p.enthalabs

Tell HN: An app is silently installing itself on my iPhone every day

571 points · 60 visible top comments · 2026-04-26 00:50:56 UTC

news.ycombinator.com · Read Story HN original

Every day for the past 3 days around 1pm EST the 'Headspace' app has been silently appearing on my iPhone (13 Pro). Automatic downloads are turned off and I've updated to the latest iOS since this started happening.

I googled around and found a couple reddit threads with people reporting the exact same thing starting 2 or 3 days ago. There were reports from people on iPhone 12 and iPhone 17 so it doesn't seem device-specific.

Anyone else seeing this? Does anyone understand how or why this is happening?

Comments

psynixx · 2026-04-26 01:01:10 UTC
I’ve been getting this too, same app same behaviour… Anyone been able to figure out what is causing this?
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 02:15:57 UTC
Have you downloaded the app before?
throwaway5465 · 2026-04-26 01:38:29 UTC
Maybe a competitor is trying to FUD them?
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 02:15:14 UTC
I would imagine that this isn't (or at least shouldn't be) possible based on Apple's security. The app is automatically downloading to my phone without my permission.
k310 · 2026-04-26 01:42:04 UTC
Did you ever install it, or Ginger?

An app store search also turned up "Headspace Care" (Ginger)

Ginger is now Headspace Care

It would be beyond malware for an app to install itself, since there's that app store hurdle to leap. (IMO)

_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 02:11:07 UTC
I installed the app in March of last year, and then deleted it the same day because I didn't want to pay for the subscription
mandeepj · 2026-04-26 01:51:11 UTC
How did you find that? Any notification?
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 02:07:44 UTC
It just appears on my homescreen
rglover · 2026-04-26 01:54:51 UTC
If you've ever installed any companion app on your desktop macOS, your phone will try to sync apps (I think the same with Apple TV). Caught me off guard a few times.
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 02:13:09 UTC
No, I've never downloaded it on my desktop. It appears that I downloaded it onto my phone over a year ago (I got an email in my inbox), but didn't want to pay for it so I deleted it.
janstice · 2026-04-26 02:09:21 UTC
Is your phone connected to some work mobile device management? I could imagine someone has a jinxed Jamf or intune rule that is pushing things out.
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 02:14:00 UTC
No, this is my personal device. It has never been connected to any MDM.
Schiendelman · 2026-04-26 02:40:16 UTC
Have you actually checked your device management settings?
teruakohatu · 2026-04-26 02:46:48 UTC
Yes, there are alt app stores that try to get you to agree to installing a MDM
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 02:52:34 UTC
Yes. In Settings > General > VPN & Device Management, it says 'Sign in to Work or School Account'. Is there a different device management setting that I should be looking at?
Schiendelman · 2026-04-26 03:26:26 UTC
That's the one. I was worried you might have something you didn't know about!
Bjartr · 2026-04-26 03:01:50 UTC
Based on that I'd guess either a meditation app company has figured out how to circumvent a lot of controls put in place by Apple, or it's a bug on Apple's side
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 03:09:21 UTC
Yeah, I think the latter is more likely than the former. Perhaps a server side bug that's silently downloading the app on any device that's installed it previously?
donkey_brains · 2026-04-26 03:44:53 UTC
But why this one specific app and no others?
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 03:55:34 UTC
Right, that's what confuses me the most. I was very surprised to find the reddit thread showing that other people are also having this specific app silently installed on their devices.
dd8601fn · 2026-04-26 14:46:50 UTC
Makes me think something got jacked up adding/removing things from promotional bundles with other apps.

It shouldn’t do that, obviously, but headspace does seem like it’s one that bundles “free” with a bunch of health insurance, education, etc.

From a debugging perspective, without having Apples information, I kinda want to know if all affected users have some related health or education apps.

breppp · 2026-04-26 04:57:42 UTC
Headspace leaves health data, that's where my first guess would be
layer8 · 2026-04-26 05:18:19 UTC
Maybe it’s Apple’s equivalent of Guru Meditation.
altairprime · 2026-04-26 05:33:56 UTC
Maybe Apple typo’d an app id incorrectly for some iOS core app thing in 26.4.2 and the one-character error is this app? I don’t know that anyone’s done a ‘likelihood of collision’ analysis on appstore unique IDs yet. Certainly I could see iOS having a “must be on the device” system set up for apps like Phone and Settings that has a last-ditch of reinstalling it if somehow deleted. Would be especially interesting if some core app that can’t normally be deleted is currently unprotected (back up your device locally first!).
wincy · 2026-04-26 13:34:21 UTC
Maybe it’s like that time Apple thought everyone wanted that awful free U2 album that they automatically added to everyone’s iTunes library. (I know this isn’t actually the case but it’s the funniest explanation)
theowaway · 2026-04-26 15:40:25 UTC
that fucking thing still shows up on my phone from time to time. It's aural herpes
trinsic2 · 2026-04-27 05:19:35 UTC
I use VLC for my music. Did you know if you uninstall the music app you can't play music though another music app?
archon810 · 2026-04-27 23:25:09 UTC
Is this really true, I presume on iPhones? As an Android user, this sounds insane to me.
mattmaroon · 2026-04-26 14:59:15 UTC
Can’t be sure it isn’t others. This a very large app, so it may just be the one that gets noticed the most.
trinsic2 · 2026-04-27 05:15:51 UTC
Maybe this is not the same thing but I had this happen to me with the ticktock app. It installed by itself. The only difference I can see between this situation and my own is I'm positive I never installed this app because I never used it.

It only happened one time though. After I uninstalled it, it never came back.

a34729t · 2026-04-26 03:47:17 UTC
Or it is a mandated backdoor, and someone internally objected, and made it easier to exploit than it should be, or leaked how to exploit it?
8cvor6j844qw_d6 · 2026-04-26 04:23:46 UTC
> mandated backdoor

Probably one from the repository of backdoors "accidentally" introduced or "never" discovered.

The mechanism's there, just needs to be woven with other exploits.

jdiff · 2026-04-26 13:02:18 UTC
Makes no sense for headspace to be using it if that were the case.
Barbing · 2026-04-26 17:03:17 UTC
Conspiracy theory would get too convoluted:

Rogue employee employs the backdoor for a major app with hopefully conscientious users who’ll report it online; hopes to force a fix.

Or it was a social experiment and some dumb app reinstalls itself every day too but no one’s complained en masse yet! ;)

0123456789ABCDE · 2026-04-26 14:53:40 UTC
what's the more likely explanation though?
Barbing · 2026-04-26 17:03:58 UTC
bug
joenot443 · 2026-04-26 10:56:56 UTC
My guess is it's a bug on the App Store side which will actually hurt Headspace in the long run. If this was a casino app I'd feel a bit differently, but I'd be shocked if someone at Headspace did this deliberately.

I'm trying to imagine the headspace of a user who deletes an app, only to see it pop back the next morning. Probably not a very relaxing experience :)

cortesoft · 2026-04-26 04:28:13 UTC
This is fascinating. I am very curious to find out what the actual cause of this turns out to be.
trueno · 2026-04-26 05:23:27 UTC
same. i get blasted with ads for this app on whatever platform, never installed it myself. the amount of promotions + this = my underdeveloped brain is so ready to assume the worst here. been a while since i used my pitchfork & i'm here for the riot.

if it is, in fact, something nefarious at play that would be a pretty crazy 2026 era exploit. but i'm certain it's a bug/artifact of some sort that, for whatever reason, affects this specific app.

powersnail · 2026-04-26 05:45:50 UTC
Maybe the developer was using Headspace as part of the test data and it bled into production?

It's hard to imagine what Headspace would like to achieve if this were an exploit executed by them. It's so salient, that it makes no sense to do on purpose. At least some portion of Apple employees and their families are going to be affected by this, and this would escalate to the legal department immediately.

My money is on Apple being the buggy one here.

trueno · 2026-04-26 06:12:34 UTC
> My money is on Apple being the buggy one here.

Yeah I'm thinking some sort of test artifact bleeding into prod and subject so some nightly process is likely the case.

julianozen · 2026-04-26 14:05:13 UTC
This seems like a good guess. Seems like it was deployed Thursday based on the app reviews
concinds · 2026-04-26 07:30:50 UTC
I wish Apple released incident reports in cases like these. I hate that their secrecy obsession extends so far beyond hardware.
red_admiral · 2026-04-26 08:01:26 UTC
I feel sorry for the headspace devs if it's really 100% Apple's fault.
0123456789ABCDE · 2026-04-26 14:44:32 UTC
when "explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary."

could be an ios bug; a bug with the notification library they use, any other app behaving similarly?

considering the possibility this was on purpose, they would risk getting banned from the appstore. no, they are not big enough to avoid that. so it's unlikely this was intentional.

dyauspitr · 2026-04-26 09:00:46 UTC
It downloaded itself on my phone as well. I thought it was some quirk with the Apple Watch sync because I used to have headspace installed at some point and that automatically shows up on the Apple Watch but deleting an app on the iPhone doesn’t always delete the corresponding Apple Watch app. So if you open headspace on the Apple Watch I assumed it redownloaded itself on the iPhone.
bharat1010 · 2026-04-26 06:40:53 UTC
looks like, no where its safea anymore
treexs · 2026-04-26 03:16:39 UTC
this is the plot of Persona 5
rootsudo · 2026-04-26 03:42:00 UTC
He can be the joker we need.
efilife · 2026-04-26 04:36:07 UTC
how heavy of a spoiler is this? I wanted to play it
applfanboysbgon · 2026-04-26 04:55:58 UTC
It's not really a spoiler. It is something that happens near the beginning of the game.
diegoperini · 2026-04-26 05:19:42 UTC
If I am not mistaken, it's even shown in the marketing materials to build suspense.
makeitdouble · 2026-04-26 05:28:21 UTC
It's covered in the first 10~20min or so of the game, and is really a minor side point.

Off topic, put P5 as a game doesn't really care about spoilers much, there is one specific story telling gimmick that will screw with you if you're really sensitive to these kind of things.

a34729t · 2026-04-26 03:45:47 UTC
I would call Apple support; you might even get an engineer call you back. I am sure they would love to know what the hell is going on.
yokuze · 2026-04-26 03:47:18 UTC
Do you have Settings > Apps > App Store > (Automatic Downloads) App Downloads turned on?

I noticed apps appearing on my Home Screen I’d never heard of before. Turns out with that setting and Family Purchase sharing turned on, every time my wife installed a new app, it installed on my phone too.

That may not be your exact scenario, but I wonder if turning off that Automatic App Downloads setting (if enabled) changes anything. Could give you a clue, if so.

_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 03:50:44 UTC
App Downloads and App Updates are both turned off. I don't have anyone else's devices on my account, just me. Thank you for the suggestions though!
wallst07 · 2026-04-26 10:29:30 UTC
Even with auto downloads turned off, does it show up in your app library or as a purchased app?

You can still have a app library with apps that "should be" downloaded, what happens if its removed from that list?

trinsic2 · 2026-04-27 05:49:28 UTC
Speaking of which. Under Cellular Data There is a setting right below Automatic Downloads call "App Downloads". I wonder if that works independently of whether or not Automatic Downloads is off. The only options are: Always allow, ask if over 200mb and always ask.
COFyumo · 2026-04-26 03:56:41 UTC
I have the same exact thing happening. I deleted the app a few days ago when was surprised to see it in my app list.

I had previously downloaded the app but and removed it because I never used it. A few days ago I noticed the app when browsing through my app list and thought maybe I didnt delete it properly, so I made sure to delete it. Then this morning my iPhone updated software versions and I found he Headpsace app again on my home, except this time it was grayed out and waiting for me to go on wifi to download.

I just deleted it again but am equally dumbfounded

_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 04:48:54 UTC
That's interesting that it still showed up on your homescreen despite not being able to download
meloyc · 2026-04-26 03:57:36 UTC
jailbreak phone?
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 04:47:33 UTC
Negative
bastawhiz · 2026-04-26 04:20:39 UTC
Do you have MDM enabled on your device? Does your company offer Headspace as a perk and some arcane set of sketchy business agreements led to auto install policy in your company's MDM solution?
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 04:48:00 UTC
No MDM installed
1659447091 · 2026-04-26 04:39:58 UTC
Do you use iCloud drive?

This might be a stretch as I am taking a guess at the implementation, but apps can sync with iCloud Drive and I keep getting app folders showing up after telling it not sync but the prefs reset after certain states(not quite sure when/how)-- it then creates a new sync folder when interacting with the app again. (after having turned off sync and deleting the folder -- once it resets)

I am wondering if that app had that feature (icloud drive syncing) and something of the reverse is happening. Where you have a document still on icloud drive from when you installed the app. Maybe there is some action or state change going on after interacting with drive on a mac or something similar. And now it's created the right circumstances for icloud drive to try and sync the file but there is no app on any device so it downloads the app instead since it's missing and there is some dangling file looking for its home.

_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 04:51:52 UTC
It still doesn't make sense why the app started silently downloading itself 3 days ago when I haven't had it installed in over a year. I do use iCloud drive but do not see anything related to the app inside of it.
1659447091 · 2026-04-26 04:54:55 UTC
Did you update iOS before it started happening? Wondering if they may have introduced a regression that is now trying to re-sync everything after the last update (sync files may be hidden, I set files to always show)
_-x-_ · 2026-04-26 05:09:29 UTC
I updated after noticing the issue
DavideNL · 2026-04-26 04:42:23 UTC
@_-x-_: "Settings > App Store > Show Install Confirmations > On".

Maybe that helps?

garyfirestorm · 2026-04-26 05:21:11 UTC
This setting does not exist on iOS 26.4.1
parker-3461 · 2026-04-26 09:53:34 UTC
I just checked that I could see it in the Settings App search bar, but it does not show up under the actual App Store settings page, might be an implementation bug related to user region.

Edit 1: this was on iPadOS 26.3.1 (a) (23D771330a)

altairprime · 2026-04-26 04:42:34 UTC
The iOS reviews for the app also confirm this story affecting others.
julianozen · 2026-04-26 14:00:18 UTC
Looks like something was deployed Thursday evening. My bet is it’s some kind of test configuration for the App Store itself that just happened to pick headspace and it’s rolled into prod by accident
aaronbrethorst · 2026-04-26 04:45:01 UTC
I wonder if U2, or Bono, has taken a significant stake in Headspace recently (kidding).
edbaskerville · 2026-04-26 05:53:39 UTC
Deep cut
swiftcoder · 2026-04-26 06:53:09 UTC
Jesus, I hope not. That happened just a few years ago... right?
stingraycharles · 2026-04-26 08:05:42 UTC
Wasn’t that around the release of the iPhone X?
kaelwd · 2026-04-26 13:24:55 UTC
iPhone X? That came out this year didn't it?
hnlmorg · 2026-04-26 14:07:42 UTC
No, you’re thinking of the iPad Touch
ukuina · 2026-04-26 14:26:41 UTC
I'm pretty sure it was last year, when the "no new features, bugfixes only" MacOS version was released.
dtech · 2026-04-26 08:26:59 UTC
More than a decade ago
steve1977 · 2026-04-26 06:43:13 UTC
A 50th anniversary gift you mean?
meindnoch · 2026-04-26 07:45:48 UTC
It was so fucking funny. I wonder what the engineer thought, who had to issue the SQL query which added Bono to literally everyone's collection. Like, I'm not surprised that management was so out of touch, but I'd expect the engineers to have a bit of common sense...
actionfromafar · 2026-04-26 08:19:47 UTC
They follow orders, like soldiers do.
PunchyHamster · 2026-04-26 08:38:18 UTC
What he was going to do, ignore management ? There is always someone else clueless or not caring enough to do it
baq · 2026-04-26 09:04:31 UTC
And do what? Quit and have someone else execute the query for something that’s in the grand scheme of things irrelevant?
Barbing · 2026-04-26 17:10:41 UTC
There’s only a 99% chance they would’ve been fired for refusing though right?