notemaker
16 days ago
I always share this post of my experience [1] whenever I hear of others encountering similar issues.
I was able to regain access to my phone and laptop eventually, but my airpods are still "someone else's" and my air tags were permanently broken (ringing a bell whenever they are moved).
As for derisking things from Apple:
- Whenever you buy apps on App Store, ask yourself whether you'd be OK buying it again if you get locked out
- Don't use icloud for email
- Don't use icloud for permanent storage (it's OK for transfer)
- Don't use safari
- Ideally don't use "Find My" - it's what locks your device to your Apple ID
- Use an external password manager like Bitwarden
[1]: https://skogsbrus.xyz/dont-put-all-your-apples-in-one-basket...
akg_67
16 days ago
Interesting read, your experience gave me some ideas to reduce dependency on Apple ecosystem. A few questions:
1. "Don't use safari" Why?
2. Is there an alternative to "Find My" that I can use with AirTag?
Some of the things, I have done since this experience:
- Exported all my passwords from Apple Password Manager to BitWarden. Also, now I better understand why my wife was keeping her passwords in a notebook (no service can be trusted).
- Looking at ways to export Contacts and Notes and sync.
- Keeping Dropbox storage subscription instead of considering migration to iCloud storage.
- Dropped the idea of upgrading my iPhone13 and wife's MacBook (light user) to Apple devices.
notemaker
13 days ago
> 1. "Don't use safari" Why?
Like everything else, it's tied to your Apple account. You risk losing your browser history etc. You _can_ export it if it happens, but it's easier to not have the issue in the first place.
> 2. Is there an alternative to "Find My" that I can use with AirTag?
https://github.com/seemoo-lab/openhaystack maybe? I haven't tried it.