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   Dealing with Inexplicable Apple Error Messages

   Adam C. Engst

   One of the downsides of an increasingly complex and cloud-based Mac and
   iOS ecosystem is that many problems, particularly those that originate
   in the ether, are out of your control. At such times, it's mostly
   helpful to know that you're not alone, you've done nothing wrong, and
   you can't do anything to resolve the problem. Asking for confirmation
   of some unexpected message or behavior is a perfect use for the likes
   of Twitter and Facebook, or mailing lists like [1]TidBITS Talk.

   As an example, one morning a few weeks ago, my iPhone 6 required that I
   enter my passcode to unlock it, rather than taking my fingerprint via
   Touch ID. The screen said that Touch ID requires the passcode after 48
   hours, and in fact, I've seen that message on my iPad Air 2 repeatedly,
   since I often go several days without picking it up. But I'd unlocked
   the iPhone with Touch ID the evening before, as I was going to bed, so
   it had been only about 8 hours since the last usage, not 48 hours.
   Happily, the iPhone took my passcode and unlocked properly, so it was
   merely a curiosity, not an inconvenience.

   [2]Image

   I posted the screenshot to my various social media accounts and got a
   bunch of people saying that they'd experienced the same thing,
   confirming that I wasn't alone. A few folks thought that Touch ID asks
   for the passcode every 48 hours regardless, but I suspect they're just
   seeing iOS's incorrect behavior more often, since Apple is clear about
   how [3]it should appear only if you haven't unlocked your device in
   more than 48 hours. Some people said they were being asked for the
   passcode nearly every day.

   I haven't been able to determine why it's happening, or if there's
   anything to be done about it, and it's certainly only a minor
   irritation. I'm technically proficient and relaxed about errors that
   don't cause data loss, but I am concerned that inexplicable behavior
   like this could start to undermine an inexperienced user's trust in iOS
   as a predictable, reliable system ' Touch ID is in essence lying to the
   user through this error message. Technically there's no real damage
   here, but psychologically, it's a bad thing ' it's important for
   interfaces to communicate clearly, accurately, and reliably to build
   user trust.

   OS X isn't immune from this sort of problem either. Over the last few
   days, iTunes has started to throw an error saying that it cannot
   connect to Store Purchases, potentially due to a firewall
   misconfiguration. Again, I'm not alone in this ' a number of people
   have been asking about it on TidBITS Talk as well.

   [4][tn_iTunes-Store-Purchases-error.jpg]

   In this case, I don't believe iTunes is lying, but at least for me, the
   error dialog has appeared on its own, not in response to any action
   I've initiated. And, of course, I haven't changed anything on my Mac or
   my network in terms of firewall software, so I'm sure this isn't
   related to anything I've done or [5]could resolve. The problem
   undoubtedly originates somewhere on Apple's servers, and while lots of
   people are seeing the error message, it hasn't warranted mention on
   Apple's [6]System Status page. That page is always worth checking if
   you're having trouble with Apple's online services.

   Again, if you're seeing these errors, you're not alone, you've done
   nothing wrong, and you can't do anything to resolve the problem. Your
   best course of action is to shrug, move past the error, and get on with
   your day. I sincerely hope Apple's engineers are working to fix these
   problems, minor as they are, so they stop wasting our time and smudging
   Apple's reputation for quality software.

References

   1. http://tidbits.com/mailman/listinfo/tidbits-talk/
   2. http://tidbits.com/resources/2015-12/TouchID-lies.png
   3. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201371
   4. http://tidbits.com/resources/2015-12/iTunes-Store-Purchases-error.png
   5. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201400
   6. https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/

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