Apple took a lot of criticism for its App Store policies over the last couple of years, but considering what’s happening on those “open” stores, I’m pretty happy with what Apple has done.
[ad#Google Adsense 300×250 in story]There is no doubt that Apple made some mistakes since the App Store first opened. Apps that should have been approved that weren’t, and apps that should have been kicked at the vetting process, but made it through.
At the time, we all waited for the next developer to post an open letter to Apple on their Web site, hoping to stir up some support for their app. When they did, we jumped at the chance to scream at the company.
For the most part, those instances were all part of the App Store’s growing pains. Apple did make some changes along the way and the process seems fairly smooth now.
When I look at the criticisms of what Apple was trying to do with the App Store and how things are working now, I’m glad they stuck to their guns. There were some tough periods, but the company’s strategy gives me peace of mind.
I don’t want to worry that downloading an app may put malware on my phone or trash it in some way. I don’t want to spend my day restoring my phone from a (hopefully) clean backup because a downloaded app blew up my device.
If you don’t think that can happen, consider this. Google’s “open” Android Market in March was found to have 58 apps that contained malicious code that would expose customer’s information. That’s a serious breach of security.
With the malicious apps installed, the developer was able to gain access to the customer’s IMEI and IMSI, product ID, model, partner, language, country, and userID. In a statement released by Google, they said it’s believed that only the IMEI was compromised.
Whatever was compromised, I don’t want to have to worry about that happening to me. If I want to download an app, I want to be able to do it and not be concerned that a developer is trying to trick me.
While Apple has been criticized for being the gatekeeper of the App Store, you can’t argue with the overall success they’ve had. Apple currently has more than 350,000 apps and over 10 billion apps downloaded. That’s a lot of trust from customers.
Consumers shouldn’t have to worry about downloading an app for their mobile device. For the most part, the only people that care about an app store being open are tech geeks.
Most people just want to feel safe. I feel safe in Apple’s walled garden.
Cue the Doctorows ranting and raving about what we lost because the iPhone doesn’t ship with schematics.
People used to be safe in East Germany as well. The government made sure there was virtually zero crime and everyone had a guaranteed job for life, yet still people risked their lives to get to the west.
Me, I’d rather take my chances in the free world. Sure there’s malware, but that’s the price of being able to install what you want on your phone instead of Uncle Jobs deciding for you and telling you it’s for your own good.
Jim, this is a good job.
Many confused pundits cannot distinguish between open and free (free as in “liberty” not as in “no cost”). Time after time they ignorantly equate the two, when in fact they are not the same thing. I lock my house, I lock my car, I keep my bank account protected, I keep my passwords private, all because there are valuable things and people that I want to be safe and secure. It is in fact an expression of my freedom that I have the ability to exclude others from coming into my house and touching things, driving my car without permission, taking my money, or sneaking into secret places and examining my intellectual property.
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” That’s why I appreciate the Apple approach to apps. It’s making an effort to protect me from those who don’t know the difference between open and free and who are willing to sacrifice their security for an ideal whose implications they do not even understand. There are many who love to take advantage of that kind of intellectual shallowness, and recent exploits (pun intended) in the Android world show how vulnerable open is.
“I don’t want to worry that downloading an app may put malware on my phone or trash it in some way.”
I find this statement rather disconcerting because it seems to suggest that there is not a risk from downloading an app from the App Store after Apple has reviewed it. While Apple does review the program, they cannot guarantee that an app is not hiding something malicious. True, apps on Apple’s App Store are probably safer in general to download, but we cannot be led into a false sense of security.
Or, y’know, just don’t download unreviewed apps from randos.
Your argument about sheer numbers is more or less moot, unless you want to argue that 150k apps and nearly 4 billion downloads is not “A lot of trust from customers.”
The thing I like about the Android app store is that they let the consumer decide which apps are worthwhile and which ones aren’t. Apple has certainly blocked applications I would have been very interested to have on my phone (lol Google Voice); the Android market is relatively free from overt corporate interests squashing the release of applications.
Sure, the Android store has its problems, but if your argument against using the Android app store is seriously based on the idea that 0.03% of the applications were malicious, I think it’s time to go back to the drawing board.
Oh come on! You are comparing life under a a government that kills you for breaking their rules to Apple app store?
I think you should compare it to using a condom (safe sex) or not. Apple is like using a condom when having sex with strangers. It gives you piece of mind that you aren’t going to pick up an STD that may cause years of trouble. Your way is to have sex with strangers without protection. Sooner or later, you are going to catch something. May be a devastating disease or one that can be cleared up easily, that’s the chance you are taking each and every time.
I prefer Apple’s condom, myself.
Could you please supply the information about how many apps in the Apple app store have malware in them?
No, a proper analogy for a condom would be a virus scanner. Apple is alike to Big Brother telling you who you can & can’t marry. If you don’t want an STD use a condom (virus scanner) and don’t sleep with known whores (download iffy apps).
I’m fine with a company saying “everything in our store is safe and checked by us”, however it’s a whole different story when they forbid me to install what I want on a phone I paid for.
Those 58 apps were’nt being sold in some back alley web site. They were being sold right there in the Android “Flea” Marketplace. Shopping in the Apple App Store is like shopping in the mall. It’s much safer than the “buyer beware” flea market.
I think you are wrong and have an naive view of companies and the things they manufacture. If I install extras on my dishwasher, or use non-recommended detergent, that the company has not approved, then I void my warrantee. An Apple phone is no different.
Naive huh? I will make no apologies in saying I’m in the “I own it so I should be able to do what i want with it” crowd. Installing a program doesn’t void warranty. If the hard disk in your computer is broken and you send it to be repaired Western Digital will send you a new one (as long as your warranty is valid) regardless of what you installed on it. Phone is no different.
Your sense of security is false. While apps need to go through a rudimentary initial audit, there’s nothing preventing a developer from releasing (whether inadvertently or not) a new version of their application with an trojan or virus included. In fact, this has been demonstrated multiple times.
This is the same sense of security Linux users have about package repositories. They’re moderated, so Linux must be totally secure. It helps, sure–but it’s far, far, far from what you’re implying–that it’s inherently secure or immune.
Who says you can’t? Install anything you want, there goes the warrantee that’s all. If you add non-approved extras to your Western Digital hard drive, they won’t send you another- you just answered your own question. You jerry rig your iPhone up, why should Apple invalidate your warranty?
The problem is that you look at things like I can do anything I want to it and you have to get me out of my mess, if it’s Apple. With everyone else you just say, well they said I couldn’t do that. Guess they won’t fix it now.
Well, you can jailbreak if you want.
Analogy is wrong. You install programs on your hard disk. You install programs on your iPhone. Unless you actually brick your iPhone it is trivial to reinstall a standard image onto the phone. Installing software is not the same as physically adding extras to a dishwasher.
You seem to be under the impression that your phone will explode if you install the wrong software, your analogies don’t make sense.
PS I don’t use an iPhone precisely for this reason, and I’m not alone. If a couple of years ago Microsoft pulled this crap it would be vilified till the cows came home, however Apple has been able to spin this so people do think it’s for their good. The only reason Apple is doing this is the bottom line. I used to love Apple, now they’re the new Microsoft.
Did you really just compare a phone to a totalitarian government?
Jesus Christ.
I don’t see where the iPhone and a bulk hard disk are comparable devices. One is a data storage device, the other a computer.
The problem in most Android. Stores is that you have a choice between whores and whores with STDs.
That I did. While the latter is of course much much worse than the Apple app store the analogy still makes sense.
Exactly. If your laptop’s broken dell (or even Apple for that matter) doesn’t ask “what have you been installing on this”. They fix the hardware or give you a new one.
And this malware paranoia has gone WAY overboard. If you’re clever enough you can insert malware into an app in such a way that Apple doesn’t notice. It’s a matter of time before someone shows that Apple’s methodology is broken.
This precisely describes my feelings towards this “issue”.
I’m having a hard time remembering more than one instance where I was angry at Apple, because I couldn’t do something I wanted to, and it wasn’t even important.
I’ve made it comfortable for myself in this golden cage I’m in.
Thank you. I’d also like to remind the author of the Wall Street Journal article that talks about these vulnerabilities in both Android and iPhone Apps.
Right. Those who trade freedom for security get neither. Do you have any other insightful, well thought out gems to share?
I sure you bank in non-FDIC regulated banks and walk around because you don’t want “The Man” telling you when, where and how to drive.
You live in a box, because you don’t want the State telling you that your home must be up to code.
You live completely off the grid so you can “take your chances in the free world.”
I love people like you. You honestly think that “freedom” is defined by what you can install on your phone? You don’t even know what freedom is, smart guy. You are just some guy with a phone and “Uncle Google” is laughing as you regurgitate the Google playback like a good flunky.
For someone who claims to recognize bad analogies you sure don’t seem to recognize your own.
(Not that the other guy’s were that great either.)
Nice article. The genius of iOS and the App Store is the simplicity and seamlessness of the experience. One click, done. No forms to fill out, no screwing around with installer options, and, most importantly, no fear. This is how you get grannies from middle America on the bandwagon. Winning!
@Nielsen
You’re quite mistaken. Every App on the App store is tested, both with automated testing systems, automated source code analyzers and a real, human testers. This applies to every app update as well. The App Store really is curated.
@MrGats
Yep, right. And it’s just a matter of time before there is an OS X virus in the wild. And it’s just a matter of time before there’s a decent iPad competitor on the market. I like your logic 😉
With enough time and clever people putting effort into it any system be broken, including Apples app tests. While they do filter out the mindless script kiddies a skillful hacker with enough time & motivation could slip some undesired code in there.
Welcome to the Loop’s Metaphor-Marathon-Analogy-Fest
(but doubt many of you were English Majors at University – smile)
.
East Germany, Dishwashers, and Rubbers
Now THAT is a helluva mix
Must be a Joke in there somewhere, if only …
Did you hear the one about the Berlin Hooker who walked into a scullery ?
.
Sorry, but not sure these analogies are, well … analogous
And I base this judgement on …
“Reasoning by analogy is a process of, from a given pair (x,f(x)), extrapolating the function f. In the standard modeling, analogical reasoning involves two “objects”: the source and the target. The target is supposed to be incomplete and in need for a complete description using the source. The target has an existing part St and a missing part Rt. We assume that we can isolate a situation of the source Ss, which corresponds to a situation of target St, and the result of the source Rs, which correspond to the result of the target Rt. With Bs, the relation between Ss and Rs, we want Bt, the relation between St and Rt.”
Ok, follow all that ?
Yea, right (SMILE)
.
So you all keep working on it, and in meantime …
Is a Free Computing World – if you don’t like Apple’s approach ?
Then stay away from Mac, iPhone, iPad, or AppStore
As well as seat belts, motorcycle helmets … and ‘raincoats’
(just don’t make any plans to date my Sister – no smile)
.
How does it not make sense? Apple decides if I’m allowed to install an app on my phone or not. While I have nothing against the idea of an app store that’s curated by a 3rd party, I do have a problem with not being allowed to install apps outside the app store accepting the risk.
Euhm…you’re the one bringing up the quote.
Thank you for your analysis of how i supposedly live my life, I’ll be sure to share it with my fellow Android users. If you think that all us people that like to install we want on our phones are anarchistic nuts they you have certainly been drinking too much of the Apple Kool Aid.
As you’re so sure I have no idea what freedom is I suppose you can tell me? When it comes to phones Google is the lesser evil. I suppose Mr Jobs isn’t laughing all the way to the bank?
You’re comparing bananas to oranges.
There’s a difference between a hardware defect and corrupted software.
Should the iPhone have a hardware defect, Apple’s going to replace it in no-time.
Software is a different matter. To use your flawed analogy: If you were to install software that would alter the laptop’s configuration at a level close to the bios or the bios in a way that’s not authorised by the producer, it’ll void your warranty and they’re going to tell you to go fuck yourself once they notice it.
ergo “. Unless you actually brick your iPhone”
I don’t think you are an anarchist at all. Just the opposite in fact. I think you are the epitome if a conformist,a consumer. People who think they are free but are not are the best people to have supporting the cause. You think Google isn’t laughing to the bank? Please.
You do exactly as much as Google and the telecoms let you do and no more. iPhone users can do just as much as you can.
How about we both go get the source to Honeycomb. Whoops. Tell you what, let’s get the source to Android 2.2. You’ve done that right? You’ve exercised that freedom, right?
Jim, You will like Amazon’s Android App Store. Unlike the Marketplace, apps are vetted by Amazon at its App Store. They are offering a free app every day. Today’s free app is SoundHound, marked down from $4.99 to free.
Retard
What a stupid analogy!
Sure. But why bother when you easily just upload stuff to all the super smart Android users just waiting to be picked? And you don’t even have to be clever.
You’ve got all the freedom people getting all the malware, but its only fair. You’re getting all the mobile AV too.
And Amazon only disables Android’s app restrictions. That’s a great deal.
And you can run all the Gay cure apps you want. Sweet.
How would you feel if Apple locked down your laptop the same way?
None of us are truly free. The free men are the beduins of north Africa who
pitch a tent where they want when they want and are mostly self reliant. And
no, I am not implying we sell all our possessions and move to the desert.
Or course Google isn’t some sort of utopia. But at the moment it is the
lesser of two evils when it comes to phones.
IPhone users cannot do what I can. At the top of my head I can name Snes/nes
emulators or flash. Or proper multi tasking. Or installing an ssh server.
I’m aware of the way Google works with open source. But at least eventually
the source will be released.
My first reaction would be “???????”. The only laptop I have is a Windows laptop for my wife. My desktops are Windows 7 x64 machines, so I would be really confused.
That fact is that IF I had an Apple laptop it still isn’t locked down. How would you feel if Google said “We are not releasing Honeycomb?”
How would you feel if Google took photos of your home or sent trucks around sniffing wifi data?
But to play your game, how would you feel if Google just came by and took your phone? We can play hypotheticals all day.
What if ms dictated what you could and could not install on your laptop? The
way apple is developing osx one day it will be locked down.
I wouldn’t really care if Google wasn’t releasing honeycomb as I’d happily
get a palm pre.
And as I’ve pointed out numerous times before when it comes to PHONES Google
is the lesser evil.
None of use are truly free. That’s progress. “The lesser of two evils.” That’s your opinion. So far, Google has been compromised and the potential is not only greater, but realized.
To me, freedom and not having to worry about whether or not an app I downloaded on a whim is going to come back and bite me in the ass.
I love pseudo-nerds. “You can run an snes emulator.” Don’t want to. Who still plays SNES? Who wants to? My time is valuable. You can’t run Hipmunk.
“Or flash” From what I see, no one can run it well. And I don’t need it. I’ve moved from an iPod Touch, to iPhone to iPad. Still not missing it. And NO one can run full Flash. Not even you.
“Or proper multitasking.” Yet somehow, my calls come in when I’m doing anything. I can browse while listening to music, check email while playing a game.”
In stall an ssh server. Well, that’s useful. And I say this as someone who install and RDC program on my iPhone.
So far you haven’t listed anything the most people find useful. Only edge cases that appeal to people who have more time than I do to spend on such things.
And you build Android yet? That was what I asked.
What if they came home and took my machine? Has it happened? No. And how would a Palm pre replace a tablet OS?
I am honored that an obvious multi-billionaire is speaking to me. I mean, you must be fabulously wealthy being able to see the future and all.
How much *do* you have?
Well you go live in your walled kingdom. I’m sure that unlike all us pseudo
nerds you’re spending your valuable free time doing things of great
importance.
If you think closed source and an old man sitting in a magical office in a
magical building dictating what you can and can’t do with your own phone is
progress I would love a sample of what you’re smoking.
Me, ill stick to my malware ridden phone full of useless features that only
us edge cases use and be happier for it.
Ps there are plenty of us that still play Snes and although I haven’t yet
had a reason to build Android I’ve built many a FreeBSD/openbsd/linux
kernels in my lifetime. And I’m happy to know that if I ever have the need
the Android source is there for me to play with.
In other words, you haven’t done it. Instead of exercising the freedom you value, you spend your time SSH’ing into your phone and playing Mario brothers.
Awesome. I guess that’s the difference between being a professional software developer and being whatever it is you are.
Apple has had a lot of bad code slide past them. They don’t publicise it, and their developer agreement says that the writers of the app aren’t allowed to talk about once Apple catches it. The most widely known examples of Apple’s slip-ups were the whole slew of apps that hid tethering support in them. It wasn’t malware, but it’s funcionality that Apple didn’t catch, and malware can be inserted in just such a manner.
The malware that exists in Apple’s market doesn’t brick your phone, or mess things up, because that’s hard to miss, and there’s no profit from that. The malware in Apple’s market just reports a lot more of your personal information than you’d like it to.
Try living in a real totalitarian society and continue claiming how Apple’s control of the App Store is exactly the same as living in a police state. Idiot.
On second thought, continue making your insane arguments. They will only convince more people just how crazy your side is. Wasn’t it the ancient Greeks who noted, whom the gods deign to destroy, they first drive mad? We’re enjoying the increasingly freakish, frothing-at-the-mouth rants of how Apple=Nazi Germany because it REALLY TRULY helps your cause!
Whereas you prefer living in the Wild West where the only justice is meted out a Colt but you are totally free?
Are you actually arguing that unless people choose to live in a crime-ridden neighborhood, people don’t deserve security or freedom?
The fact that you are mindlessly trotting a Franklin quote out of context (SOOO ORIGINAL! +1!!!!) like it actually meant something shows you don’t even have a basic understanding of either security or freedom.
Simply registering your Android phone gives Google a lot more personal information than anyone would like to.
Thank you for volunteering on being the Universal App Guinea Pig for all those millions of Android users so they can be sure some other sucker got infected with malware.
It’s like every Android geek think they’re king and wants to have a poor sap eat the food before they do to check for poison. Such is the privileged thinking of mindless “open” devotees. “Open always wins,” but the unspoken argument is the idea that geeks by natural birthright should inherit the privileges of royalty among the rabble of ordinary Android users.
It’s not a “golden cage.” With all due respect, please don’t use that argument as it only plays to the false argument presented by the Apple haters.
The choice is the difference between living in a nice neighborhood with a low crime rate, regular trash pickup service, and no seedy businesses versus living in a ghetto where the police, drug gangs, and pimps are all jockeying for power among dilapidated houses with boarded-up windows and trash-strewn streets.
That’s not wanting to live in a golden cage. That’s just wanting to live without worrying about getting shot up or mugged every time you venture out on the street. It’s the only SANE choice and SANE person can make, and has nothing to do with “cages” or “walled gardens.”
I love it how all you “open” advocates want all the power, but as soon as something goes wrong a la bricking, you want to go blubbering to Apple about how you didn’t do anything, and how Apple “needs” to replace your iPhone asap.
All the power, yet none of the responsibility.
Here’s another proverb you should heed – if you want to live by the sword, then you better be willing to die by it.
I feel you really need a big whack in the head with a cluestick. Forgive my reposting this, but…
Here’s clue: living and suffering in a totalitarian police state is NOTHING like using an iPhone.
There may have been “no crime,” (as you claim) – unless you count the 60 million people Stalin enslaved and killed in the gulags, or the summary executions without trial for being “an enemy of the state,” or being sent to political reeducation camps for, horror of horrors, being a doctor or an educated elite.
Yeah, those things weren’t crimes at all, and it’s so obvious that using an iPhone is worse than having to deal with those trifles of totalitarian life.
Grow up and get some perspective, man! Your analogy is a sheer waste of whatever precious brainpower you possess. Learn a little history and get a clue.
The analogy does not stick at all. You can get killed trying to flee from East Germany, whereas any one can decide to up and quit Apple walled garden without suffering a scratch. I did that on my iPhone 1 for about a year and decided the “open” world of technology is just NOT worth the hassle for me. So I am blissfully back in the magic walled garden with my iPhone 4. I feel a lot more protected and everything worked so much more smoothly than out there in the wild.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704694004576020083703574602.html
the “malicious” code you refer to is a bit of a misnomer. It does not seek to destroy your phone. It seeks to keep you using it while hiding in the background. Like any good parasite, it does not kill the host. it is more simple to hide something in plain sight (in the terms and conditions) than insert stack smashing code (or another example…you get my point) that reports the same info.
And btw, I am a very happy iphone user. and a os x user. lion is going to be full of significant improvements that will help the average home user use a computer more efficiently. http://www.apple.com/macosx/lion/
What is very important is to note there the use of 2 adjectives: home and average. Many people bash apple for picking one market and sticking to it. Instead of going after all users poorly, they focus on the average and home users. these are the ones that do not know what source code is, so don’t care if they can read it. they know apple is more qualified to curate their apps than they are, so they are fine with it. there is nothing more to that relationship in that direction. stop with the golden cage/fenced yard/condom(wtf?)/whore(wtf wtf?)/whore with std’s(ok, seriously now…) analogies.
i must add though, as a professional software developer and a unix-based user, i find os x more useful than other distro’s and windows. but ymmv on that one depending on personal experience. xcode 4 is an amazing way to code, and objective c/ cocoa(touch) is delightful (smalltalk has always been one of my favorite languages). Combined, these factors make me prefer os x and xcode 4 to windows anything and visual studio 2010 + .net. This is particularly interesting when you consider the fact that microsoft, unlike apple, is infamous for putting its developers before its users.
I digress. the point im trying to make is that there does not need to be one os, vendor, or manufacturer to rule them all. the ways in which different people use a computer are very diverse- naturally, so are the computers they use.
Android nerds who trumpet the relative “freedoms” of a relatively “open” OS are charming in their ideological purity, but don’t constitute much more than a sullen, self-righteous minority of the people who will actually buy these devices.
Most consumers don’t give a damn about how “open” their phone or computer is. They just want something that works, that doesn’t require anti-malware maintenance or excessive “configuration,” especially after having suffered for a decade or more with “open” personal computers which may as well have been designed to create the botnets that provide all the spam we now enjoy.
That AT&T salesperson who runs out of iPhones won’t suggest the customer run across the street to a Verizon store. He’ll suggest an Android smartphone that he’ll claim is just as easy to use, convenient, and protected as the iPhone. Some consumers will believe this. That’s where the non-nerd Android phone sales are being made.
I got the Bs part! (smile)
Can I date your sister now? (still smile)
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/03/google-yanks-psone-emulator-developer-blames-xperia-play-launch.ars
How can this be? Android is open.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_15/b4223041200216.htm
But Google is open.
philips
Sure, stop by the house anytime
But just look out for the OTHER Sister
(SMILE)
Apple just steals a large amount to have them placed in the Stores. But, iPhone Apps steal data and betray you too. Apple does nothing to stop this invasion of privacy. My ID’s and my location should not be available for the highjacking. I wish Apple would protect their clients, a lot more safety and privacy could be used. At least they slowed down the little kids making huge in App purchases. Apple has little interest in protecting anything but their sales.
It doesn’t look that bad as it looked before!!..
I disagree. The hundreds of apps in the Apple app store remain. There is no recourse – and no refunds – for the buyer with Apples bad apps. With Android, one has 24 hours to request a refund. Apple is greedy. Once they have your money they don’t care.