Apple Blocks Longtime Developer, Cuts Off Access to digital Life Over Questionable Gift Card

Apple has blocked a long-time developer from his Apple ID after he failed to redeem what support suggested was a dodgy $500 gift card, leaving him unable to work, cut off from personal files, and barred from what he calls his “core digital identity.”

This isn’t just any developer, either: The unlucky Apple aficionado in this case is Dr. Paris Buttfield-Addison, a Tasmania-based computer scientist who co-founded an award-winning game development company and has written multiple books on developing for Objective-C, the Swift programming language, and iOS.

“I have effectively been an evangelist for this company’s technology for my entire professional life,” Buttfield-Addison said in a blog post detailing his struggle with Apple’s account system.

According to Buttfield-Addison, his account was flagged as “closed in accordance with the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions” recently.The only thing he can link the issue to is his recent purchase and attempt to redeem a $500 Apple gift card to use to pay for his 6TB iCloud+ storage plan, which he said failed when he attempted to activate it.

Apple Banned Developer Account, Costing Him Thousands

Apple banned a developer’s account without explanation, preventing him from accessing his purchased software, media, and development tools. thomas Buttfield-Addison, a software engineer and Apple developer, detailed his experience in a recent blog post.

“My iPhone, iPad, Watch, and Macs cannot sync, update, or function properly,” Buttfield-Addison said. “I have lost access to thousands of dollars in purchased software and media.”

He naturally reached out to Apple to see what happened, according to the blog post, but received little in the way of help, with support staff reportedly refusing to tell him why his account was banned and saying that escalating the matter “won’t lead to a different outcome.”

An Apple senior advisor reportedly told Buttfield-Addison to just create a new account – a piece of advice he said was “technically disastrous” for a number of reasons, including the possibility it would end his career as an Apple developer.