This exists for a very good reason.
It’s so if an app is showing a password or bank account number or other piece of sensitive information it doesn’t accidentally end up in a screenshot. I think there are other places sensitive information won’t show.
Bluesky, and apparently others, are abusing the functionality for advertising purposes.
I think it’s a good thing it’s there. This functionality should be easy for apps.
I’d say this is one for app review or an App Store rule. But we all know those are a total joke.
I don't have an issue with BSky's use, but I fairly regularly run into the functionality being abused elsewhere, such as in Thai bank apps, where every page of multiple of the biggest banks' apps prevent all screenshots (iOS). Doing a money transfer and want to send a screenshot to the recipient for them to confirm their info before you hit submit on a non-reversible transfer? Blocked. Want to screenshot a promotion's terms, especially as multiple Thai banks have now entirely dropped web banking in favor of app banking? Blocked. Etc.
OTOH, I might very well want to take a screenshot of my own bank details, transactions, or other sensitive information. It's annoying that my information is being protected from myself.
I want to take a screen shot of the transaction I just did. Can't because some ahole decided for me that it's too sensitive information and blacks out the whole screen. this API is stupid without control in settings of the os
Yeah, I would rather see a warning in that case that the screenshot could contain sensitive information, with options to take a redacted screenshot or a normal one.
Lots of people here exposing their single sign on approve code because a scammer ask them to send them a screenshot.
So that means this change will result in a noticeable decline in such scams, right?
Right??
I mean... "please read me the code you get via text" or "this really Bank of America, please type your OTP" seems to work well enough. We really don't need OS-level controls for stuff on the screen. People can just tell you what's on the screen.
It's MY phone that I paid over $1000 for. Let me choose what is exposed and what is not.
The OS could draw an ugly censoring block over the sensitive information. That would protect the user's privacy when needed but also prevent apps mis-using the feature like this.
I don't think Apple cares about apps replacing the follow button with an icon. It's a weird use of the api, but it's not abusing the user or a security/privacy risk.
Yeah. I wonder if Apple does something to change this.
This is a failure of imagination for Apple, but it’s hard to blame them.
Who would think someone would put a button inside a “secure” text field and change the masked appearance to a logo?
If I was proposing this feature, I would never imagine someone would come up with something like that.
I don't think they're abusing functionality at all. I don't think screenshotting a skeet should, by default, leak the follow state of the user taking the screenshot, which is what would happen without the secure input swap
"Secure inputs" take many forms, and it doesn't feel like this is abuse in any meaningful way
"accidentally end up in a screenshot" --- how often do you even take a screenshot on a phone, much less accidentally?
I take them constantly. Not even sure how. I think it means I am “of a certain age” these days.
Now get off my lawn.
Account numbers appear on checks. They are not exactly secret, and if I want to take a screenshot of one, I should be able to.
If it's to prevent accidents, it should just prompt user to confirm saving the screenshot with sensitive information.
As it is, it is just an annoyance that requires you to do stupid workarounds like taking a photo of your screen.
Imagine if a password manager didn't allow you to copy the password since you might accidentally paste it somewhere incorrect.
But how can I take a screenshot that intentionally shows the password or whatever?
Use a device with an operating system that doesn't think it knows better than you what you want.
You're not that unlikely to leave that feature in place if you have such an operating system. What you really want is two controls: one for "safe screenshot", and another for "raw screenshot".
If a dev forgot to obfuscate the password and rendered it as plain text on the screen, then what are the chances they remember to program the blur into this screenshot api hook. Or why not add an alert, “what me to blur sensitive info? Yes/No”
I can always just pull out my second phone to bypass all this shit.
Which is why everyone should root the their phone to turn this kind of shit off.