Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Now Encrypts Titles of Voice Memos Stored in iCloud on iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma for Added Privacy

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
67,771
38,338


Starting on iOS 17, iPadOS 17, and macOS Sonoma, Apple encrypts the titles of Voice Memos stored in iCloud, in addition to the recordings themselves.

Voice-Memos-General-Feature.jpg

As a result of this change, Apple says the titles of existing Voice Memos might only show the date and time of the recording on devices running older software versions.

Apple explains in a new support document:
Because of this additional encryption, when you update one of your Apple devices to iOS 17, iPadOS 17, or macOS Sonoma, your devices that you haven't yet updated—with older versions of Voice Memos—may display the date and time of the recording (for example, "2023-08-11T07:53:31Z") as the title, rather than the previous title of the recording.
Click to expand...
Apple already encrypted Voice Memos recordings in transit and stores them in an encrypted format, according to the support document.

Article Link: Apple Now Encrypts Titles of Voice Memos Stored in iCloud on iOS 17 and macOS Sonoma for Added Privacy
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/09/19/apple-voice-memos-titles-encryption/
  • Like
Reactions: Pinkyyy 💜🍎
nice. it's funny that one of the main reasons why I'm getting an iphone (which i'll keep, hopefully) is the lack of a proper voice recorder that syncs between devices and platform.lol
 
This is a good example of the complexities of developing software updates while also having them elegantly stay compatible with older versions of said software.

Was there user demand for this level of encryption, I wonder? Even if the title was viewable, the recording would not have been, so what was the concern prior to this?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pinkyyy 💜🍎
coolfactor said:
This is a good example of the complexities of developing software updates while also having them elegantly stay compatible with older versions of said software.

Was there user demand for this level of encryption, I wonder? Even if the title was viewable, the recording would not have been, so what was the concern prior to this?
Click to expand...
I don't know if there was a demand for encrypted filenames but it really completes the process. For the majority of people it's not an issue but for a journalist it may be a very big deal. If I made a recording titled "dissident tells all" it might be better for that not to be in the clear if that journalist's backup is picked up by the government.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pinkyyy 💜🍎
Hm, it should have been mentioned in the iCloud Security support article that the titles of voice memos were previously not encrypted (in the metadata encryption section). I hope there aren't other errors in this document ...

iCloud data security overview - Apple Support

iCloud uses strong security methods, employs strict policies to protect your information, and leads the industry in using privacy-preserving security technologies like end-to-end encryption for your data.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pinkyyy 💜🍎
Rigby said:
Hm, it should have been mentioned in the iCloud Security support article that the titles of voice memos were previously not encrypted (in the metadata encryption section). I hope there aren't other errors in this document ...

iCloud data security overview - Apple Support

iCloud uses strong security methods, employs strict policies to protect your information, and leads the industry in using privacy-preserving security technologies like end-to-end encryption for your data.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
Click to expand...
No, this kind of slip up happens all the time. They initially thought that encrypting the file was enough and then someone brought up that the title was in the clear and how that could be a problem so they fixed it. Sometimes it takes a while for people to see the obvious.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Pinkyyy 💜🍎
quietstormSD said:
Voice memos.... the early 2000's phone technology. I guess people still find it useful. I thought it was nice they added it to iOS, but never really used it myself.
Click to expand...
I didn’t know we can record our thought by just thinking .. ??

Yeah voice recording is still useful. What a strange thing to say …
 
More privacy is just a even bigger green flag to criminals and other nefarious gang/groups/individuals to use Apple devices because Apple is basically saying 'Come criminals one and all, use Apple devices/services because we will protect your privacy and security'.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: Jxdawg
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back