In 2017 it was an endless crash loop caused by any app with local time-based notifications.... Which for almost everyone at the Apple store I visited was meditation apps with daily meditation reminders (in Australia we were among the first to wake up on that affected date. The fix went out before most of the remaining world woke up)
I wonder if the daily reminder is triggering a reinstall? Perhaps try disabling the reminders before uninstalling.
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.
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.
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
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?
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!).
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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)
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?
The Facebook Ads SDK in a mental health app isn’t normal. Or shouldn’t.
Even analytics SDKs is a bit weird to see. Are Amplitude or Sentry hosting data with a healthcare compliant infrastructure ? I won’t bet. Are those SDKs for sure not leaking health care data? It can be inadvertently, especially with Sentry. But I really wonder about why people feel the need to track so much. Do they **** in front of PowerPoint slides showing the tracking data or is it to sell user data?
They are normal. They generally want to know if the ad spend resulted in an install. Health care data is radioactive and they would be fucking up very hard if sending this to an analytics service.
Health care companies are radioactively affected by mishandling healthcare data (give or take practical impact being very toothless, especially nowadays). The data itself is mostly not an issue though under any legal theories, and if Joe Schmo hedge fund digs up your colon photos that's not usually an issue.
I have seen studies where some apps were fucking up very hard and sending healthcare data to services that shouldn’t receive it. Sometimes in clear text.
My trust is very low. Having healthcare data in a Sentry payload by mistake happens to the best of us.
I’m curious if everyone experiencing this is on 26.4.2? It came out 4 days ago according to Wikipedia…it would make sense that it lines up with when people are seeing it start.
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?
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.
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.
Just checked and it also installed itself on my phone. iPhone 17 Pro, non-US App Store, on latest iOS beta, no MDM. Sounds like an Apple Store bug to me.
> Does anyone understand how or why this is happening?
They are drowning in tech debt. Here are two main issues I have with my iPhone/iOS: I can't search for the telegram app. It doesn't show up. It shows fine on the iPad. Also just a few minutes ago, app search decided not to work. I usually use it to pull my Wallet to pull my card. It was an awkward moment as I had no idea where the wallet app actually is.
I have lost count of the minor polish issues. The experience has degraded so much that you no longer care.
Regarding the telegram app I’d check iOS settings->apps->telegram->search and make sure “show app in search” is checked
You can intentionally hide apps from search. If you did this, it’s not very obvious that its hidden from search unless you dig for the setting. Similarly, “hidden” apps refuse to show up in search results anywhere, even in settings.
Isn't it funny that we're so used to the misuse of language (ie lies) that this isn't even a point? I'm talking about software flags to represent your choices, that are merely an 'aspirational intention' and don't actually correlate with reality.
In my world, it shouldn't be possible to override 'turned off automatic downloads'. 'Off' shouldn't be a pacifier for the user, while Apple, Google or whoever can continue installing whatever they like. This isn't what words mean. There isn't actually a choice, but it misleads you into thinking there is. I'm sure there are legal words around this in the "ownership" contract, but "off" can't really mean "on".
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.
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.
This isn't the first system bug that primarily was visible due to headspace: https://www.macrumors.com/2017/12/02/ios-11-1-2-date-bug-cra...
In 2017 it was an endless crash loop caused by any app with local time-based notifications.... Which for almost everyone at the Apple store I visited was meditation apps with daily meditation reminders (in Australia we were among the first to wake up on that affected date. The fix went out before most of the remaining world woke up)
I wonder if the daily reminder is triggering a reinstall? Perhaps try disabling the reminders before uninstalling.
Here's a Reddit thread of other people experiencing the same issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/ios/comments/1su82sc/headspace_app_...
This is fascinating. I am very curious to find out what the actual cause of this turns out to be.
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.
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.
> 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.
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
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?
> 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.
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?
But why this one specific app and no others?
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!).
Maybe it’s Apple’s equivalent of Guru Meditation.
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.
Headspace leaves health data, that's where my first guess would be
looks like, no where its safea anymore
I wonder if U2, or Bono, has taken a significant stake in Headspace recently (kidding).
A 50th anniversary gift you mean?
Deep cut
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.
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!
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
That's interesting that it still showed up on your homescreen despite not being able to download
Very interesting, especially if it found a way to bypass the explicit disabling of automatic downloads…
Now imagine you’re roaming during a 10-day vacation…and you think you’re in control :) …
Meanwhile, I can't install an iOS game i bought in 2021 (Azure Saga if it matters) because it's delisted from the app store.
Damned if you pay them, damned if you don't.
I think it's worth mentioning that you had the app installed around a year ago, as I can imagine some "restore from backup" scenario at play.
I'm currently with a 13 mini (26.4.2), never had this app installed, and am not encountering this issue.
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.
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.
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)
I updated after noticing the issue
The iOS reviews for the app also confirm this story affecting others.
Possible this is tied to your carrier?
I don’t think carriers have the ability to install apps on iOS. I’ve always thought it’s weird that they can do that on android.
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.
No, this is my personal device. It has never been connected to any MDM.
Have you actually checked your device management settings?
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?
That's the one. I was worried you might have something you didn't know about!
Yes, there are alt app stores that try to get you to agree to installing a MDM
If anyone wants to browse some of the SDKs in headspace:
https://appgoblin.info/apps/493145008/sdks
I see normal development and tracking SDKs. If anyone sees something interesting let me know.
The Facebook Ads SDK in a mental health app isn’t normal. Or shouldn’t.
Even analytics SDKs is a bit weird to see. Are Amplitude or Sentry hosting data with a healthcare compliant infrastructure ? I won’t bet. Are those SDKs for sure not leaking health care data? It can be inadvertently, especially with Sentry. But I really wonder about why people feel the need to track so much. Do they **** in front of PowerPoint slides showing the tracking data or is it to sell user data?
They are normal. They generally want to know if the ad spend resulted in an install. Health care data is radioactive and they would be fucking up very hard if sending this to an analytics service.
Health care companies are radioactively affected by mishandling healthcare data (give or take practical impact being very toothless, especially nowadays). The data itself is mostly not an issue though under any legal theories, and if Joe Schmo hedge fund digs up your colon photos that's not usually an issue.
I have seen studies where some apps were fucking up very hard and sending healthcare data to services that shouldn’t receive it. Sometimes in clear text.
My trust is very low. Having healthcare data in a Sentry payload by mistake happens to the best of us.
I’m curious if everyone experiencing this is on 26.4.2? It came out 4 days ago according to Wikipedia…it would make sense that it lines up with when people are seeing it start.
I’m on the 26.5 beta and not seeing it at all.
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)
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
Do you have TestFlight installed? That’s the only other way I can think of delivering apps besides the App Store and MDM.
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.
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?
No MDM installed
Had this happen as well. I haven’t used Headspace in years. Randomly had the app appear on Home Screen.
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.
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.
Just checked and it also installed itself on my phone. iPhone 17 Pro, non-US App Store, on latest iOS beta, no MDM. Sounds like an Apple Store bug to me.
Are other people using your phone?
> Does anyone understand how or why this is happening?
They are drowning in tech debt. Here are two main issues I have with my iPhone/iOS: I can't search for the telegram app. It doesn't show up. It shows fine on the iPad. Also just a few minutes ago, app search decided not to work. I usually use it to pull my Wallet to pull my card. It was an awkward moment as I had no idea where the wallet app actually is.
I have lost count of the minor polish issues. The experience has degraded so much that you no longer care.
Regarding the telegram app I’d check iOS settings->apps->telegram->search and make sure “show app in search” is checked
You can intentionally hide apps from search. If you did this, it’s not very obvious that its hidden from search unless you dig for the setting. Similarly, “hidden” apps refuse to show up in search results anywhere, even in settings.
Side point, re this:
> Automatic downloads are turned off
Isn't it funny that we're so used to the misuse of language (ie lies) that this isn't even a point? I'm talking about software flags to represent your choices, that are merely an 'aspirational intention' and don't actually correlate with reality.
In my world, it shouldn't be possible to override 'turned off automatic downloads'. 'Off' shouldn't be a pacifier for the user, while Apple, Google or whoever can continue installing whatever they like. This isn't what words mean. There isn't actually a choice, but it misleads you into thinking there is. I'm sure there are legal words around this in the "ownership" contract, but "off" can't really mean "on".
@_-x-_: "Settings > App Store > Show Install Confirmations > On".
Maybe that helps?
This setting does not exist on iOS 26.4.1
It should:
- https://old.reddit.com/r/iPadOS/comments/1prkpaq/can_i_turn_...
- https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd....
_Severance intensifies_
this is the plot of Persona 5
He can be the joker we need.
how heavy of a spoiler is this? I wanted to play it
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.
It's not really a spoiler. It is something that happens near the beginning of the game.
If I am not mistaken, it's even shown in the marketing materials to build suspense.
How did you find that? Any notification?
It just appears on my homescreen
I’ve been getting this too, same app same behaviour… Anyone been able to figure out what is causing this?
Have you downloaded the app before?
jailbreak phone?
Negative
Maybe a competitor is trying to FUD them?
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.