Apple Error Leaves iPhone Developers In the Lurch 379
canadacow writes "iPhone developers enrolled and active in the iPhone OS 2.0 beta program got a nasty surprise today when Apple inadvertently 'expired' the recently released version. While for a beta program this typically would not be an issue, Apple has yet to release a new deployment of the iPhone OS. So developers like myself who use their iPhone for both actual phone and iPod use are bricked. Of note, this particular expired build is just 11 days old."
In Apple's defense (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:4, Insightful)
I believe that people are getting incredibly stupid about all this EULA terms of service.
I mean, on the Apple forums I am seeing posts "Well, they turned my $800 dollar phone into a brick, but schucks, I guess I deserve it because it is in the EULA."
I mean people go BERZERK over Microsoft shutting down their systems after upgrades and their keys fail to match the hardware anymore so Vista doesn't boot.
Apple users are just happy and content they spent $800 bucks it would seem for a phone and the company just turned it off, with no recourse.
I can see it now: "Damn, stuck out in nowhere with a flat tire.....Darn...looks like my EULA is gone, so I will have to die out here in the heat. Darn, but I guess I deserve it."
Absolutely amazing. I wonder if the EULA comes with a agreement that your IQ must be reduced to a 2 year old?
The only person who is ever going to shut my phone or PC off is going to be me and when I and only I hit the off button.
Mac Customers=Stupid
-Hack
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Insightful)
These aren't users whose phones are gone forever, they're developers (or "developers") whose platform (or phone) is down temporarily. Apple screwed up here, but "It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic" might be overstating it a bit.
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:4, Insightful)
I mean seriously, how many times has this phone been bricked lately? I could be building myself a house by now with all of the bricking.
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Interesting)
The phrases you missed from my post are "regular customer" and "as intended". That excludes unlocked phones ("jailbroken") and beta testers. Those articles all reference unlocked phones and those that install 3rd party software before Apple offered any.
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There are very useful things called haxies on the Mac, but every other new version of the OS breaks them, because it involves putting in an interrupt that Apple warned would break often. Then you wait a few days, and the company bring
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Insightful)
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2. GP32 / GP2X
3. Unlocked HTC Tytn II
Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Funny)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Insightful)
So, ignoring the fact that you can only 'brick' a device once (after which point is is worthless anyway), anyone who installs as-yet-unreleased beta firmware on their phone should be fully aware that something unpleasant could well happen. If this were foolproof, Apple would have shipped out the new firmware to *everyone*.
To mix some metaphors, if you want to play with the big boys, you're going to get burned.
Why do people keep abusing the term "bricked"? (Score:5, Funny)
(with apologies to Dr. Evil)
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It's HARD to brick... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Funny)
Apple screwed up here, but "It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic" might be overstating it a bit.
Come on, this is Apple. They practically have a 100% market penetration among emo kids. *Everything* is tragic to them.
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To the degree that real developers are getting hit with enforced downtime (which I don't know enough about this SDK to know if that's the case) they have a legitimate gripe. But, yeah, enthusiasts who play with developer releases deserve what they get.
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:4, Informative)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Interesting)
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From everything I read it's pretty recoverable, so if your a developer worth your weight you should be able to get your iPhone functional again.
Apple may do evil stuff, this is not one of those times however.
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:In Apple's defense (Score:4, Insightful)
It's other users who have zero expectations. Windows users expect things not to work, expect to spend hours futzing around, expect to replace parts frequently, and are blown away whenever anything works.
That's why they disdainfully look down upon Mac users as "needing to be cool." I have never talked to any Mac users who were enraptured with being cool (and I've worked with lots of Mac users as a IT consultant for lots of small Mac shops). They like design, functionality, simplicity, and other things, but being cool is only an old saw dragged out by Windows Enthusiasts to account for their embarrassment in dealing with crap.
Re:In Apple's defense (Score:5, Funny)
You, sir, are a genius.
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It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.
I believe that people are getting incredibly stupid about all this EULA terms of service.
I mean, on the Apple forums I am seeing posts "Well, they turned my $800 dollar phone into a brick, but schucks, I guess I deserve it because it is in the EULA."
I mean people go BERZERK over Microsoft shutting down their systems after upgrades and their keys fail to match the hardware anymore so Vista doesn't boot.
Apple users are just happy and content they spent $800 bucks it would seem for a phone and the company just turned it off, with no recourse.
I can see it now: "Damn, stuck out in nowhere with a flat tire.....Darn...looks like my EULA is gone, so I will have to die out here in the heat. Darn, but I guess I deserve it."
Absolutely amazing. I wonder if the EULA comes with a agreement that your IQ must be reduced to a 2 year old?
The only person who is ever going to shut my phone or PC off is going to be me and when I and only I hit the off button.
Mac Customers=Stupid
-Hack
Dude - You're a tool. Too hard for you to figure that out? Too Bad.
I'm sure the phone can be restored to operable status by putting the official released OS back on it. You'd almost think that a person with the word "Hack" in his/her username would consider this....
Hopefully (actually I don't really care) my flame-bait post can be modded +5 insightful as well.
I have an idea! (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:I have an idea! (Score:5, Insightful)
Testing? (Score:3, Insightful)
I can understand perfectly why devs would use the iPhone as their primary. It's hard to catch the bugs unless you're regularly testing your software in a real-life environment... or do you really want the bugs (usability or functionality) to show up when the customers start using the tool in a real-life way.
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In general many developers don't even need to use an iPhone to test on given the simulator (granted some applications do need an iPhone to fully develop).
Re:Testing? (Score:5, Informative)
Independent developers can order a separate line with a cheap phone and have their calls redirected. Then if their development platform breaks they still have a usable phone. It's the cost of being a beta tester.
Re:I have an idea! (Score:5, Insightful)
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To use your first example - if you're developing on a computer and your programme hangs the machine, you reboot it. You don't go out and buy a new computer.
Back to the situation at hand - if you're on the iPhone beta SDK programme and the phone has been locked out by the expiration of this version of the SDK, you *reset* the phone and download the new version (which is out now) from Apple.
How is this so hard for people to understand? You reset the phone, get the new SDK version and carry on
Re:I have an idea! (Score:5, Funny)
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Oh, wait...
"Brick" (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:"Brick" (Score:5, Informative)
Re:"Brick" (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:"Brick" (Score:4, Informative)
iTunes will choke at the end of the restore process if you try to 'restore' to 1.1.4 (the latest public version). When it chokes, it leaves your phone in restore mode, unusable.
It is however, not bricked.
The solution is relatively simple. You restore to 1.1.4 and let the process fail, which will leave you with an error 1015 at the end of the process.
At that point you use one of the jailbreak apps to put your phone back in normal mode, which will allow the old software to work with the new baseband. I found this out the hard way myself this morning, but after being rather upset, a little googling for the 'pink screen of death' pointed me at the solution which is:
If it wasn't for the fact that my company wants to port one of our products to the iPhone, at this point I would be done with iPhone development due to this mistake, there is no excuse for a company the size of Apple allowing this to happen.
Re:"Brick" (Score:5, Funny)
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Seems easy to fix on Apple's side (Score:5, Insightful)
Couldn't they just re-release the exact same beta OS but fix the expiration date? They must know about this by now, and it doesn't seem like it'd even take that long. Maybe they are having a day off or something.
I know this will be the theme for the whole slashdot story, but I have to say that if MS did this, I think there'd be public burnings, see-I-told-you-so's, etc.
Re:MS DID do similar thing! (Score:2, Informative)
Oh, and that probably affected more users than the iphone beta expiration.
You forgot to mention (Score:5, Informative)
But, I guess that getting on the front page of slashdot is more important.
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You forgot to spell summary correctly.
I kid, I kid.
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Last I checked, a beta is not a release.
It's a beta (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:You forgot to mention (Score:5, Insightful)
*Apple releases beta SDK*
Wah wah wah! Apple released an inital version of an SDK for their fancy new phone and it isn't perfect and doesn't do everything we ever wanted, this sucks, Apple sucks!
All some people do is complain. Even when someone listens to what you're asking for, and tries to meet your needs. Even when they're just starting out and testing the waters in an area that is very complex. Apple released what they had because obnoxious people wouldn't shut up about how much Apple sucked for not releasing anything.
It'll get better. Half-finished software is the price the world pays for being whiny and impatient.
Re:You forgot to mention (Score:4, Insightful)
Kinda like those of us still waiting for access to the beta program? We have no choice but to continue to use the emulator forever, even if we did go out and buy devices specifically for development.
Seriously, it's annoying enough that Apple limited the beta to a lottery, but it's even worse to hear the lucky few complain that they're unable to continue development because the beta software broke their phone.
The whole point of a beta program is to test software and procedures on users willing to put up potentially buggy software to get valuable feedback prior to a real release. Things like this should be expected. If you don't want to be a good participant in a beta program, don't sign up for one (and release space for those of us who are fine beta testing things and made proper preparations for the inevitable bugs that will turn up).
-Chris
You've been Steved! (Score:5, Informative)
Consider the open source alternative, OpenMoko [openmoko.com] No worries about some sudden "change in corporate direction" screwing you over.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
In the OSS world, we have a saying: "Release Early, Release Often." Apple's been following those rules to a tee, users sometimes get a bad experience, but the software rapidly converges to a usable state, as it is now. OpenMoko on the other hand, is lagging way, way behind, to the point you now have to be curiou
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Re:You've been Steved! (Score:5, Informative)
Oh it boots, but you can't make a phone call from in the UI. And while the command line dialer does work, no audio does. So you can call someone but not speak to or hear them.
While I have every hope for OpenMoko, don't go flinging them as some open-source solution when it doesn't even do what it's supposed to.
Re:You've been Steved! (Score:5, Funny)
Consider the open source alternative, OpenMoko [openmoko.com] No worries about some sudden "change in corporate direction" screwing you over.
Bricked? (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless it's nigh unrecoverable, your hardware isn't bricked.
Yes (Score:2, Offtopic)
Yes, and not because I think there's a "right" and "wrong" term. It's just that I have no idea what they're talking about anymore when they say "bricked".
I've bricked stuff before. When that happens, you throw it in the trash. If we want to use "bricked" to mean "I have to restore from backup", then somebody come up with another term for "permanently inoperable".
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In any other situation, you can always recover the device's full functionality simply by rearranging its constituent atoms and free electrons appropriately.
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The whole "story" is a NON story.
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Re:Bricked? (Score:5, Funny)
Not Bricked (Score:5, Informative)
"Bricked" is permanent.
"Bricked" is having absolutely no way, ever, of interacting with the object in a manner that is inconsistent with interacting with a brick.
This, on the other hand, will be fixed by tomorrow.
Now you know what Radio operators... (Score:4, Interesting)
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So it's a werebrick. (Score:5, Funny)
So it's a werebrick.
Uh....no..... (Score:5, Informative)
My phone is fine and probably a lot of other beta testers who have a clue have a working phone as well.
Maybe people who beta test software should have a good understanding that it is a BETA test and Apple highly recommended that the BETA software not be installed on personal or business-related phones that need to have 100% accessibility and reliability.
How many beta testers in this program understand how to use a web browser to go grab the new release? If you're gonna be a n00b about it, don't sign up to be a tester.
This is just a reminder (Score:2, Informative)
The expectations of developers are being shifted from the norm by actions such as these... Apple has effectively halted or paused development for the iPhone.
The expectations of end users haven't been completely altered yet, but there's strong potential for that sort of thing to happen at Apple's whim... and it's probably already in the EULA that Appl
Re:This is just a reminder (Score:4, Insightful)
If you don't like it, don't buy it. There are other alternatives out there to Apple products. Buy one of them.
Personally, I hate dark chocolate. I think I will go on some foodie forums and post a few pages about my hatred of dark chocolate, insisting that chocolate manufacturers make dark chocolate for my taste, and insulting all those who disagree and do like dark chocolate. I am sure that will make all the difference.
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I never claimed it was changed or removed functionality. What I claim is that it goes against standard consumer expectations for similar devices. And it does! Blackberries, Palm phones and Windows phones
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Um, what are people smoking? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is just a sensationalist article using the Dvorak Method (TM) to get more hits.
Is it just me or... (Score:2)
Flambait as a front page article (Score:3, Informative)
1. Apple specifically told you not to use it on a iPhone. You decided it didn't belong in the SDK emulator, unlocked it, and put on your iPhone. The fact that this didn't work out well for you is your problem.
2. You can put the proper firmware for a phone, and not the one designed for development, on your iPhone at any time using iTunes.
3. A new firmware is available. The SDK program specifically states that if you don't download the newest SDK from time to time, you will have the old one stop functioning.
Maybe this is a misdirected AskSlashdot (Score:5, Insightful)
ziphone ftw (Score:3, Informative)
New SDK just posted (Score:3, Informative)
Google has killed beta (Score:5, Insightful)
However, many people are now used to Google's beta software, which means a functional, polished release that happens to be missing some of the blue sky features that are planned. Oh, and it might get a UI redesign at some point.
The two uses are very different and anyone expecting one should be quite shocked to find the other.
New SDK Is Up (Score:4, Insightful)
It's surprising to see Apple drop the ball like this. You should probably post a new SDK before the old ones expire and prevent developers from working. This is an amateur mistake.
This story has become MOOT (Score:3, Informative)
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Re:Why do people even bother with the iPhone anywa (Score:3, Interesting)
I hope that cleared that up for you.