Enfour has since launched a “crucial maintenance release” to iTunes, and the issue has seemingly been resolved...
I found Enfour’s accusation especially insulting given the price I paid for the software—US$55. That is to say, the iOS version of the Oxford Dictionary of English costs the equivalent of a dense printed-and-bound volume of the very same. Worse, I grumblingly upgraded from the 3G to the 4S a year ago explicitly to purchase this expensive dictionary software (in fact, it was the very first purchase I made in iTunes once I was home from the AT&T store). I have frequently taken to Twitter to manufacture arguments over the cost of Enfour’s Oxford application, always defending my purchase.
...I remember seeing the app’s request pop up, and I’d simply assumed the dictionary had added some sort of social networking functionality, something like “share this crazy new word with your friends!” or whatever. (Enfour’s software integrates very nicely with another app, the excellent Terminology, which does indeed include a “Twitter” button along with each definition.) At no point did Enfour disclose its intention to “post to Twitter on [my] behalf,” however. The request seemed perfectly innocuous.
One user did deny Enfour this permission request, and he discovered that Oxford booted him from the software entirely. This is to say, he could not use Enfour’s Oxford at all unless he granted the dictionary permission to humiliate him publicly.
Enfour has since admitted there was a “glitch” that caused “false positives” in the software. What’s especially harrowing, though, is that Enfour apparently mined the data in the iPhone itself in an effort to determine, not whether Enfour’s own software is pirated, but whether any software on the iOS device is pirated. This is ominous news for anyone with a jailbroken phone; for my own part, my device is perfectly legal (to a fault), but I do have a copy of TestFlight, a type of software that allows me to test beta builds of developers’ apps.
This is a terrible dictionary . It took me 2 weeks just to get to m. It took me 5 weeks to get to z. Don't waist your time!!!!!!!!!!!!posted by mullingitover at 2:07 PM on November 29, 2012 [12 favorites]
"This is a terrible dictionary . It took me 2 weeks just to get to m. It took me 5 weeks to get to z. Don't waist your time!!!!!!!!!!!!"I suspect he skipped a page or two on the way…
So did I read that right: the app refused to launch until you entered your twitter handle and, presumably, your password?Twitter functionality is built into iOS 5. Supposedly you need to give the app permission to use it, though.
This behavior is almost certainly against Twitter's Terms of Service for Developer Partners, which is a legally binding contract in the US.I think it would be great if Twitter sued the crap out of them. They probably won't, but right now companies are getting away with this kind of behavior without any real penalties.
delmoi writes "this is a perfect example of how people who think it's perfectly reasonable to let developers just do whatever they want with any data on your phone are idiots. "I wouldn't have thought anyone would say that either, but when the whole thing about path secretly uploading people's contact lists, from their iphones, and that any apps could access your photos someone who claimed to be an iPhone developer was claiming it was "no big deal" and other crap.
Who the heck thinks this?
Some back of the envelope analysis suggest that Apple makes more profit from every iOS developer because they have to buy Apple kit in order to develop for iOS (realistically, at a minimum a phone to test on and a desktop or laptop OSX box) than the entire earnings of the iOS development community.It's $99 plus you have to own a mac, I think. Realistically though this is how most closed platforms work - you have to pay for dev kits in order to develop for the platform. It's still a much better deal than it was 10 years ago when you might have to spend thousands and get special equipment to develop for Nintendo or Sega.
This has little to do with Apple or Twitter policies about developers, because this happens in very similar ways with other technology (like Facebook and Android) which no one complains too much about.I've never heard about an android app posting stuff to people's twitter feeds without their permission. Doesn't iOS have twitter functionality built in, while on android an app developer would need to get their own API key in order to post things? Or do iOS apps each require their own API key?
Conversely, I'd say that if the user could remove individual permissions without rooting their android*, this would be less of an issue. Alternatively, I'd like an obligatory blurb where each program explains how it uses each permission.The network permissions thing is typically so they can show you ads. One thing a developer could theoretically do is distribute features as separate modules with their own permissions. So if you wanted to write, say, a note taking app you wouldn't need network permissions for it to work, and then if you wanted to have the app automatically upload to drop box or other cloud providers you could download a separate module that has that permission.
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Well who in their wildest dreams could've ever imagined that would happen.
posted by glhaynes at 1:42 PM on November 29, 2012 [23 favorites]