upload anything from my iTunes match. I see everyones problem is fixed by mines is still happening


help.

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You need to get into the admin settings of your router and define or change which DNS IP's you wish to use.

SandboxGeneral said:

You need to get into the admin settings of your router and define or change which DNS IP's you wish to use.

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whats a good DNS to use.

lionellg said:

whats a good DNS to use.

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OpenDNS
Google DNS

djgamble said:

1) Tell me WHY having an extra computer in between your ISP and every web address would be useful in any way.

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Clearly you have no clue what a DNS server is or what functions it performs. And if you think your ISP is outperforming Google DNS or OpenDNS I would be pretty surprised as most results show US ISP's DNS servers perform pretty bad on average.

djgamble said:

He DID get his facts straight, read the link. It says:
.....
Summary:
- Google does collect usage data, it's part of their privacy.
- ISP and ***LOCATION*** data are kept forever. i.e. they know where you live AND connect that with what you do.
- IPs are deleted every 24 hours because they are mostly usless after that time.

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Yea, except I was taking issue with this statement he made which is clearly untrue

John.B said:

which is very useful to index against Google web searches and the contents of your Gmail emails and Google Doc documents.

Click to expand...

Oletros said:

I repeat, learn what a DNS system is, learn what DNS providers log, re read what Google privacy says because that link clearly states that they can't use that data for advertising.

But as it is clear that you don't want to lear, have a good day

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Dude I'm trying to help you out in understanding things here. The DNS and 'privacy policy' are not rocket science. If you must know, I have my own DNS server at home. It filters my web feed so that domains that host ads/tracking devices (e.g. Google Analytics) loop back to 0.0.0.0. Ads do not appear on ANY of my devices at home. Web pages load faster than they would with the Google DNS.

1) All good to say that I have no idea... not sure why you assume that based on my posts (given I've tried to simplify the workings of a DNS for you). I repeat... a DNS is a guy in the middle who turns 'www.macrumors.com' into an IP address. Google DNS loads a LOT of sites quicker because they rely on multiple references to Google APIs, Google Analytics...etc. Hence... the page appears to load quicker (because Google ads + analytics are performed quicker on Google's local DNS server).

As I stated... if you don't want your ISP to change domain names into IPs then why tunnel everything through a renowned advertising/data mining company. As stated by Google, they will permanently store all of your location data gained through their DNS server. ALL their privacy statement says is that this won't be matched up with your IP. BUT they can and will match up your home address (provided by your ISP) with the sites you visit and store it forever.

2) Again I have no issues with you saying I don't know Google's privacy policy BUT... I quoted directly off it with points that proved my viewpoint on the matter. I will repeat... all they delete is IPs. The rest will be saved and could be used for anything. Their ONLY privacy claim is that they will not store your IP for more than 24 hours.

Using your knowledge of DNS servers can you tell me why IPs are not useful to Google after 24 hours but location data is?

Answer: location/ISP data = your hone address. The IP simply points Google to this data so once they have it they DO NOT NEED YOUR IP in order to join the dots. What's more if your ISP is like mine the IP will change ~once a day (or more). There's no real point keeping an IP because wait... wait... the whole purpose of a DNS server is so that if a site's IP changes, you'll still be able to see it!!!

A translation of Google's privacy policy is that they don't keep IPs... they just keep ISP data and location data. Whether or not they use this for evil is moot.

Why store my home address connected with the sites I visit indefinitely? Google suggest that this is mostly to prevent mischievous behaviour/hacking. They WILL however directly use the google analytics data (which you can't block if Google are your DNS) for tracking. I would suggest that the DNS data is also used for tracking/bubbling... what's clear is that they keep it forever. Even if you 100% trust the current privacy policy, what if it changed tomorrow? I'm glad they'd know your address and not mine...

PS - Whether Google Analytics gets your data directly or collaborates with Google DNS in data mining is moot.

Google resolves the names of their analytics servers, so stops you from killing them before your data reaches Google Analytics (unlike my home DNS rig which blocks both Google AND Apple trackers). Result? Even if Google does NOTHING with the data mines full of data that it collects from Google DNS... it doesn't matter because you're leaving the door open for Google Analytics to rob that exact same data.

Don't believe me that Google Analytics tracks/bubbles you? How about we both do a Google search....

You'll get one linked with all of your most common searches. You'll also get targeted ads.

I'll get no ads (although advertisers will still be charged) and my search will be based entirely on my query rather than any other search I've done. This is without being logged into a Google account by the way...

Where do you propose that they got your data from in order to do this?

djgamble said:

Summary:
- Google does collect usage data, it's part of their privacy.
- ISP and ***LOCATION*** data are kept forever. i.e. they know where you live AND connect that with what you do.
- IPs are deleted every 24 hours because they are mostly usless after that time.

Click to expand...

And because it is Google, and they are not at all in a business where knowing everything about their customer is essential, we believe every word they say. Unlike Apple, who would sell that information to the NSA immediately.