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Apple Temporarily Disables Walkie-Talkie App for Apple Watch Due to Eavesdropping Vulnerability

akash.nu said:
I don’t know anyone who actually uses this feature. Tried with a colleague once & it failed. Never tried again.
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Ditto! Tried it once and we couldn't get it to work, never tried it again. Easier to just pick up the phone and call or text.
 
smileman said:
Dear Apple,

For those of us who don't use Walkie Talkie (or some of the other built-in apps) please give us the option to disable/delete them.

Having an extra app on any device that one is not using just creates a potential additional security hole + takes up storage space.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

We can now do this in WatchOS 6 beta!
 
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where is it said:
Is Apple becoming the new Microsoft of old? Bug ridden software, slowly being hacked away. Even the official statement contradicts itself. What is going on over there?
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Nothing serious is going here. Daily programming jargon as usual. I don’t know what you are expecting here. Wait, ahh, yeah, average user. So it is understandable that they cannot relate. Makes sense.
tomnavratil said:
Toxic comments as usual. This is a standard process when a critical bug is found. No company is bug-free even if you have a robust QA process in place. Anybody who worked in a bit more complex software development can relate to this, often you find bugs that could have been in the code for years.
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Well said. Better than hiding it until critical damage is done, or even cover and spin the damage to avoid responsibility after critical damage.
Marekul said:
imo yes.


It is not a good thing when you have critical vulnerabilities in your software. Password-less root login, Facetime eavesdropping, keychain "keysteal" exploit, walkie talkie eavesdropping, so many more, and still no bug bounty program for MacOS. How you could spin this as something good is beyond me
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Yes, it is not a good thing. What would you do in this exact scenario? Would you delay releasing software until all bugs are fixed or release the software as scheduled and fix bugs down the road as more people using the software? I believe most developers will choose the later option.
smileman said:
Dear Apple,

For those of us who don't use Walkie Talkie (or some of the other built-in apps) please give us the option to disable/delete them.

Having an extra app on any device that one is not using just creates a potential additional security hole + takes up storage space.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
watchOS 6 allows user to delete some built in apps. Hope walkie-talkie is delete-able.
 
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dz5b609 said:
Because the reason you learn about these vulnerabilities is that Apple actually gives a **** and takes immediate measures while most other companies just ignore vulnerabilities (and the tip givers) until a journalist comes around and makes it a big story. Or worse try to make a solution while keeping the vulnerability up because they want to avoid bad press.
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That is just wrong. Most reputable companies have established vulnerability disclosure programs, processes, bug bounties and do not ignore vulnerabilities.
 
Another fun one, use walkie-talkie while listening to music on your iPhone. Let the hilarity ensue.*


*It doesn’t always trip up but because it is a bug it does happen now on then.
 
How does Walkie Talkie work?
Does it use your iPhone to send a message via cellular (for non-cellular watches at least)?
Or is it a Wi-Fi only feature?
 
EldonChew said:
Oh I see

Can Apple stop an iOS/watchOS/macOS app from completely launching one fine day?

I remember reading something along the line a while back but can't confirm
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Highly unlikely, they could only block services from working if needed like this situation and the FaceTime bug months back.
 
bobob said:
Yes, that is correct.

After the bug was identified, Apple disabled the feature until it is fixed.

That is awesome security in a world increasing vulnerable to sophisticated hacking.
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It is not "sophisticated hacking" when you can break security with a bit of user interface abuse.
It is also not "awesome security" considering there has already been a similar bug with FaceTime. Seems like they don't fix bugs at the core and don't learn lessons form previous mistakes.
 
Icaras said:
Of course I’d miss it. I love walkie-talkie as it’s a quick and easy way to get in touch with someone super fast when you want immediate feedback without having to make a phone call. For example, my girlfriend and I use it all the time when we’re shopping at the mall
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Really? How can you both hear the sound coming from the watch with all the racket in a busy mall? Unless both of you have bluetooth headphones/AirPods on all the time.
 
Shirasaki said:
Yes, it is not a good thing. What would you do in this exact scenario? Would you delay releasing software until all bugs are fixed or release the software as scheduled and fix bugs down the road as more people using the software? I believe most developers will choose the later option.
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The issue is not how they handled this incident, but that it happened again.
 
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And in some parallel, distorted universe,

"Apple releases technology preview of WatchOS 6.0 with additional bugs insertion, significant performance regression, and more"
 
I’ve been trying to get it to work since the new watches (lte) came out; won’t work. Acts like each device sends the info but neither receives it.
 
Marekul said:
The issue is not how they handled this incident, but that it happened again.
Click to expand...
And I guarantee you, another such incident will happen again in the future, just switch to a different app/OS.
[doublepost=1562836734][/doublepost]
Marekul said:
That is just wrong. Most reputable companies have established vulnerability disclosure programs, processes, bug bounties and do not ignore vulnerabilities.
Click to expand...
At least Apple does not ignore vulnerabilities this time. And I am pretty sure Apple is still a reputable company as of today. What is your argument? Oh, Apple does not pay millions to critical system bugs found by people outside Apple. Got it.
 
kildraik said:
I’ve honestly never used the feature. None of friends or peers use it either. Is anybody else not missing this?
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Me and my wife use it from time to time. It’s better than a text or a phone call when you need something fast since it grabs your attention.
 
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Manatlt said:
Really? How can you both hear the sound coming from the watch with all the racket in a busy mall? Unless both of you have bluetooth headphones/AirPods on all the time.
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Yea I didn’t even mention the Airpods! Walkie talkie is an even better user experience with it, but I also find the Series 4 speakers to be the best quality the Watch has ever had. It’s quite loud and if you hear the WT notification chime (or feel the haptic tap), it gives you a second for you to bring the watch closer to your ear to hear better. I mean, WT is going to be useless at a concert or night club of course but I find it audible at a shopping area.
 
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where is it said:
Is Apple becoming the new Microsoft of old? Bug ridden software, slowly being hacked away. Even the official statement contradicts itself. What is going on over there?
Click to expand...

I think it's a combination of Apple's scale becoming so big that it's impossible to manage flawlessly, combined with software always having bugs (I say this as a software developer) and most importantly people forgetting that Apple products always had issues and it's super easy to look back through rose-tinted glasses.
 
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Shirasaki said:
And I guarantee you, another such incident will happen again in the future, just switch to a different app/OS.
[doublepost=1562836734][/doublepost]
At least Apple does not ignore vulnerabilities this time. And I am pretty sure Apple is still a reputable company as of today. What is your argument? Oh, Apple does not pay millions to critical system bugs found by people outside Apple. Got it.
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It's just irritating, apple has huge eavesdropping security flaw again and then people here start praising them for their "awesome security"....
My argument is if apple had ”awesome security" they wouldn't have huge vulnerabilities resurfacing on other devices months after they have supposedly fixed it. And they would have a bug bounty program going to leverage crowdsourced security. Apple paying millions to researchers who find critical system bugs - yes, that is how bug bounty programs work... why do you have an issue with that? it's a win win.
 
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Marekul said:
It's just irritating, apple has huge eavesdropping security flaw again and then people here start praising them for their "awesome security"....
My argument is if apple had ”awesome security" they wouldn't have huge vulnerabilities resurfacing on other devices months after they have supposedly fixed it. And they would have a bug bounty program going to leverage crowdsourced security. Apple paying millions to researchers who find critical system bugs - yes, that is how bug bounty programs work... why do you have an issue with that? it's a win win.
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I definitely do not have an issue with bug bounty program to find bugs before foreign governments and advanced hackers.
Regarding your argument, blame marketing as this is the nature for marketing team to spread lies so that people will buy their flawed-by-design products. Apple just does not lie hard enough, yet.
 
tomnavratil said:
Toxic comments as usual. This is a standard process when a critical bug is found. No company is bug-free even if you have a robust QA process in place. Anybody who worked in a bit more complex software development can relate to this, often you find bugs that could have been in the code for years.
Click to expand...
True, but often not without good reason. Large companies are truly excellent at spinning things. Apple have a military grade marketing department and they are especially adept here.
So with only what is in this article available to me I'll make the following observation, instead of making the statement, "We were just made aware", which is down to interpretation as time is relative, they should have said, "Last week, (or whenever it was), we were first made aware......"

That is how to be truly open and honest. Own worst enemy.
 
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