Sometimes, you just don’t want to pay for an application. Even if it’s not the most expensive app out there, sometimes you just don’t want to drop the cash to get your hands on it. That doesn’t mean you don’t want the app — just that you don’t want to pay for it. So, if you can type a search into Google and find the APK file for that particular paid Android application, it won’t take much time at all to get it onto your device, minus the price tag. (That doesn’t count AT&T Android-based handsets, mind you.) But, it looks like that’s about to change, thanks to Google.
Google has just announced that they are going to allow developers to use a brand new licensing software for their paid applications, made available through the Android Market. Basically, this means that getting a pirated copy of any paid application that takes advantage of this software is going to be increasingly difficult. If at all possible.
It works, because the application will call upon a Google server to check the application against purchase records, versus the credentials of that purchase. So, if it isn’t you that bought the app, it will reportedly just not function as it should, if at all, on your device. While there’s the current copy-protection made through the Android Market, it’s obviously not doing the job well enough. Now, we just hope that it checks all of the purchase history against the particular Google account, and not just the device. Lest we lose all our paid apps when we get a new phone. What do you think of this move from Google? Are the open doors closing a bit?
[via Android Developer's Blog]
I view this added layer of security as protection for developers. I think this will be a good move for Android because it will reassure developers and give them confidence that people are paying for their apps when they should be. I would not like to be a developer and have a large chunk of people running pirated versions.
Although this will most likely piss people off... those are the people who are only complaining because the added security will prevent them from back-dooring the market and ripping .apk files to load paid apps for free.
I think developers will rejoice when they hear this. And you gotta give love back to your developers for all the hard work they do!
CallAndroidProtection();
with
// CallAndroidProtection();
?
CallAndroidProtection();
with
// CallAndroidProtection();
?
[realistically... I would assume the application would not be authenticated, and therefore not work, if someone would do that]
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Call me naive or stupid, but I just don't get it. "Open source" does NOT mean "free, or free to steal."