icloudpd fails to login to iCloud Photos

[LarsPoulsen]

iCloud Photos access fails on wife's iPhone; 2FA issue​

My wife and I both have iPhones, each with the latest iOS version for the device.

Mine is an iPhone XR (so iOS 18), hers is an iPhone 16 Plus (so iOS 26). I take backup of pictures to a huge archive on my Fedora Linus server, using the program icloudpd to copy recent photos to the Linux server. This has worked well for years, but after a recent iOS updates, my Linux program can no longer get into my wife's iCloud photos (mine still works).

On iOS 18, there is a setting tucked away under

Settings -> Apple Account -> iCloud -> Access iCloud Data on the Web ... which must be on.

On iOS 26, there is no such switch to be seen, but I suspect this is in fact the issue. Where has this setting moved to? (And yes, she has "Advanced Data Protection turned off.)

Using icloudpd, I login to her iCloud account with Apple ID and password. It tries to activate 2FA (two factor authentication), but the "Allow" popup never appears on her phone.

What could be the problem?

 

[f33dm3bits]

Moving to off-topic, not a Linux problem.

 

[Condobloke]

Just an unexplored guess at this time.....

Go to Settings,... in Search type : Share Accessibility Settings

On the page that opens, tap on : Sync to iCloud

or... type in Access icloud in search.... that should also bring up 'Sync to iCloud'

 

[KGIII]

Next up, someone'll come here to ask us how to repair their car.

 

[Condobloke]

someone'll come here to ask us how to repair their car.

and their motorbike....and while we are at it their LawnMower.... (ex small engine mechanic here)

 

[KGIII]

and their motorbike....and while we are at it their LawnMower.... (ex small engine mechanic here)

We'll have to change the site's name to something like Linux and Engines.

I'm no expert but I have a lovely shop that's complete with a two-post lift. So, I know a bit about engines. You've got small engines covered.

BRB! Going to go edit the site's name!

(Not really, of course.)

If we are willing to REALLY stretch the boundaries, both iOS and macOS are Darwin, which is UNIX-based.

Linux is not UNIX, but a lot of the processes are similar and share similar foundations. BSD is also 'UNIX-like'.

So, there's a bit of shared history. (That doesn't make us an iOS-based forum, but it does mean we share some history, which I think is interesting enough to type out.)

 

[Condobloke]

I have a T-shirt. Very well-made, it is actually lined, and neatly put together. Comfortable.

Its message is quite suited to the capabilities of the wearer.

 

[KGIII]

ts message is quite suited to the capabilities of the wearer.

For a whole host of reasons, I'm now pretty selective when it comes to fixing things.

Well, for myself. I suck at being retired and often do stuff for other people. I just got back a short time ago after driving to help a neighbor deal with a plumbing problem. But I won't do plumbing on anything but new buildings. I despise plumbing on existing structures. I despise plumbing in old houses even more.

The older your house, the more I probably hate your plumbing.

In this case, I found the right valves to stop their leak and then figured out how to bypass that loop so that they still have running water. They can call a plumber on Monday. Until then, they can't do any laundry.

This was fortunate for them, because closing valves was as far as I was going. I was in and out in less than an hour, and that included niceties and ensuring that the leak was no longer leaking. It's not fixed. I will not fix it for them. I'd sooner call one of my plumber friends and pay them to fix it.

Generally speaking, I have far more interesting (valuable to me) things I'd rather do. I'd rather sit here watching videos than fix something mundane, annoying, tedious, etc...

The good news is that I know not one but two fairly local plumbers. I gave them the number to both of them. I absolutely will not fi their plumbing for them.