App Store Login on iMac Triggers Wrong Location Notification on iPhone

accountsgeolocationimacnotifications

So I want to buy something on the App Store on my iMac.

I logged in and I instantly got a notification on my iPhone saying that there's an iMac trying to log into my Account (I don't know why. That's the first time since forever). However, the location is wrong. It says that the iMac is about 200km away from my actual position (which is wrong).

I'm afraid that someone kind of bypassed my login? Is that possible? Or is it just a bug that it's showing the wrong location?

Best Answer

As your question states, you received the notification on your iPhone instantly after logging into your account via your iMac. Since you know you just logged in, and then instantly got the notification, the chances this was just a coincidence and someone bypassed your login at the same time, is extremely unlikely.

Much more likely is that the location data was off. There are many factors that can be used to determine someone's location and the accuracy of location data can be affected by all of these.

For example, if your iMac is connecting through a VPN then the location it displays may be totally different to where it actually is, even to the extent it appears to be in another country/continent/hemisphere. This is only one example, as I'm sure you would know if you are connecting via a VPN.

Other factors affecting location include WiFi networks (SSIDs in particular), the method of your internet connection, IP addresses, core location constants, and the list goes on.

Sometimes, depending on the configuration of your router, the DNS servers being used can change and this too can affect accuracy.

So, in a nutshell, you need not worry. However, it is good practice to regularly change your account password, so perhaps this is a good reminder to do just that! :)

Just a Workaround (tested with 10.11.3):

Open ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist with en Plist-Editor of choice (e.g. Xcode).
Open the property(array) with name "persistent-apps".
In this array is an item for each persistent application(the ones that stay if you close the app) in your Dock. The Finder in first position of Dock is NOT in this list! The first application after the Finder is in "Item 0", the second in "Item 1" and so forth. Find the item number in the array where you have the App Store and open the item to see the sub properties.
Open property "tile-data" as well. Now you should see a sub property "dock-extra" of type BOOLEAN.
In the property "file-data/_CFURLString" or the property "bundle-identifier" you can check if you really found the correct item number for the App Store.
Change the value of from "dock-extra" from YES to NO and than save and close the plist.
Restart your Dock at a terminal with command "killall Dock" or reboot your system.

I create a small shell script that does the same job. It uses the terminal tool "PlistBuddy" that comes together with Xcode.

#!/bin/bash
/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "set persistent-apps:7:tile-data:dock-extra false" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.dock.plist
sync
killall Dock

The "7" in the script stands for the array position of the app store in the dock as explained in step 3 above (and needs to be adjusted to your configuration).

This method has still problems:

The red notification badge of App Store is only gone as long as the App Store is closed. As long as you open the App Store you see the red notification badge anyway.
When you move the position of App Store in your Dock (maybe because you add a new application to it) the "dock-extra" value is automatically reset to "YES" and you will see the red notification badge again. Than you need to repeat the process for the new Item position of the App Store in your Dock.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

IOS – Why is the iPhone playing the notification sound but no notification is showing

Mac – Remove Mac App Store notification badge from the Dock

Just a Workaround (tested with 10.11.3):

This method has still problems:

Related Question