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15-year old kid that tricked Apple

Applejuiced

Applejuiced

macrumors Westmere
Original poster
Apr 16, 2008
40,672
6,533
At the iPhone hacks section.
The Kids name is Nick Lee and he's the creator of Handy Light that was able to get thru Apples strict app submission process disquised as a stupid flashlight application like hundreds of others.
Inside, the app contained hidden code that made it a full tethering app and it worked great.
Sucks it didnt last long and only a few got to buy it for 99 cents before Apple pulled the plug.
Hats off to him:D
 
Cult of mac was trying to get ahold of him a couple of days ago to interview him.
 
He had to have sold a ton of copies once the word got out and before it got pulled.


I wonder if they call what he did a violation of his agreement and force him to forfeit any profits.
 
Applejuiced said:
I know, I was wondering about that too.
I know tons of people rushed to purchase it right away.
Click to expand...

Didn't it get up pretty high in the free app list? I don't know the exact stats, but I know for that to happen it takes a pretty good chunk of sales.
 
Applejuiced said:
The Kids name is Nick Lee and he's the creator of Handy Light that was able to get thru Apples strict app submission process disquised as a stupid flashlight application like hundreds of others.
Inside, the app contained hidden code that made it a full tethering app and it worked great.
Sucks it didnt last long and only a few got to buy it for 99 cents before Apple pulled the plug.
Hats off to him:D
Click to expand...

That is awesome!!!!!!!!! How did it get through Apple's approval process? And how did he get caught after the fact? Will he be in any kind of trouble? Seeing that he's only 15 I doubt they throw the book at him, just curious.....

I missed downloading it by minutes :(, I could get to the downloading homescreen then the error "This app is no longer avaible..." popped up
 
jsquared said:
That is awesome!!!!!!!!! How did it get through Apple's approval process? And how did he get caught after the fact? Will he be in any kind of trouble? Seeing that he's only 15 I doubt they throw the book at him, just curious.....
Click to expand...

It was more of an "easter egg", and I believe he announced the functionality on his website (and how to use it).

The reviewer didn't look at it too indepth and just assumed it was another silly flashlight application.

He got caught because word got out on the front pages of a ton of sites.
 
I was on a cross country flight when the story broke and managed to buy the app with in flight wifi.
 
-aggie- said:
All that kid did was to make it harder for reputable developers to get their apps approved now.
Click to expand...

Exactly. And for what? He violated the developer terms which means Apple won't pay him for these "sales" and they'll probably kick him out of the developer program (which costs $100/yr) so he will actually lose money on this deal.
 
It sure was a good story though :)
I think it got pretty high up in sales for that day and it wasnt in the free section it was 99 cents.
Me and many others missed the opportunity cause Apple acted very very fast in removing it from itunes right away.
The ones who did get it were lucky.
Now Im back to waiting for a 4.0 JB in order to get tethering again :D
 
Applejuiced said:
It sure was a good story though :)
I think it got pretty high up in sales for that day and it wasnt in the free section it was 99 cents.
Me and many others missed the opportunity cause Apple acted very very fast in removing it from itunes right away.
The ones who did get it were lucky.
Now Im back to waiting for a 4.0 JB in order to get tethering again :D
Click to expand...

I could have got it, but I wasn’t sure it would work, so I passed. Also, I knew I’d be able to jailbreak soon and then just use MyWi.
 
-aggie- said:
I could have got it, but I wasn’t sure it would work, so I passed. Also, I knew I’d be able to jailbreak soon and then just use MyWi.
Click to expand...

I passed simply because I don't have to tether that often and I am able to use iProxy. Like many others, I am waiting for the jailbreak which will allow me to use MyWi.

Tethering via a SOCKS proxy works but is a horrible pain.
 
I got it, but you're not missing anything. It's a pain in the a$$ to use. I will still get MiWi and GLADLY pay an extra $10 for it.
 
-aggie- said:
I could have got it, but I wasn’t sure it would work, so I passed. Also, I knew I’d be able to jailbreak soon and then just use MyWi.
Click to expand...

True, MyWi is alot easier and with more features and better options.
It would have been a good choice for those that never want to JB or pay AT&T for tethering though.
 
What's funny is this sounds like the kind of thing Woz and/or Jobs would've pulled when they were around that age.
 
rotobadger said:
What's funny is this sounds like the kind of thing Woz and/or Jobs would've pulled when they were around that age.
Click to expand...

LOL...ain't that the truth? It's not hard to imagine that the Steve Jobs of today would probably want the Steve Jobs of back in the day sitting in jail.
 
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