The canker at the heart of Apple's App Store
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
It seems that Apple continues to get into hot water over its applications store for the iPhone. The Electronic Frontier Foundation finally managed to get a copy of the developer agreement, which developers have to sign before they can submit applications for approval.
The EFF, which got the agreement after issuing a Freedom of Information Act request in the US, says that are some things in the agreement that give it a cause for concern.Apple can reject an application for any reason, even if it meets all the formal requirements. Moreover, Apple can get rid of an application that it has already approved, at any time. The company is also able to remotely disable applications even after users have installed them (and, presumably in some cases, paid for them - yikes!).
Apple invoked the ire of its developer community recently, after arbitrarily deciding to kill all adult applications for the iPhone. And the company has a habit of refusing to authorise some applications for no discernible reason. That is what it did with Google Voice last year, when the search engine giant tried to release an application in the App Store.
There's no doubt that Apple, for all of its wonderful hardware design and fabulous software, is something of a fascistic company. At the other end of the spectrum, we have Google's Android App Store. Users are allowed to install anything they want on the open source Android system.
The question is, which would you rather have? The problem with allowing users to install any application they want is that sometimes, those applications are not good for them. At the RSA security conference earlier this month, researchers from security firm TippingPoint revealed that they had released an application designed for Android devices, and for jail broken iPhones. A jail broken iPhone is one in which the user has removed the software protection originally imposed by Apple, enabling them to load and run anything they like.
The application was a simple weather app, like the ones that have already been authorised by Apple. Except that this one wasn't authorised. It turns out that the researchers embedded code in the application that enabled them to harvest information from the iPhones, essentially turning them into a huge botnet. 8000 fans were co-opted to the botnet in the experiment. They didn't distribute their app through the conventional Apple iPhone or Android stores, instead offering it through third party sites offering collections of apps.
Ideally, a locked down, draconian App Store would stop software applications that did naughty things from being downloaded. But what isn't clear is how much effort Apple actually puts into verifying that its software isn't malicious. In November last year, iPhone games developer Storm8 was hit by a lawsuit after it was alleged that the company's software was collecting the phone numbers of iPhone gamers without their knowledge or consent. The developer blamed it on a software bug.
But, whether it was a bug, or intentional, it raises interesting questions about Apple's level of diligence when it comes to approving applications. What would you rather have? A mobile phone application service that lets you install anything you like at your own risk, or a locked-down store that only lets you install the applications that Apple approves, some of which may be gathering data on you secretly, regardless?
Danny Bradbury, MSN Tech & Gadgets
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Posted by: K Trondsen | Mar 16, 2010 7:59:31 AM
Quite frankly, I'm glad that Apple decided to cut out the adult applications like the Cancer that it is. Atleast there are still companies out there with some morals. Oh boo hoo poor porn addicts who can't get their addiction filled on their iphones now like some creepy little pervert. Do that crap in your own house. The reason it got taken out is because healthy minded people don't want that garbage FORCED on them everywhere they go.
Your post is a bunch of baby dribble. Grow up.
Posted by: Felix Jones | Mar 16, 2010 10:50:14 AM
@K Trondsen
Do you not realize that the porn is not the point here? The real issue at hand is whether we should allow hardware suppliers to control content. Which is what Apple is doing. Would you allow HP, Dell, etc. (or Apple for that matter) to tell you which websites you can surf? The author does present an interesting dichotomy in the article, or at least two extremes. Total control by the company, or total control by the user. I'm interested to see how this will pan out, as with everything else the correct answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
Posted by: K Ward | Mar 16, 2010 11:31:01 AM
I agree with Felix Jones. To illustrate the issue, let's put a different spin on it...
There are a number of religious Apps for the iPhone. One example is a version of the Bible you can buy. There are many non-Christian religions who would consider this to be the "cancer" that K Trondsen uses to describe Porn. There are many who feel that religious doctorine is equally garbage being forced upon them.
If Apple decided to block all religious-themed Apps for fear of offending the people I just described, would you be as tolerant of the practice?
Posted by: A Moore | Mar 16, 2010 8:12:10 PM
Apple doesn't operate like other companies; whether you buy an iPhone or an iMac, you pay for the hardware and you "rent" control of it. Look at their EULA for Snow Leopard, or any of their software/product. You don't have control PERIOD. Apple is about quality control to the Nth degree. Their products run the way they do because of this control, and it makes me happy to know that they at least spend some time and money on ensuring the quality of the Apps. Just wait until someone puts an app out for Androids that's actually a virus. Apple can stop anything malicious by verifying the functionality of the program, Google on the other hand, doing nothing, cannot/will not stop a virus. My iPod Touch is safe, so are my computers. Apple can do as it pleases so long as they have a valid and justifiable reason.
As far as K Ward's concern about blocking all "__-themed" apps, I have only this to say, you agree to the terms and conditions of the End User License Agreement when you purchase the iPhone/iPod Touch, so YES APPLE CAN DO WHAT IT PLEASES. So everyone quit your quibbling, if you don't like it buy an Android/Blackberry/Nokia/etc, no-one's forcing it on you. Though they are wicked awesome!
BTW, ask anyone who owns a Mac, they'll probably tell you the exact same thing, why do think WindowsPCs are as bugging and unreliable as they are.
Posted by: Ghanghis Khan | Mar 16, 2010 10:31:31 PM
You tell them A. Moore. Totally agree with you. If you don't like it...don't buy it!
Posted by: Nathan | Mar 17, 2010 2:37:34 AM
I like my BlackBerry because I can download anything from anywhere. I don't just download *anything*, but having the freedom to do so is nice.
Posted by: Jack | Apr 12, 2010 4:00:32 PM
A Moore said "Apple can do as it pleases so long as they have a valid and justifiable reason."
You missed the point of the article - They DON'T have to have a reason; valid, justifiable, or otherwise. They can do it just because...