As of May 31, 2023, we have updated our Code of Conduct.
31 votes
Accepted

Why we're not customer support for [company X or product Y]

Several sites in the Stack Exchange network have an out-right prohibition of customer support questions. Ask Different can be quite choosy about ensuring a "CS" question that gets closed is of high ...
bmike's user avatar
  • 229k
25 votes
Accepted

Where is the list of canonical questions stored for Ask Different?

The list of existing canonical questions is here: iCloud and Apple ID accounts in general (developer accounts have a section below) Forgotten iCloud email ID and password iTunes Store How can I ...
8 votes
Accepted

Challenging status of a question marked as duplicate

This is a community-moderated site, so anybody can/should/is allowed to point out if he/she doesn't agree with a close reason. In a nutshell, you can always flag a closed question and give an ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
8 votes
Accepted

Why aren't questions about software development, once closed, automatically migrated to StackOverflow?

Basically because Stack Overflow has very specific rules about asking software development questions and most such questions posted on AD are written in a way which would get them closed/rejected ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
6 votes

Thoughts on OPs deleting questions

The main countermeasure against this is that Stack Exchange prevents the asker from deleting their question if it has an upvoted answer or if it has multiple answers. Unfortunately, due to the low ...
grg's user avatar
  • 195k
6 votes
Accepted

Community♦ decisions - sometimes remarkably rapid

In the case of closing duplicates, Community acts on behalf of the author of the question. When a question receives a vote to close as duplicate, the author of the question is prompted that it is ...
grg's user avatar
  • 195k
6 votes

Why was my question closed asking why Apple didn’t implement a hardware feature in a specific device?

I voted to close the question as primarily opinion based. When I reviewed the question, I saw that you pointed out two iPads with 'theoretical maximums' and asked 'why is the larger unit restricted?'....
fsb's user avatar
  • 22.5k
4 votes
Accepted

Once I have sufficient reputation and I vote to close, can I still flag for a moderator to finish the vote?

See https://apple.stackexchange.com/help/privileges/close-questions for some more insights in this area. Basically Note that once you gain the reputation to vote to close, you should no longer flag ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
4 votes

Could my question(s) be reopened?

These questions will, unfortunately, remain closed, for two reasons: Both are shopping questions and shopping questions are off topic for Ask Different. You're asking for a purchase recommendation in ...
Ian C.'s user avatar
  • 45.3k
4 votes
Accepted

Answer posted to question after question was put on hold

It's indeed possible to answer a question which is put on hold, if you're still on the question page. You'll get a banner "this question is now put on-hold" and this will disable the 'Submit' button, ...
Glorfindel's user avatar
  • 3,914
3 votes

How should we be closing or not closing accountsd using 400% CPU type questions on 10.15.6 and newer?

My gut reaction is we should pick one of the new questions and update an answer and link to the old question since Apple clearly had a rash of this in late September where the daemon was triggered and ...
bmike's user avatar
  • 229k
3 votes
Accepted

Are questions regarding topics whose legality is questionable allowed?

That jailbreak exists should be a tip off to the acceptance of grey-area questions on the site. If they weren't allowed, the tag wouldn't exist, right? We are not the police and the laws are not ...
Ian C.'s user avatar
  • 45.3k
3 votes

Why does the FAQ say "asking how/why Apple does <some thing XYZ>" is off-topic?

Here are some guidelines to help people decide to cast close/reopen votes as well as help you if your question was placed on temporary hold and remains closed. First - look at whether the question is ...
bmike's user avatar
  • 229k
3 votes
Accepted

Sales Figures are Off Topic?

I thought I voted to put a hold on this - but others beat me to the punch. My initial thinking combines two reasons we close questions: Asking about how Apple does it's business isn't the core ...
bmike's user avatar
  • 229k
3 votes

Why was my question closed asking why Apple didn’t implement a hardware feature in a specific device?

"Why does Apple do this or that" kind of questions are off-topic because nobody outside Apple knows for sure and any answer given is a speculation (or sometimes a lucky guess) and therefore an opinion....
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
3 votes

Once I have sufficient reputation and I vote to close, can I still flag for a moderator to finish the vote?

The main point is that flagging to close doesn't actually flag for a moderator. It simply puts the post into the same review queue as voting to close just without a vote. It's never acceptable to ...
grg's user avatar
  • 195k
2 votes

What does the Gold Badge next to a name on a duplicate post notice mean?

It is a tag badge. There is a silver, gold and bronze tag badge. You get one for each tag depending on the score you earn on each. For example. a gold osx badge shows this gold badge symbol when ...
John K's user avatar
  • 2,052
2 votes

Why was my question closed asking why Apple didn’t implement a hardware feature in a specific device?

I voted to leave this question open in the queue and have voted to reopen again now. I disagree that this question is opinion-based and when I saw the question in the review queue I was going to ...
grg's user avatar
  • 195k
2 votes

You closed my question as duplicate when it obviously isn't

Thanks for bringing this up in Meta. One of the answers on the original questions mentions if the package/application follows unix standards, then install it to /usr/local/. There will be no ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
2 votes

Why was this question closed?

For the users without sufficient reputation to see the exact wording of why why this was closed see below for the exact text: Questions must demonstrate a reasonable amount of research & ...
Allan's user avatar
  • 93k
2 votes

Why was this question closed?

Very good question - the hiding of custom close reason seems like either a decision that should be reviewed or we should agitate for changing the threshold - I can see no reason why we shouldn’t let a ...
bmike's user avatar
  • 229k
2 votes
Accepted

My question was closed, but it was asked and answered first and has been helping many people

Questions get closed as duplicates if the problem they describe can be resolved by the same answers. This helps to keep the answers in one place to avoid/reduce the risk of duplicated answers. The ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
2 votes

Does it make sense to require constructive input before providing moderating feedback?

I'm not sure whether "shut down" is the right term here, or what kind of currently on hold questions you have in mind. But basically the approach is the same for all questions, with slight difference ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
1 vote

Please re-open GPL licensing question 192299

Thanks for asking on meta for a discussion. Your edit is pretty minor and I would put the iTunes connect tag back in since that’s the overall “service” that apple offers which makes this on topic ...
bmike's user avatar
  • 229k
1 vote
Accepted

Question to be reopened?

Looks like we’ll maintain the current status. We can always act later if needed.
bmike's user avatar
  • 229k
1 vote

My question was closed as duplicate

When we close as a duplicate it doesn't really matter which question was asked first but which question got the "better"/more helpful answer. I know that the "on hold" reason implies otherwise, but as ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
1 vote

Why was my question closed asking why Apple didn’t implement a hardware feature in a specific device?

I posted the answer and I agree with the closing. In re-reading my answer even it was opinion-based due to the opinion-based nature of the question. When I have to couch an answer with, "only Apple ...
Jimmy Mooney's user avatar
  • 1,006
1 vote

Why was this question with 9 upvotes closed as ""Basic Customer Support or questions asking to recommendation"?

I put the question on hold because it basically covers a topic which can (and IMHO) should be addressed to Dragon's support team (or forum) first. From this answer to Why we're not customer ...
nohillside's user avatar
  • 94.5k
1 vote

Sales Figures are Off Topic?

Off-Topic was probably the wrong reason, but it deserves to be closed (put "On Hold") because Apple has never provided specific sales figures, and also not broken down by iPod type. It may be on ...
Jason Salaz's user avatar
  • 23.9k
1 vote
Accepted

What does the Gold Badge next to a name on a duplicate post notice mean?

grg's user avatar
  • 195k

Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible