Apple Pulls iFixit App After A Teardown - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 12:06:13 am
content: You can't help butSome drone at Apple didn't even bother to check what iFixit actually didhttp://ifixit.org/blog/7401/ifixit-app-pulled/

author: Lightages
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 12:20:03 am
content: I tried to warm up to Apple a number of times, but I always felt like I would be buying into fashion rather than function. The reason I am happy to buy Android phones of different flavours was that #1, I could replace the battery when I needed during the day, #2, I can run what I want on my damn phone, and #3 I am not a sheeple. I also hate being told what I can and can't do. Yes I know that google tries to shut down some things, but there is always a workaround. With Apple you take where they want to put it and say "thank you may I have some more?"

author: JacquesBBB
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 12:47:22 am
content: Hi Lightages,Quite unrelated, but it happens that I am presently in Santiago, first time in Chile. Will be heading tomorrow for Atacama desert. You are really living in a very nice country.Cheers.Jacques

author: Stupid Beard
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 12:48:28 am
content: Because it's not entirely obvious ...Apple were providing developers with a development kit for the new Apple TV. It was a bit of a lottery if you got one or not, but since it was unreleased hardware that came with an NDA. The NDA is a pretty standard part of the Ts & Cs of the developer program and also applies to things like betas of OS X or iOS.The reason that iFixit's account was shut down was because theybroke the NDA, not because they took it apart. If iFixit had simply waited until the NDA was up before posting their teardown, then it would likely have turned out very differently.Edit: Forgot to mention, if you won the devkit lottery then the Apple TV cost you the princely sum of $1. The app was not pulled; their developer account was terminated. That had the side effect of their app being removed from the app store.In general I like iFixit and what they're doing and Apple annoy me, but in this case iFixit are clearly in the wrong.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 01:01:49 am
content: Quote from: Stupid Beard on October 02, 2015, 12:48:28 amOk, in that case that's dumb on their part.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 05:23:37 am
content: In a non related news from today, Amazon is banning Apple TVhttp://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-01/amazon-will-ban-sale-of-apple-google-video-streaming-devicesKarma wins.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 06:41:17 am
content: I have an iPhone 5, and honestly I do not think it is shit, and I am not a "fan" since that is the only piece of Apple I have. I recently tried to switch to Android phone and I was stunned how chaotic and unordered that OS is. I just could not believe what I had to go through to set it up. Took me 3 evenings to configure goddamn piece of junk phone OS. I am not a junior in tech but it was difficult for me to set up an Android phone. Google account, Google+, Google Drive, Samsung account, you name it, why do I need all this shit? Constant annoying messages , the phone lives its own life, always downloads something, I cannot stop it and I did not like that. The iPhone does not bother me with that shit, it just does the job WHEN I need it to do a job. So I decided to stay on 3 years old iphone 5.And I just remembered I actually bought a Nexus tablet time ago, but am not using it because of same shitty OS experience with Android imbecilic GUI. The only good thing that I was able to find was faster browsing, that was all.EDIT: I got my iphone 5 3 years ago on a 3-year contract, so it was partially subsidized by the cell phone company, and they also took my existing clamshell old phone for $70 (I was surprised they paid that much for it), so I only paid about $80 for the iPhone 5 out of pocket, And at the time iPhone design appealed much more aesthetically to me than other phones so that was the reason I went with an iPhone, and not because of fashion or 'religion'.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 06:46:26 am
content: I wanted to like iFixit, but multiple attempts to use their site for research left me cold. The disassembly instructions are inconsistent: many times they tell you to do things in the wrong order. And their teardowns are just that: pictures of devices taken to pieces, sometimes broken in the process. There isn't much thought given to smarter ways of doing things.Example:https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Retina+Display+Mid+2012+Teardown/9462Part of this device is assembled using pressure-activated adhesive. The way they take it apart? Just bash on it with screwdrivers until it rips off.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 07:47:18 am
content: Quote from: Stupid Beard on October 02, 2015, 12:48:28 amI don't think iFixit are "clearly" in the wrong at all. We're all making assumptions based on one article and generic corporate practices. As you said yourself, it's not entirely obvious. We don't know what the NDA (if there was any) actually said. As for Apple, why on earth would they give iFixit a device? I suspect they either didn't care or someone didn't do their homework. It's like giving Dave a bit of kit and assuming he won't take it apart but turn it on instead.iFixit posting what they posted is ultimately for the greater good. End users can only benefit from it. So what if Apple has a whinge and moan? People can do whatever they like withtheirdevices (whether they choose to void any warranties is their call).At the end of the day, if their iDevice was such a huge secret, they wouldn't have been handing them out like candy. The media and developers aren't any more special than you or I.Quote from: Bud on October 02, 2015, 06:41:17 amShort answer -- You don't. You aren't forced to sign up to anything with an Android device (unlike Apple where you must have an iTunes/Apple account before you can even use the damn thing!). Android is anything but chaotic and unordered . It's just far more functional than an Apple product as you can actually finely tune the device to your liking. Why it took you 3 days and me a mere 2-3 minutes to get a brand new Android device working is beyond me. It really couldn't be simpler. Even the pre-loaded applications from the likes of Samsung, Sony etc... can be easily deleted or disabled. That's the brilliant thing about Android, it'syourphone - You set it up and use it how you want to.Full disclosure: I own an Android phone.Sidenote: I'm very curious to find out what the new BlackBerry 'Priv' handset will be like:http://www.cnet.com/au/news/blackberry-releases-first-photos-of-android-powered-priv-phone/

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 08:53:34 am
content: Quote from: wilfred on October 02, 2015, 08:37:42 amI'd love to know who "people" are in this context. Seems there's always some (presumably) large, unnamed group who are implied to judge others based on their choice of telephone- but it's never anyactualpeople that the owner of the phone knows.It's a personal bugbear of mine, I guess... the use of anonymous "people" to justify something, as in "People need to...", or "This will encourage people to..." <insert topic here>.People need to get a grip and a sense of perspective, IMHO. And yes, I totally get the irony!

author: VK5RC
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 10:10:44 am
content: Was not a good move by iFixit "to pee in the bed", Apple play hardball and always have. I have found iFixits instruction set useful ( I live in a house of a wife and 3 teenager daughters [and done quite a few screens etc]) and for them the Apple OS is good, straight forward MOST of the time, but there are some serious bugs, the iOS doesn't fully delete emails so if you receive a lot, every year or so you have to do a full system reset. A lot of tech apps are written for Android 1st and then iOS, e.g. my Ham APRS app doesn't have an Apple version.

author: vinicius.jlantunes
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 12:56:35 pm
content: Quote from: wilfred on October 02, 2015, 08:37:42 amI also own a windows phone that was very cheap, and think they are great. No, I'm not a fanboy, but would you agree with me that their stuff is a bit underrated by general public? Are you liking it so far?It may not have the 1 million apps others have available to them, but 90% of that million apps is crap anyways. Most of the important stuff is available.EDIT: on hindsight, my post is a bit off-topic, please ignore it so it won't derail this thread. Thanks.

author: Stupid Beard
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 01:35:01 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on October 02, 2015, 07:47:18 amNo assumptions are necessary. The reason I said it's not obvious is because if you are not an OS X or iOS developer then you wouldn't have any reason to know where this stemmed from.This was a standard thing that was offered toallmembers of the iOS developer program to seed new Apple TVs so that people could port their apps/write new ones. There was a limited number of them so they did it as a lottery; if you had an active developer account and filled out a form and beat the random number generator you could get one for $1.iFixit was a registered developer, they did that, they won the lottery and got a device.The NDA is a standard part of the Ts & Cs for Apple's developer program. We know exactly what it says because you can go to Apple's developer site and read it. Their agreements are here:https://developer.apple.com/terms/. The relevant one isthis PDF. The relevant sections are 4, 5 and 6.The info on the developer kit seems to still be available on Apple's site:https://developer.apple.com/tvos/developer-kit/. Just in case it goes away, it's also onarchive.org.Quote from: Halcyon on October 02, 2015, 07:47:18 amNDAs are a standard part of pretty much all industries. If you agree to one then you stick to it or you take the consequences. I don't think that is unreasonable at all.If they had simply waited for the end of the month when the device ships to the public, there would have been no issue. Apple might have been annoyed, but it would not have been a breach of the NDA.Quote from: Halcyon on October 02, 2015, 07:47:18 amThey had to give them to developers in order to allow developers to make apps for it before it's released. Simulators only go so far and the performance difference between that and a real device is huge.And as a final word on the thing, seehttp://www.macrumors.com/2015/09/30/apple-bans-ifixit-developer-account-apple-tv/. They are saying basically the same thing as me.They say in addition that other people have been posting info and have not had their accounts banned (yet). Without looking into it in any detail, I would suggest that those people have only been posting things that Apple themselves have already announced. I think that's fine under the NDA, but it's been 30 mins since I read it and I closed the tab and can't be arsed to re-check nowI think that's pretty clear. Sorry that I didn't post all the extra information last night, but it was late and I was tired

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2015, 02:56:51 pm
content: Because now you need an App to visit a website. And I guess there are features, which were only supported in the App. Deep net is growing. Just make the website mobile friendly. Use HTML5.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 03, 2015, 02:29:58 am
content: Quote from: Stupid Beard on October 02, 2015, 01:35:01 pmI stand corrected. Thanks for the extra detail! :-) I retract my earlier comments.