I bought a power strip with USB outlets. This is a no-name brand likely from China. When I plug in my iPad, I got the message above. Is there something shady going on?
It's a warning that it's not an Apple-approved device
It may (or may not) be "shady"
It's an especially helpful message when plugging into a not-before-seen computer
It's also helpful as a warning that you may not have as high a QC standard for the charging device as you should for your $1000 pocket supercomputer we call a smartphone
As I understand it these typically just use the power rails of the USB interface. I've used several AC->USB converters in the past, and they haven't been detected as a device. This is unusual at least in my experience.
Proper USB power supplies have the USB data pins shorted out, or a special resistor divider configuration to signal power delivey capabilities for Apple devices. No actual USB data communication. I would be very curious what is going on, are you willing to take apart the power supply?
There could be something shady going on but I've seen this message occasionally with my OEM cable. Realistically, what could a secret device in your cable do?
It may (or may not) be "shady"
It's an especially helpful message when plugging into a not-before-seen computer
It's also helpful as a warning that you may not have as high a QC standard for the charging device as you should for your $1000 pocket supercomputer we call a smartphone