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This makes me wonder how many people ponied up the $99/yr. just to have access to the beta. Actual developers should know better. I wish Apple could figure out

by teilo 15y ago

This makes me wonder how many people ponied up the $99/yr. just to have access to the beta. Actual developers should know better. I wish Apple could figure out some way to prevent this - but if they were to prohibit reviews from people running a beta, they would also prevent legitimate reviews at the same time. I also think there's a place for non-developers to be running the beta -- if they are responsible citizens. I'm a dev, but not much of one yet. I'm on the beta, and I have discovered plenty of broken apps. When I discover issues, I communicate them directly to the app's developer. As a result I have also ended up beta-testing a number of apps for said developers. This is just as legitimate a use of beta-testing as developers testing their own apps.

masklinn 15y ago
> This makes me wonder how many people ponied up the $99/yr. Probably not that many, but each developer gets 100 UDID to activate, and I've seen many adding random UDIDs on their accounts for people who wanted to install iOS5 > they would also prevent legitimate reviews at the same time. There is no legitimate public review from a beta iOS device. Legitimate reviews from iOS-beta testing will be done directly to the developers, not via the AppStore.
- tibbon 15y ago
  Right, if I remember properly when I downloaded it clearly said that the contents of iOS5 are confidential. That to me doesn't mean "blog it all over".
  - masklinn 15y ago
    Yes, developers are supposedly bound by an NDA on matters of beta iOS versions. However, I do not know if that NDA has clauses about adding random third-party UDIDs (though developer accounts have been banned for that in the past), and in any case it does not bind those getting their UDID added who do not own developer accounts.
- spacemanaki 15y ago
  Even worse, there appears to be at least one site that is selling access ($7) to beta iOS releases, which surely isn't allowed by the TOS: http:// http:// iosactivations. com/
- hellweaver666 15y ago
  I know of at least 5 people that have done this. Stupid thing is, if they had got together they could have done it for a 5th of the price and all got the same benefit!
schrototo 15y ago
> This makes me wonder how many people ponied up the $99/yr. just to have access to the beta. I think it's possible to install the beta without a dev account if you know a developer who's willing to provision your device. But still, there's gotta be quite a few people with developer accounts who really should not have them. Every time a new beta arrives, the Apple developer forums are full of kids whining that their games don't work. (Not that the dev forums are much better at any other time...)
jasongullickson 15y ago
You could restrict the beta to developers who have actually shipped an application (that wouldn't prevent them from installing it on their "friends" devices, although this could probably be audited). I guess this could be a problem for developers whose plan is to develope their first app for a yet-to-be-released version of iOS, but I'm guessing that is an edge case.

by teilo 15y ago

masklinn 15y ago

> This makes me wonder how many people ponied up the $99/yr. Probably not that many, but each developer gets 100 UDID to activate, and I've seen many adding random UDIDs on their accounts for people who wanted to install iOS5 > they would also prevent legitimate reviews at the same time. There is no legitimate public review from a beta iOS device. Legitimate reviews from iOS-beta testing will be done directly to the developers, not via the AppStore.

tibbon 15y ago
Right, if I remember properly when I downloaded it clearly said that the contents of iOS5 are confidential. That to me doesn't mean "blog it all over".
- masklinn 15y ago
  Yes, developers are supposedly bound by an NDA on matters of beta iOS versions. However, I do not know if that NDA has clauses about adding random third-party UDIDs (though developer accounts have been banned for that in the past), and in any case it does not bind those getting their UDID added who do not own developer accounts.
spacemanaki 15y ago
Even worse, there appears to be at least one site that is selling access ($7) to beta iOS releases, which surely isn't allowed by the TOS: http:// http:// iosactivations. com/
hellweaver666 15y ago
I know of at least 5 people that have done this. Stupid thing is, if they had got together they could have done it for a 5th of the price and all got the same benefit!

schrototo 15y ago

> This makes me wonder how many people ponied up the $99/yr. just to have access to the beta. I think it's possible to install the beta without a dev account if you know a developer who's willing to provision your device. But still, there's gotta be quite a few people with developer accounts who really should not have them. Every time a new beta arrives, the Apple developer forums are full of kids whining that their games don't work. (Not that the dev forums are much better at any other time...)

jasongullickson 15y ago

You could restrict the beta to developers who have actually shipped an application (that wouldn't prevent them from installing it on their "friends" devices, although this could probably be audited). I guess this could be a problem for developers whose plan is to develope their first app for a yet-to-be-released version of iOS, but I'm guessing that is an edge case.