iPhone can phone home and kill apps?
Apple has apparently included a blacklisting mechanism in iPhone OS 2.x through which the device can phone home, check for unauthorized applications, and disable them. The OS includes a URL that points to a page containing a list of unauthorized applications, specifically those listed here.
According to Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the book iPhone Open Application Development and an iPhone forensics manual:
This suggests that the iPhone calls home once in a while to find out what applications it should turn off. At the moment, no apps have been blacklisted, but by all appearances, this has been added to disable applications that the user has already downloaded and paid for, if Apple so chooses to shut them down.
I discovered this doing a forensic examination of an iPhone 3G. It appears to be tucked away in a configuration file deep inside CoreLocation.
Originally posted at iPhone Atlas.
Editors' note: For more information, see Tom Krazit's follow-up post, "Much ado about the iPhone's 'kill-switch'."
Cant wait to see how the apple fanboys spin this one.
And yes, you own the hardware, but once again you do *NOT* own the operating system on that hardware. You agree to let Apple control your use of the device by buying it. This is standard for all their products.
This method would allow Apple to "kill" software downloaded from their store only. Very important protection against malicious and overly crash-prone software.
So your current iPhone is fine? :)
To be sure it could be abused by Apple, but it could also be used to kill a malicious or problem app that snuck through the vetting process.
Yeah, I got my fug Palm TX, and yeah, I reset it about 1x/month, but I have a multitude of apps, mostly free, that do almost everything that I want a pocket device to do. And I like the calendar better on the TX. Basic control.
And my cellphone: free through Cingular.
I guess my take on this whole thing is... may the "old technology" that is not connected like a Palm TX is better solution for me too. I need my iPhone/PDA data at all times... not at times or apps that are just "okayed" by apple.
How many people do you think will be mad, when they buy a $12-30 app - then have it become non-functioning. Makes me very mad.
But do they have the guts to refund me? No.
Do they explain why they removed the VNC program? No
So far Apple has a lot of quality control issues that I am not happy with.
Will they uninstall super monkey ball from my phone also in the near future?
I think they made this to remove malicious software thats it. No where does it say it going to remove unauthorized apps. I for one am happy they are trying to protect consumers. not the small group of individuals that wants everything hacked.
You are just another RIM Fan BOY who is jealous at what we can do on our iPhones and what Apple has accomplished in such a short time period. Imagine where Apple will have this phone at in another year.... another 5 years.
Does it mean that Apple and Microsoft are conspiring, Big Brother-like, to control what you put on your device? No. It means they can kill software known to be malicious, such as Trojan horse programs.
I think it's interesting that people hate and fear software companies so much that they will immediately jump to Big Brother scenarios. Don't jump the gun, y'all. If the mechanism is not being used and no programs are blacklisted, there's no problem. Save the over-the-top emotional histrionics for when (and if) the mechanism actually gets used for nefarious purposes, 'kay?
Bottom line is as of now Apple has not abused me as a customer the way Microsoft has with windows Genuine advantage and onerous DRM built into Vista. They haven't abandoned me as a customer of itunes like MS abandoned its Plays-for-sure customers. They haven't tried to con me into paying more for music with Zune points. So I'll give Apple the benefit of the doubt for now.
It's as though Apple and ATT think someone might want to leverage that connectivity for malicious purposes. I think they harbor the delusion that the effects of a poorly designed or intentionally troublesome application might be able to quietly propagate through a network in a few minutes, infecting innumerable devices and systems worldwide without any ordinary users being aware of the problem until it's too late. They may even imagine that the users themselves might download privacy-compromising or destructive malware, disguised, perhaps, as as innocent games or family photos. Who would do such a thing?
Apple and ATT know full-well that stories of secretly installed code stealing credit card numbers, disrupting network traffic, or relaying pornography are all urban legends. Gee whiz, they probably think they have licensed software to people who have signed agreements to subscribe to a telephone service.
The nerve.
There is zero protection against this right now. Apple has cause to be worried and keep the ability to remove problems like this remotely if they can.
Basically the idea being that in order for an app to stay available, the developer had to pay their yearly fees to stay active. If they dropped out, then their apps would be pulled from the Apps Store and from the handunits that customers had purchased the product for. It calls into question again if you are buying software or only renting it. Another EULA situation to be dealt with.
Jailbreaking makes more and more sense. Apple can't do anything about that. If they do remove apps that were not in the Apps Store origianlly, then they become guilty of actively and knowingly causing damage / data destruction and that's simply not something they can afford to get caught doing. The federal government doesn't like that sort of thing and can easily shut the company down for terrorism as a result. Not a good thing at all.
Like I said, we have 1 iphone 1.0 here, and I have been evaluating my options, so my comment is just as valid as your "Sounds to me like they are just trying to protect the iPhone" praise for the company.
And as for your question, why would Apple do it... why wouldn't they. They are already pulling apps from the store that WERE approved, and according to the EULA they can remove those now from the handset. I am not saying they will, but am saying that they could.
My blackberry has all kinds of hooks I.T. could use to take control, except mine is a personal berry, meaning only I have control over it. The times Tmobile has exerted control (only pushing new apps so far, but I know they can try to remove) I have not been happy. So I'm not just ripping on Apple here.
As a private citizen, I feel we must fight back against these controls. If I 'purchase' something, I feel I should be able to control it. Just like my car. If I wanted to upgrade the stereo, engine, exhaust, tires, rims, etc I can. I couldn't if I were renting, but certainly if I purchased it. And that is basically how I want my phone to work too.
Oh, and the argument about protecting the network will only take you so far. Many of the countless apps I have installed to try or use on my blackberry have not had access to the network at all.
So maybe the trumpets wont sound when/if I buy another Apple product, but I bet they will if you realize that Apple isn't perfect and innocent.
The only major thing I ever did was did the 2.0 update bought a few nice apps I like then the patch then now I have missing software.
If you are installing apps by buying them through the Apps Store on the iPhone itself, it's critical to make sure you allow iTunes to transfer the content to the host system you sync with or else you can and will lose them. If you sync with more than one machine then you complicate matters.
This isn't really a fault of the iPhone so much as it is with iTunes and that's been going on for years now with paid content.
What was the name of the application you were using that you lost?
What's the betting that apple will use this on those who still have the app on their phonei. I'm not sure if it's back up over there in americaland, but here in the uk, the app's gone (mainly cos tethering is against O2's TOS). When I get an iPhone, I'm gonna jailbreak it and hopefully someone will make their own version of NetShare. **crosses fingers**
- by DivingDancer August 7, 2008 1:03 PM PDT
- If somebody found this in a Microsoft device, people would be screaming for congressional hearings, and the EU would be salivating. And Apple gets a pass.
- Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (45 Comments)Add that to poor quality control, and high priority security patches that come out last in the industry and don't actually patch the vulnerability when they are released...
No thanks. Their paranoid BS, and super secret culture, is more than I want to deal with.