Hackulous Shuts Down, Taking Down Popular Pirated App Source Installous

Frankly this doesn't mean anything, sooner or later, there will be other ways of installing free software or games on iOS. That's just the sad truth..

Piracy is prevalent on all platforms, and I just don't see it going away anytime soon..

Nanasaki said:

Well, it will be remembered by lots of people. This is truly a sad news. But hey, I know quit few way to get apps for few. Don't blame me, I love pirate (free) stuffs.

Get real, Yu will never eliminate pirate. As long as people developing apps, selling album and movies.




Well, it never invented to be. Just like aircraft never intended to crash into building. But people do it anyway.



People pirate for varies reasons. I am not saying pirate is good anyway, but people do pirating stuffs. From financial reasons to just try the app. There is no refund channel in iOS, I would like to try the app before I actually buy. I did lot and brought lot apps. But again, you will never eliminate piracy, never.

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Too bad you can't steal some good grammar and syntax...

Eiswritsat said:

I've used installous but only one games. I'm not going to buy a $6.99 game and find out I hate it. If I like it then I go to the apple store and purchase it legally. I wish apple gave you the ability to try out games and apps before purchase because the reviews people leave aren't always accurate at all.

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You work at a job I suppose? Should they get to try you out before hiring you without you agreeing upon those terms? There is always a risk that an exchange of goods, services, and money will not work out. Unless both sides agree to it, that doesn't mean you should have to work for free and hiring managers should have the luxury of just "trying out" tons of people, not paying them, and getting essentially free slave labor until they decide on someone they "like" and then even paying that person when they decide to pay them.

Because that's essentially what you're doing with developers. You're settting multiple "terms" that the other side has not agreed upon and using their goods or services anyway. It's not fair, moral, or ethical at all.

The bottom line really is the developer can set whatever terms they like. You aren't forced to play the game so if you don't like the terms just don't attempt to play the game at all. It's as simple as that. It's not like its health care, water, gas, or anything essential for life. It's a video game! If you don't agree with the terms of the offering and use it anyway that's exhibiting poor personal moral character. You can call it piracy, theft, stealing, rape, or whatever name you want to call it. It still puts you on the same bottom of the barrel moral level of a common thief, selfish liar, and cheat.


P.S. - I'm not referring to any particular person. Just the idea as quoted which gets thrown around often by kids giving excuses on why they do it. Also, people do bad moral things and show a lack of character many times throughout their lives. But the difference between good morals and bad morals is recognizing when you do wrong and striving to correct it rather than making excuses for your intent to continue it.

P.P.S - If this post kinda stings, good because that means you're likely a generally good person, can recognize when you're doing something you shouldn't, and still have the ability to correct it.

KylePowers said:

Not that there were many (if any) moral uses for Installous, but the idea of trying an app before you buy it would be a great feature for the App Store. Like a one hour or one day trial period.

Yes, many developers have free versions, but many don't. Just an idea

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While I agree on 10$ apps, on all 1$ apps, the price is the trial ...

Good bye, and thank you

Installous/Hackulous filled a very important niche. The App Store lacks one very important feature - 'try before you buy'. Downloading an app only to find it sucks, really burns - even at $1. Download enough of these $1 apps and soon you feel 'nickel and dimed' to death. Then there are those apps that are $20 or even $50. The App Store has a serious need for adding a viable way to try those apps first, or a viable means for a painless rapid refund. Even with its potential for nefarious activity, Installous/Hackulous still filled that void.

adildacoolset said:

Yesterday, despite my interjection, I witnessed a crime beneath my eyes. One of my family members was downloading a pirated game on android.

What shocks me is that I know people who regret their iPhone purchase because iOS 6 has no jailbreak so they can't pirate. And also people who claim that android is better than iOS for the sole reason of piracy.

I've seen innocent people, harmless people, good people who resort to stealing their software. It's just sad.

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Usually, they don't say that Android is 'better' than iOS directly, they just say that Android is more free and iOS too close ...

Or how freedom for people just means 'free to steal'.

KylePowers said:

Not that there were many (if any) moral uses for Installous, but the idea of trying an app before you buy it would be a great feature for the App Store. Like a one hour or one day trial period.

Yes, many developers have free versions, but many don't. Just an idea

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One very good use for installous was try before you buy.

However the one very legit use is for old versions of the apps.

Lets say you've just got an ipad one for Christmas, where are you going to find the versions that support Ipad 1 IOS?

Same for Iphone 3, and Iphone 1.

Apple could and should fix this.

I understand completely why they must move on, but it would be trivial to store the break point versions of an app that work with the final device versions of IoS on devices.

Good. Geting tired of stock iOS users whining that jailbreakers only want a jailbroken iPhone to steal apps.

Is piracy really that big of a problem? It shut down because of stagnation, because the vast majority of people would rather give the developers their due.

Sure, there will be a small group of apps that are ripe for piracy, but I don't think it's as widespread as people think. The power of the people shut them down.

newagemac said:

You work at a job I suppose? Should they get to try you out before hiring you without you agreeing upon those terms? There is always a risk that an exchange of goods, services, and money will not work out.

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What you mean like almost 100% of workers have to go through aka Trial or Probation periods for 3 months, at which point you can be canned with no notice and no reason.

I'd rather see the app store filled with £1.99 good apps, than thousands of 69p crap ones.

24 hours "trial" would work.
10% fee rental would work too for more expensive apps.

Want to trial Tomtom, pay 10% use for 48 hours 72 hours, what ever, after which it won't start, pay the 90% left to get it full mode.

I use Installous as a way to test apps before I buy them so I don't end up like those reviewers who say "GIMME MY MONEY BACK!" I also use it to download old versions of apps if I update an app and hate the new version. It was personally useful for me, but I'm glad it's gone since people use it for piracy.

F123D said:

Good. Geting tired of stock iOS users whining that jailbreakers only want a jailbroken iPhone to steal apps.

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I've never heard that. Now, I've heard people think it's the same thing, but who cares what uneducated people think.

Seems like Apple have getting a handle on jailbreakers too. It will have it down to a handful of hard-core people.

i-John said:

Is piracy really that big of a problem? It shut down because of stagnation, because the vast majority of people would rather give the developers their due.

Sure, there will be a small group of apps that are ripe for piracy, but I don't think it's as widespread as people think. The power of the people shut them down.

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I don't know how they got this data, but MacRumors reported in the days of iOS 3 that 75% of app downloads were piracy, not from the App Store.

I pirate apps. I pirate music. I pirate software. I pirate just about anything i can. I have not bought Adobe Creative Suite ever and have had just about every version. For free. I have a massive library of music. All for free. I download the latest movies, sometimes still in the theater. For free.

Sorry, but its a dog eat dog world, survival of the fittest. If you don't want people stealing your software, build in better protection.

Frenchjay said:

There is a way to hide apps without jailbreaking. It may not be 'official' but it works perfectly and I use it on an iPhone 5 with no issues.

http://www.idownloadblog.com/2012/10/20/how-to-hide-multiple-apps-no-jailbreak-required/

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I'll pass.

ChazUK said:

It still baffles me to this day that people want to pirate apps that cost a pittance on such expensive hardware.

Good to see an end to one of these types of things either way.

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If you buy 50 apps, that's going to be a lot of money if they're $2 each on average.

Xgm541 said:

And it is almost impossible to get a refund.

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Perhaps you should change your approach then? I always report a problem with an app that does not meet my expectations and Apple promptly refunds my PayPal account.

kailou said:

Installous/Hackulous filled a very important niche. The App Store lacks one very important feature - 'try before you buy'. Downloading an app only to find it sucks, really burns - even at $1. Download enough of these $1 apps and soon you feel 'nickel and dimed' to death. Then there are those apps that are $20 or even $50. The App Store has a serious need for adding a viable way to try those apps first, or a viable means for a painless rapid refund. Even with its potential for nefarious activity, Installous/Hackulous still filled that void.

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There was no such niche. The developers never agreed to let you try out their software for free, so if you are doing it, you are a thief. No matter how you try to rationalize what you are doing, you're a thief.

notgruntled said:

I've used Installous on one device, a jailbroken first-gen iPhone, and for one reason: To track down older versions of apps that can run on iOS 3.x. The App Store doesn't make those available, and I can't reload them from iTunes if I've updated on my other devices.

If there were a "legitimate" way of doing that, I would, including paying for any of the apps that aren't free and that I haven't already paid for.

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Then don't buy it. It's not like your life depends on owning any of these apps. Stealing is stealing. While i agree that the ability to demo is important, and some app developers do put in a time limiter that can be disabled through in app purchase, it's no way an excuse to say I'll steal it first and then maybe buy it after.

Apple provided a way for dev's to demo, if they don't employ it.... That's their choice. Not your justification to steal.

Funny to read all the righteous-ness and "holier than thou" attitudes on here, all the people bashing piracy - of course, none of you have EVER had an app without paying (on any platform), watched a pirated movie or downloaded/listened to pirated music. No way, never. Right?

I don't advocate piracy. I have no desire to install pirated apps - however apps that are $2.99 or $3.99 then turn out to be crap, suck. At least Android Play gives you the chance to get a refund.

Jailbreaking has legit uses, people should remember that (holier-than-thou'ers). Also, remember, as long as people produce software, there will be piracy. It is impossible to stop if your target is consumers. Music, DVD, movies, games, apps, NOTHING is un-pirateable. If a user can access a device, it can be hacked. Period.

dergoog said:

Then don't buy it. It's not like your life depends on owning any of these apps. Stealing is stealing. While i agree that the ability to demo is important, and some app developers do put in a time limiter that can be disabled through in app purchase, it's no way an excuse to say I'll steal it first and then maybe buy it after.

Apple provided a way for dev's to demo, if they don't employ it.... That's their choice. Not your justification to steal.

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You didn't read his post correctly. He's talking about downgrading apps. Yes, I did pirate the old AIM (which was free) because the new one is a piece of trash with grease stains on it. Sadly, the pirated app was corrupted.

This is awesome news! Good to see folks aren't frequenting their sources which hopefully means they are buying apps and rewarding developers for their hard work.... Hopefully now this will take away the negative "pirating" association givent to Jailbreaking.

I don't think piracy is as much of a big deal as many here are making out, but I never pirate apps myself on any platform, mainly because I don't want to risk getting infected with malware, so this kind of thing isn't a big deal to me. I think the fact they couldn't keep their site running says something about the decreasing popularity of jailbreaking in general though.

"I have pirated software, I will admit it, and if that's a shock announcement to you then how naive can you be? You're not either a pirate or a good citizen." -Stephen Fry

Bad enough Apple's charging 30% - devs deserve every penny. Good one! !

philr5150 said:

I don't advocate piracy. I have no desire to install pirated apps - however apps that are $2.99 or $3.99 then turn out to be crap, suck. At least Android Play gives you the chance to get a refund

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That does suck, I usually avoid this since I am very picky and only buy apps that are essential and that I know I'll use regularly. I have very few apps compared to most people... But I have gotten burned a few times by crappy apps. The price is low enough that you can live with it I guess.