XPost: misc.phone.mobile.iphone   
   From: mariasophia@comprehension.com   
      
   Maria Sophia wrote:   
   > As always, if you have Apple documentation that shows the described   
   > behavior is wrong, please include the link so it can be reviewed.   
   > Otherwise, I will rely on the documentation already cited.   
      
   It's interesting that only Chris & Tyrone not only don't remember how iOS   
   works, but they repeatedly claim iOS works the way they don't remember.   
      
   It's kind of funny really.   
      
   The fact is iOS does not rely on a single login.   
   It uses many separate Apple service tokens, each tied to a different Apple   
   service, and each with its own expiration schedule.   
      
   These tokens expire at different times.   
      
   When an Apple service token that cannot be silently refreshed expires,   
   iOS asks for the Apple ID password again. This happens even if the user   
   never logged out and never bought anything.   
      
   Some Apple service tokens refresh silently in the background. Others do   
   not. When a non silent token expires, the user sees the password dialog.   
      
   Visible prompts occur only when one of these conditions is true:   
   1. The refresh token for that service has expired.   
   2. The token was invalidated on Apple's servers.   
   3. The service requires a high security reauth, such as App Store or   
      iCloud Keychain.   
      
   This is why iOS sometimes asks for the Apple ID password even though the   
   user has been logged in for years.   
      
   As for why iOS does this more than other platforms, the reason is that   
   iOS ties far more system functions to Apple service tokens, and some of   
   those tokens do not silently refresh. Android also uses multiple tokens,   
   but Android refreshes most of them silently and does not tie as many   
   system features to a single identity provider.   
      
   So the short answer is as to why iOS and not Android is simply that   
   iOS asks for the password because a specific Apple service token expired   
   and could not be silently refreshed. This is normal behavior for iOS and   
   does not mean nor require that the user logged out or purchased anything.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)