Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New Plugin Allows Developers to Turn iOS Devices Into Bitcoin Mining Bots
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
My initial reaction was to pick up the pitchfork too, but after reading the article, I honestly think this is quite inventive. If I'm choosing when to run the application, I'm choosing when to pay the developer. The payment to the developer is directly proportional to the quality of the application. Want more bit coins? Develop better apps.
I'm not sure you understand how software works. There is crappy code running in almost every application you use. This code is wasting resources such as battery power every day. What's the difference between accidentally wasting resources and intentionally using more resources? It isn't fraud or hacking. The application does exactly what the developer tells it to do. Are the accidental wasted resources also considered fraud?
I'm not sure you understand how software works. There is crappy code running in almost every application you use. This code is wasting resources such as battery power every day. What's the difference between accidentally wasting resources and intentionally using more resources? It isn't fraud or hacking. The application does exactly what the developer tells it to do. Are the accidental wasted resources also considered fraud?
Exactly how much drain are we talking about? Streaming drains the power faster than anything and people are still streaming like crazy.
Bitcoin is the currency of the Internet: a distributed, worldwide, decentralized digital money. Unlike traditional currencies such as dollars, bitcoins are issued and managed without any central authority whatsoever: there is no government, company, or bank in charge of Bitcoin. As such, it is more resistant to wild inflation and corrupt banks. With Bitcoin, you can be your own bank.
You receive bitcoins like you would to an email. Just type in the address, the amount, and send. Your "Public key" is your address and your "Private key" is your password. You send money(bitcoins) to different public keys.
Bitcoins are mined using a mathematical algorithm via powerful computer processing. Once it's mined, like gold, you can distribute it. There is a limit to how many Bitcoins can be mined. We are about half way there.
If you are new to Bitcoin, check out We Use Coins and Bitcoin.org. You can also explore the Bitcoin Wiki
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin
Last edited:
How many iphones does it take to equal the processing power of a modern desktop with a beefy GPU? Well, we can try to guess. An iphone has a 5 watt charger. A decent desktop has a 500 watt power supply. So, probably about 100 iphones = 1 desktop in processing power.
Also, it would only be working on the iphone when the game is running. A desktop is instead running it all the time. So, assuming the iphone user plays 30 min a day....that's 4800 iphones = 1 desktop.
Honestly, I don't see the point of this.
Last edited:
As long as an app developer says their app does this, and it only does it when the app is in the foreground, this could be an interesting way to monetize free apps besides relying just on ads.
So my understanding of Bitcoin in a nutshell is it is essentially like Folding but for profit and primarily aimed at mobile devices? Anything I'm missing?
I hope Apple disallows this practice. I am not only a user, but I am an iOS developer. I'd be dammed if I ever put code in an app that runs in the background on the user's device with the sole purpose of making me money. That's in really poor taste and should be a practice that's discouraged.
I also for one don't want to see a rise in crappy apps littering the app store for the sole purchase of background mining. Are we going to see another spike in flashlight and fart apps?
As a user it would piss me off to know that not only did I pay the developer for the app, but then they're also going to try and profit off me using it? And just because the app was free doesn't mean it should be done either. There's just something about all this that rubs me the wrong way.
Developers: How about spending your time putting out high quality apps that users want to spend their money on instead of depending on background mining. Or maybe you could get a day job and earn your money like the rest of us? Just a thought.
I also for one don't want to see a rise in crappy apps littering the app store for the sole purchase of background mining. Are we going to see another spike in flashlight and fart apps?
As a user it would piss me off to know that not only did I pay the developer for the app, but then they're also going to try and profit off me using it? And just because the app was free doesn't mean it should be done either. There's just something about all this that rubs me the wrong way.
Developers: How about spending your time putting out high quality apps that users want to spend their money on instead of depending on background mining. Or maybe you could get a day job and earn your money like the rest of us? Just a thought.
Just FYI, my 650m with 1GB GDDR5 only did 20-30 MH/s. I estimate this to be measured in KH/s
I believe that market research is increasingly showing that this isn't the case. A lot of the creativity in the App Store these days is not in the apps themselves, it's in coming up with a convoluted way to make a profit. I say this as a developer making a quality application (according to my customers) that sells for a flat rate.
Everyone is saying that they would delete a company's app, but no company that uses this is going to advertise the fact that they are using it. You'll just download the app, it will run - given that the code likely works on a low priority background thread, you'll never notice it, and they will get what they want. I doubt you'll recognize that your battery is draining any faster than it already does, and continue to use your device as is.
If Apple lets this into apps in the App Store, I will seriously consider going back to a dumb phone with no apps or data capabilities. Unless developers are required to notify users (which gives me the option to not download those apps), I consider this to be wrong. As I understand Bitcoins currently, most people get them from their own devices. That's fine by me. Do what you want with your own stuff, but don't go using my devices to make money for yourself without my permission.
This is a malware, period. No other way to put it.
If this is implemented, not only Apple will yank the app, but probably use the KILL SWITCH that they have implemented since iPhone OS 2.0 to forcefully uninstall the app on the devices that has the app installed. (which, if you have jailbreak, don't bother trying to shut it off, Apple can change the KILL SWITCH codes and update it OTA without you knowing since iOS 6)
Note: If the app is removed via KILL SWITCH, no refunds, period.
If this is implemented, not only Apple will yank the app, but probably use the KILL SWITCH that they have implemented since iPhone OS 2.0 to forcefully uninstall the app on the devices that has the app installed. (which, if you have jailbreak, don't bother trying to shut it off, Apple can change the KILL SWITCH codes and update it OTA without you knowing since iOS 6)
Note: If the app is removed via KILL SWITCH, no refunds, period.
Agreed. If this is done properly, then this would encourage devs to keep developing good free apps.
Even if this is implemented, it would be so miniscule that developers would barely make anything. Bitcoin mining is aimed towards ATI/AMD based systems, not mobile devices. Also, I'd be ticked if developers implement this. I could see bugs like it working in the background when you're not even using the app.
Lol, exactly. So let me get this straight - is this just another example of sub-par journalism or the devs really did not think this thing through?