Open Radar

 
12-Apr-2013 11:00 AM Tom Harrington:
Summary:

When developing software that uses iCloud, it's useful to use test accounts rather than a developer's primary iCloud account. However, developer.icloud.com refuses logins from accounts that are not registered as Apple developers.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create an iCloud account for testing Mac or iOS software.
2. Attempt to log in to https://developer.icloud.com/

Expected Results:

Assuming that the correct password was supplied, login would succeed.

Actual Results:

The site displays a message reading "Apple ID not a registered Apple Developer. To use developer.icloud.com, register as an Apple developer" (screenshot attached).

Of course, I am registered, but I'm trying to test software without clogging my personal account with test data.

Regression:

This used to work. I don't know exactly when it changed, but some time between approximately Feb 1 2013 and April 12 2013. A big window, I guess, but during that time I did very little iCloud work and therefore wasn't checking.

Notes:


12-Apr-2013 11:00 AM Tom Harrington:
'iCloud Developer.png' was successfully uploaded

12-Apr-2013 11:04 AM Tom Harrington:
It's worse than I thought-- If I try to log in to developer.icloud.com with my personal iCloud account, I get the same message and cannot log in.


15-Apr-2013 09:59 AM Tom Harrington:
My current iCloud test account: [redacted]

My personal iCloud account: [redacted]

Neither is permitted to log in to developer.icloud.com-- I get the message described in the initial report.

08-May-2013 10:36 AM Apple Developer Bug Reporting Team :
Thanks very much for your feedback.

Engineering has determined that this issue behaves as intended based on the following:

Neither [redacted] nor [redacted] are paying developer AppleIDs.

If you have questions regarding this resolution, please update your bug report with that information.

We are now closing this bug report.

Please be sure to regularly check new Apple releases for any updates that might affect this issue.


08-May-2013 11:54 AM Tom Harrington:
It's true that those email addresses are not tied to paid developer accounts. That was the point, really-- they are test accounts created by me for use when developing iCloud software.

These test accounts and others were created at the specific direction of Apple engineers, for the purpose of testing iCloud software in a safe environment that (a) would not adversely affect accounts used for real user data, and (b) could be viewed as semi-disposable.

The semi-disposable aspect is crucial, since (as Apple engineers have advised me) Core Data with iCloud can in some cases get an account into a state from which it's impossible to recover without intervention by someone from the iCloud team. Once this happens it's impossible to continue developing and testing iCloud-related software with that account.

The developer.icloud.com site is an extremely useful tool when developing iCloud software, so the ability to use the site with test accounts is extremely important. Blocking these accounts has a direct effect in making it more difficult to debug software that uses iCloud.