Game Centre nuisance

[Bruce Whittington]

After some long ago upgrade, I had to download a newer version of Free Cell, ("Free Cell Classic") which I think must have come from the App Store. Now, since I upgraded to High Sierra (from Sierra), every time I open the game, the window goes black, with a smaller window over it, which asks me to sign in to Game Center. I have to bypass this by clicking "cancel" every time I open it. It seems to be associated with iCloud. I mistakenly opened an iCloud account one or two upgrades ago, and of course cannot now get rid of it (don't use it, don't want it, and don't want any part of Game Center.) Is this Game Center window thing new in High Sierra? Is there still no way to close or cancel an iCloud account, and Game Center with it?

 

[chas_m]

1. You probably do actually want an iCloud account (more accurately, an AppleID) for a variety of reasons, including a free and travel-friendly SECURE and PRIVATE email account, syncing among iOS and/or Mac devices, Photo Stream, iTunes and App Store purchasing, Find My Mac/iOS device, and many other good reasons. What you may actually mean is you don’t want to use an iCloud email account, and that’s perfectly fine if you don’t want to: simply delete the iCloud account from your email program(s), and turn off any iCloud syncing services you are sure you don’t want in System Preferences (Mac) or Settings (iOS).

2. To turn off Game Center on an iOS device, go to Settings and turn it off. On a Mac, open the Game Center app, click on the “Account” menu, and choose “Sign Out.”

 

[Bruce Whittington]

Chas, thanks for you help with this. I have managed just fine for years with just an Apple ID for App Store purchases etc. I only have a desktop and a laptop, and have never needed or wanted to synch them. I only accidentally got an iCloud account and can't get rid of it. When I open internet accounts, iCloud does not appear in the accounts list in the left half of the window, but it is in the right half, along with Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc. which I do not use. When I click on iCloud there, it asks me to log in. I just want it to go away. In fact, I would like all those accounts (which I am invited to sign up for) to go away as well.

I was grateful for your advice about how to shut down Game Center but I cannot find it in my apps, and searches on my computer turn up nothing, and in a web search it seems Apple has quietly put it in the closet (though somehow it still supports it.) So why it has suddenly appeared in response to Free Cell I don't know. This does not happen, incidentally, on my MacBook Pro running Sierra. I'd be happy to learn that I am missing something obvious but I am stuck.

 

[chas_m]

When I open internet accounts, iCloud does not appear in the accounts list in the left half of the window, but it is in the right half, along with Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook etc. which I do not use. When I click on iCloud there, it asks me to log in.

Those are "express setup" buttons for people who want to set up an account/link their existing account to those services. Don't click on the iCloud one, and you won't be asked to log in. If your accounts are set up the way you want, stop visiting Internet Accounts.

I was grateful for your advice about how to shut down Game Center but I cannot find it in my apps, and searches on my computer turn up nothing, and in a web search it seems Apple has quietly put it in the closet (though somehow it still supports it.) So why it has suddenly appeared in response to Free Cell I don't know.

Are we still talking about on the Mac, or on an iOS device? Game Center is still supported, it just wasn't included in iOS 10 and later. On iOS you'll find it under Settings; it's not present at all on my Mac. You may want to contact the developer with the issue and see if they have a fix. If you can find the exact name of the Free Cell app you have, you can do a search engine search on "[name of app] Game Center Mac disable" or something similar.