I love the Apple ecosystem, however I always have a low level of dread that someday I will somehow offend them and be permanently blacklisted. This is the main reason I've drawn the line at using their password manager or email - I use separate email and separate password manager so that in a worst case situation I don't get locked out of everything.
Don't worry, Google actually did lock me out of everything a few years ago and when you have the pleasure of using their wonderful services you're literally given no information and have to google (hehe) around for a form to send in a picture of your drivers license to which you will never receive a reply, your google account will remain "fraud blocked" and in 4 days you will have switched your entire life over to Apple/IOS to never deal with no customer service google again.
Then 1 yr later a hn thread will remind you to try to log into your google SSO and.. bam it works. And you still have no idea why ALL of your g servces (domains, email, gphone, etc) were disconnected a year ago.
I used to think the same - custom email domain, passwords managed by myself, but:
1) I’ve never ever heard Apple lock someone out of their Apple ID. Maybe they are obligated to do it for law enforcement in US but even none of that. Meanwhile I’ve heard a ton of stories of Google locking people out of their accounts.
2) The convenience of using Safari, with 2FA and passkeys set via iCloud Keychain is too good to ignore. Literally 1 click (passkeys) or 2 clicks at most, authenticated with Face ID.
So I’m using this setup rn. You can set custom domains with your iCloud email too.
Not to be argumentative, just wondering, has there been a case related to iCloud access that Apple has ever blacklisted someone? Certainly, I've heard of Meta and other companies doing not, but don't recall Apple outside of security confirmation issues people are having.
If you have 2FA and lose all your 2FA methods, and didn’t preplan by making a recovery key and storing it in a safe place you can find again… you can be screwed. It’s not a blacklist, but the net result is the same.
I’m terrified of losing access to all my stuff because of forced 2FA I never signed up for. I get that it’s more secure, but it can be secure to the point of having unrecoverable data. All it would take is someone carelessly deciding to get a new phone number. I have a friend who recently talked about wanting to get a new number with his new phone. I asked about 2FA and he seemed to have no knowledge of it and said he didn’t have anything like that. He kept his number, but if he didn’t, I could see him easily getting locked out of his Apple account (which he has), and his bank.
Setting up a recovery key for an Apple ID is optional. You can still recover your Apple ID. Apple will ask for information that can identify you, like previous iPhone passwords etc. If you have hit your head to a wall and can’t remember literally anything afair you are asked to wait some <1 week amount of time before being able to access, to prevent account fraud. The process is so complex and evolving I’m probably wrong on many things, but the idea is: Apple ID isn’t a footgun for the user.
If you have recovery keys enabled, it’s a different story. Enabling screen clearly states that you can get locked out of your account without your recovery key. You can set up recovery accounts too, like those of your family members.
Apple blacklisted Parler in January 2020. Of course, they were an app store app, not a user, but they established the precedent that they ban for political views they don't like.
