Filed under: Apple, iPhone, App Store
Multiple iPhone household? Share your apps.
Let me start this post off by pointing out that I am not a lawyer, and I don't even play one on TV. I have, however, been called for jury duty a few times, so I know my way around a courthouse.Melvin Rivera isn't a lawyer either, but he and his wife own two iPhones. Melvin knew that iPhone apps are wrapped with Apple's delicious flavor of DRM called 'FairPlay' that has some fairly open terms of use. You can authorize up to five computers to access items purchased from the iTunes store (that aren't iTunes Plus tracks, since they don't have any DRM on them) and you can then play those tracks (and one assumes applications) on any unlimited number of iPods and iPhones.
Melvin, being the clever man that he is, realized that he shouldn't have to purchase two copies of Super Monkey Ball: one for his wife's iPhone and another for his. FairPlay makes it clear that those apps should be able to run on multiple iPhones, so after some poking around Melvin got it to work. Check out his blog for the blow by blow account.
Clearly, this approach is kosher as far as the DRM is concerned, but do iPhone apps have licenses that supersede the FairPlay wrapper? I haven't agreed to any per app licensing agreements when installing something on my iPhone (as of yet) though that doesn't mean they don't exist (as I pointed out above I'm no Perry Mason).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Stephen.4 said 2:07PM on 7-25-2008
Be careful though, people got the idea to trade applications. There is a file that is not encrypted in the App file, that contains all your iTunes account information. So people get your e-mail, and iTunes account password. So then they get the idea, just change the password. Works, but then the person you traded with doesn't get updates without a password. So be careful to who you trade with.
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Sean Robbins said 2:07PM on 7-25-2008
Just drag and drop the iphone application to a folder that can be accessed by another profile. switch to the other profile, drag and drop the app to the applications tab in iTunes and sync with the other I phone. My roommate and I have been exchanging app's between each other from day one.
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badtzmaru said 2:19PM on 7-25-2008
Dear TUAW, can you investigate why the site crashes my iPhone if I view it while listening to music? This happened on my 2G iPhone and it's happening my new 3G. It doesn't matter which song or whether I'm on WIFI or on cell coverage, heading to TUAW with the ipod playing is dangerous! Yesterday it froze my phone entirely and I had to force a restart.
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hds said 2:26PM on 7-25-2008
They know that their website is not iPhone friendly...I've seen no change. Time to step up!
moo083 said 2:43PM on 7-25-2008
I was curious and I just tried this. It crashed my phone too. Whats up TUAW? Any ideas?
DistortedLoop said 3:44PM on 7-25-2008
LOL. People bitch at them for talking about the iPhone too much, and the site isn't even iPhone friendly. It's crashed on mine a few times as well.
Maybe it's a Windows hacker sabotaging the place. ;-)
Dave said 4:37PM on 7-25-2008
Thank goodness I'm not the only one with this problem. On my iPhone TUAW takes about 1 - 2 minutes to load. On my wife's it crashes mobile Safari almost all the time.
Seriously, TUAW, is it -THAT- difficult to check the user agent and use a different style sheet for mobile Safari? (The answer, BTW, is no, it's not difficult.)
Chris G. said 2:20PM on 7-25-2008
I know I have done this for years with music purchased on iTunes. iTunes account authorizations apply for the entire computer, not just the individual user. So I am automatically allowed to play iTunes DRM-ed music that my wife purchased on her separate iTunes account on the same computer (just different logins for the Mac).
It wouldn't surprise me that the same applies here for iTunes apps. As long as both iTunes accounts are authorized on the computer, you should be able to copy the iTunes apps without issues.
Keep in mind, the limit for iTunes authorizations is 5 computers.
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LD said 2:20PM on 7-25-2008
Did the new EULA with the iTunes upgrade contain any language about use of apps in this manner?
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Eckofish said 2:20PM on 7-25-2008
My girlfriend and I have been doing this with with iTunes and our iPod's for about a year now. Great way to save money on music, tv shows and iPod games.
And technically not in breach of fair play, as far as I know, not being a lawyer or making out to be one.
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Richard Garrison said 2:21PM on 7-25-2008
What really irritated me is that when I plugged my iphone into my Macbook at work, iTunes automatically erased all of my purchased applications. No confirmation, nothing. Fortunately, everything was backed up at home, but what if it wasn't? Why can't I charge and sync from more than one computer? DUH!!!!!
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Snap said 2:46PM on 7-25-2008
Disable auto sync. Done.
Richard Garrison said 2:56PM on 7-25-2008
I did disable auto sync, but it is still stupid. It just doesn't make any sense. Why doesn't stuff just work? I ought to be able to sync anything anywhere and not be tied to any particular machine. That's why I like mp3tunes.com Its slow as molasses, but at least it works and all my music appears on all my machines.
And for fairplay in general, five computers may seem like a lot, but when you use more than one at work and you have more than one person with a machine at home, it adds up really quickly. I'm out of machines to authorize and I legitimately purchase music. I hardly call that fair.
Michael said 2:47PM on 7-25-2008
I knew about this on day one of 2.0, but just didn't want to say anything (was afraid apple would prevent it somehow). I doing this for 3 iPhones right now that share my same iTunes account information. All in the same household.
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Michael said 2:50PM on 7-25-2008
Oh, and I forgot, if you just associate the phone from the beginning with the same iTunes account, you don't need the computer, just can download from the App Store on the iPhone without any syncing junk.
punkassjim said 2:48PM on 7-25-2008
Scott: on your iPhone, go into the Music Category of AppStore, open up the Pandora info page, and scroll to the bottom. You'll notice a Legal entry, which you can tap on for the Pandora License Agreement. I haven't read it, but I've noticed this on a handful of app pages.
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Chris Born said 3:07PM on 7-25-2008
Yep, and this is why we developers will start writing further copy protection into our applications. Most apps are fairly priced in the store. Yes there are many exceptions to this, but for the most part prices are fair. As an independent developer, one of my focuses is to build exciting applications the allow users to connect with these mobile devices and play games together. There will always be competition and free alternatives, this is great for the market, but when we have to start dealing with people stealing our work just to save $3 between two people things get ugly. A classic situation of, "just because you can doesn't mean you should."
Another part of this, for the most part I feel many developers, myself included, have some great ideas to really take advantage of the connectivity provided by the iPhone. These features will be added to many applications in free upgrades. This is something developers need to decide on and build into the pricing. Remember, Apple gets 30% off the top too. When people start stealing applications from the App Store by installing them on several devices, then the prices will creep up, and become unreasonable just to balance this effect. Sad day when TUAW begins advertising piracy.
O well.
http://www.peltedsoftware.com/
Enjoy the games.. You will love what we have planned.
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Scott McNulty said 3:29PM on 7-25-2008
Chris, that's the question here: is this piracy? The DRM that is on these apps, to prevent priracy, implicitly allows this (as it does with iTunes tracks).
Lee said 3:40PM on 7-25-2008
Well, thanks for being judge and jury. Almost every comment in this thread conveys that the poster feels this is allowed under Fairplay. If you know otherwise, perhaps you should enlighten them, instead of huffing into the thread with a condescending tone.
Another Developer said 3:46PM on 7-25-2008
I don't see at all how this is "advocating piracy", any more than loading my music onto multiple iPods is piracy (although I'm sure the RIAA would agree with your stance). The policy on apps is an extension of FairPlay, which has been quite clear on the "load up as many iPods as you want" stance from the beginning.
As a consumer, I would be rather irked if I had to play for each install of an app, just as I would be irked if they tried the same logic for a new song. As a developer, I don't much care about households with multiple iPods somehow robbing me blind. It's not like they can just post them on the Internet. So I hardly think this "flaw" is going to undermine the whole iPhone app marketplace. And it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone -- it's right there in the Terms of Service. You should have factored that into your pricing from the beginning. The last thing we need is developers layering on their own copy protection because somehow FairPlay isn't strict enough. But hey, good luck with that. I know I won't be buying any such apps.