From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background
to its mothership tracking servers, even when idle?
A: ?

How often, even when idle, does Apple secretly contact its mainframes?
a. Minutes?
b. Hours?
c. Days?

Why?
--
If you can't answer these questions, you don't know how iOS really works.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

On 2026-01-10 12:02, Maria Sophia wrote:

Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background
to its mothership tracking servers, even when idle?
A: ?

How often, even when idle, does Apple secretly contact its mainframes?
a. Minutes?
b. Hours?
c. Days?

Why?

There are no "mothership tracking servers", Arlen.

There are services that Apple provides, none of which you need to use
except the App Store, and you can sign in to the App Store only when you
need to get or update an app and then sign out again.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

On Jan 10, 2026 at 3:59:18rC>PM EST, "Alan" <nuh-uh@nope.com> wrote:

On 2026-01-10 12:02, Maria Sophia wrote:

Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background
to its mothership tracking servers, even when idle?
A: ?

How often, even when idle, does Apple secretly contact its mainframes?
a. Minutes?
b. Hours?
c. Days?

Why?

There are no "mothership tracking servers", Arlen.

There are services that Apple provides, none of which you need to use
except the App Store, and you can sign in to the App Store only when you
need to get or update an app and then sign out again.

Now now. Don't confuse Arlen with facts. He lives in his own imaginary world.

Not to mention that - even if Apple DID have "tracking servers" - they would NOT be IBM mainframes. Arlen is so out of touch, he forgets that Apple makes computers. Apple would have racks of Mac minis or studios or something. All running Apple's own Unix software.

Why port all of your software to a mainframe?
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

On 1/10/2026 3:02 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background
to its mothership tracking servers, even when idle?
A: ?

How often, even when idle, does Apple secretly contact its mainframes?
a. Minutes?
b. Hours?
c. Days?

Why?

Don't know, don't care. The Apple phone and pad work great, stay updated regularly on a know schedule, all by themselves. Unlike Android where I
had to use Google to find out if the phone I bought a year ago was ever
going to get an OS update. And was disappointed with the answer a few
times. Unlike my Samsung tablet that came with an outdated OS that did
get one update, then never. Unlike my Android devices that required
manual app reinstall when a new one was purchased, with no data history carried over.

A former Android fan, I will never go back. I have seen the light. BUT,
at the same time very happy that the EU is breaking down the walled
garden too. I even get Google Maps as the CarPlay default now! And
YouTube Music as a default too! Nirvana.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

Tom Elam wrote:

On 1/10/2026 3:02 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background
to its mothership tracking servers, even when idle?
A: ?

How often, even when idle, does Apple secretly contact its mainframes?
a. Minutes?
b. Hours?
c. Days?

Why?

Don't know, don't care. The Apple phone and pad work great, stay updated regularly on a know schedule, all by themselves. Unlike Android where I
had to use Google to find out if the phone I bought a year ago was ever going to get an OS update. And was disappointed with the answer a few
times. Unlike my Samsung tablet that came with an outdated OS that did
get one update, then never. Unlike my Android devices that required
manual app reinstall when a new one was purchased, with no data history carried over.

A former Android fan, I will never go back. I have seen the light. BUT,
at the same time very happy that the EU is breaking down the walled
garden too. I even get Google Maps as the CarPlay default now! And
YouTube Music as a default too! Nirvana.

Hi Tom Elam,

Thank you for sharing your personal experience with iOS and Android.

My original question in this thread was about background network
behavior in iOS, not OS update policies, but since you raised the
update comparison it is worth clarifying the current situation.

1. Google now provides seven years of OS, security, and feature
updates for their latest Pixels.

Google Pixel Update Policy
<https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705>
Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will receive 7 years of OS, security, and
Feature Drop updates.

2. Samsung documents extended security update support for Galaxy
devices, up to seven years for recent models.

Security Updates Scope | Samsung Mobile Security
<https://security.samsungmobile.com/workScope.smsb>
As of January 2024, we are extending our security update support
for Samsung Galaxy devices by up to 7 years, to help our users
enjoy the latest Galaxy experiences longer and securely.

3. Android supports modular system updates through Project Mainline.
This allows many system components to be updated via Google Play,
independent of full OEM firmware updates.

Project Mainline
<https://source.android.com/docs/core/ota/modular-system>
Mainline enables monthly updates to dozens of core system components
through Google Play over the Internet for all Android 10+ phones.

There is nothing even remotely close to this extremely powerful
and frequent monthly update which covers phones from 2019 to today.

4. Both platforms are now comparable in security posture. Modern
Android uses hardware backed keystores, verified boot, SELinux, and
sandboxing. iOS uses similar mechanisms. Neither platform is
inherently more secure in every category, and the details depend on
specific models and configurations.

Your experience with Android devices in the past is valid. The update
landscape today is simply different from what it was ten years ago.

My original question in this thread was about how often iOS contacts
Apple servers in the background, even when idle. That is a separate
topic from OS update policies, but I appreciate your perspective.

I use Apple products every day, along with Android products.
What you "remember" isn't even close to how it works today.

But you're welcome to your memory since you seem to be happy.
And that's what matters to you.

Meanwhile, the question remains so that we can understand iOS:
Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background to servers?
A:
--
Those who don't ask how an operating system works will never be able to understand that what they're told isn't how it actually works in reality.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

On 2026-01-12 15:55, Maria Sophia wrote:

Tom Elam wrote:

On 1/10/2026 3:02 PM, Maria Sophia wrote:

Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background
to its mothership tracking servers, even when idle?
A: ?

How often, even when idle, does Apple secretly contact its mainframes?
a. Minutes?
b. Hours?
c. Days?

Why?

Don't know, don't care. The Apple phone and pad work great, stay updated
regularly on a know schedule, all by themselves. Unlike Android where I
had to use Google to find out if the phone I bought a year ago was ever
going to get an OS update. And was disappointed with the answer a few
times. Unlike my Samsung tablet that came with an outdated OS that did
get one update, then never. Unlike my Android devices that required
manual app reinstall when a new one was purchased, with no data history
carried over.

A former Android fan, I will never go back. I have seen the light. BUT,
at the same time very happy that the EU is breaking down the walled
garden too. I even get Google Maps as the CarPlay default now! And
YouTube Music as a default too! Nirvana.

Hi Tom Elam,

Thank you for sharing your personal experience with iOS and Android.

My original question in this thread was about background network
behavior in iOS, not OS update policies, but since you raised the
update comparison it is worth clarifying the current situation.

1. Google now provides seven years of OS, security, and feature
updates for their latest Pixels.

Which is great if you have a Pixel...

...and if they live up to that commitment.

Google Pixel Update Policy
<https://support.google.com/pixelphone/answer/4457705>
Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro will receive 7 years of OS, security, and
Feature Drop updates.

2. Samsung documents extended security update support for Galaxy
devices, up to seven years for recent models.

Which is great if you have one of those recent models...

...and if they live up to that commitment.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: misc.phone.mobile.iphone

On 01/10/2026 15:02, Maria Sophia wrote:

Q: How frequently does iOS phone home in the background
to its mothership tracking servers, even when idle?
A: ?

How often, even when idle, does Apple secretly contact its mainframes?
a. Minutes?
b. Hours?
c. Days?

Why?

Tell us why this matters.

Tell us what Apple does with this information.

Tell us how this is different than what Google does with their tracking information.

Tell us how to prevent all of this.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2