A Currency Miner in Calendar 2 for Mac →
Dan Goodin, for Ars Technica:
The app is Calendar 2, a scheduling app that aims to include more features than the Calendar app that Apple bundles with macOS. In recent days, Calendar 2 developer Qbix endowed it with code that mines the digital coin known as Monero. The xmr-stack miner isn’t supposed to run unless users specifically approve it in a dialog that says the mining will be in exchange for turning on a set of premium features. If users approve the arrangement, the miner will then run. Users can bypass this default action by selecting an option to keep the premium features turned off or to pay a fee to turn on the premium features.
I believe Apple is currently not commenting on the issue until they establish a policy — they jumped the gun often enough in the past few years. Ultimately, these will probably get banned, since they degrade the iOS and Mac experience, which is what Apple cares about — I’d be surprised if they didn’t. There will be a handful of users who knowingly accept this sort of “subscription”, but most will think the app is running their battery and complain. Oh, and then there’s the matter of Apple’s 30% cut…