Who's this spying on my Apple Music activity?
In my iPhone settings, I stumbled across a list of apps Apple says “are signed in to your Apple Music account and can access your music activity and media library.” The problem is, I don’t remember giving permission.
A couple of these names I recognize—Bands in Town, and Houdini. But, when did I give UGM Microservice access to my AM account? And who is “This promoter?”
In fact, who the fuck are any of these nodes with unfettered access to my music library and listening habits? What the fuck, Apple?
A quick google search results in a Reddit thread inquiring about the mysterious apps, along with this and this Apple Support forum page, with people asking the same question.
The two forum posts do not offer any answers. The first post from January 2023 has a response, but the question “What are they?” is ignored. The second post from August 2024, which asks a more direct question, is left unanswered:
what are these apps and what purpose do they serve?: Apple Media Web Player Apollo Dev Linkfire This promoter UMG Microservice
The Reddit thread led me to a six year old article from The Guardian:
To pre-save a new Little Mix single, for instance, users were asked to give Sony Music 17 permissions, including the continuous ability to view their entire library, what music they’re playing, and the device they’re playing it on, as well as their email address and who they follow on the device.
Only one permission, to “add and remove items in Your Library”, is actually needed to pre-save an item.
I’ve definitely pre-saved albums on Apple Music before. But I think I’d remember granting UGM unrestricted access to my account for all eternity. Or, did Apple save me the hassle and granted the access on my behalf?
I deleted all but “Apple Music, Podcasts, and TV Web Player” and “MusicKit”. I have no idea if either of those are important or not.
On your iPhone, go to your Apple Music app > Profile photo > Account Settings > Account Access > Apple Music
Anyway. Gotta love that Apple Privacy™.
