Share Apps Between iPhones - No Hacks

[arn]

yeah. there is no legal issues here. this is how it's supposed to work.

You can only do this if you trust the other person with your credit card, since they will have one-click purchasing power from your iTunes account.

That pretty much eliminates sending this to even casual friends.

arn

 

[dwsolberg]

My wife and I do this

I wish Apple was a little more clear on this. My wife and I do this even though we each have our own computers and iPhones. This seems relatively fair to me, but I'd like to have some official policy that I could read that says, "You may share applications among up to # of devices in the same household when you also share an iTunes account." So far, the shared aspect has made us more likely to buy applications. I'm embarrassed to say that I've already spent about $45 on applications, and I plan to spend more. For example, I'm waiting on an accurate, well-made dictionary application as well as better calculator applications (with customized buttons, TI-89 style input and a paper tape).

As for the abuse potential, I suspect it's practically nil. With a maximum of five shared users with access to the same credit card, I doubt this could be abused much. Selling access would be stupid because that person then has access to your account details and can buy music, movies, and applications galore. So you'd sell access to your applications for $100, then the person could just buy $500 worth of music and media.

If you're sharing it between friends, then you're likely to spend as much or more money (buy more applications than you would otherwise), which means that the developers are likely to get the same amount of money but better word of mouth. In other words, let's say you have a one in five chance of spending your $10 on five different applications, and you choose Tetris. That means the other applications (let's say Scrabble, Super Monkey Ball, De Blob, and Bandicoot) go unpurchased. If you have a group of five friends, you might just purchase them all. In either case, the developers made the same amount of money, but now they have five people telling others how great the application is. I think it will also cause people to spend even more money because they're "getting a deal."

 

[daveschroeder]

yeah. there is no legal issues here. this is how it's supposed to work.

You can only do this if you trust the other person with your credit card, since they will have one-click purchasing power from your iTunes account.

That pretty much eliminates sending this to even casual friends.

arn

Not only that, but this is the exact same way it works with music and authorizations. The only difference is that iTunes allows you to (re-)download the item, whereas music normally has to be manually copied. Music, video, applications, and other media can all be used on iPods/iPhones associated with one of up to five authorized computers.

To be clear, there is nothing illegal — or immoral — about this, as this is exactly how it is intended to work.

 

[davidee]

since you can only authorize 5 computers including your own, this would be a pretty small grey market

and the original:

Originally Posted by Dmac77
I can understand this being ok to do with your spouse/family, but I see a potential for abuse of this, (I.E. people selling authorization to there iTunes account, and then selling apps grey market style). We'll see if Apple allows this to happen, or will force people to contact them for a credit to re-download the app. Personally I believe that the latter will happen due to pressures from developers.

Don

- - -


Also keep in mind to have an itunes acct, it wants a form of payment. so if you sell/trade access to your acct then they have your card info and can charge stuff to it (itunes store), not to mention they have your password and if it is your .mac, well access to your email (and more). _hopefully_ no one would be that stupid.

..
.

 

[happydude]

My wife and I have been syncing to the same iTunes library from different mac user accounts for a long time now. She has the 3G and I have the "old" iPhone. We both have purchased apps using each iPhone...once each iPhone syncs those apps are available to both iPhones thus eliminating the need to pay for apps twice similar to the method described above.

Question: Except for being able to track separate songs ratings and such, why would two iPod/iPhone users within the same family want to have two separate iTunes accounts?

great question, and one i'm sure any married/co-living couple in the digital age can relate to.

i just wonder what apple will do when developers start complaining they're not getting paid for each and every download, as i'm sure they were assuming. either apple will close this "loop hole" or the developers will just have to develop knowing they could potentially only get paid once for 5 downloads.

 

[jmmo20]

What loophole are you taking about ?
It has always being like this. You can authorise up to 5 computers. If you copy the ipa file but your computer isn't authorised, the app won't install.

My partner and I share the music, we both have each other's computer authorise and from time to time I pick some songs that I like. I don't see how could this be any different from sharing a CD within a household...

 

[Van Wildonher]

Can you do this if you use the same iTunes login info for two different phones? (downloading apps with the iPhone)

 

[macnerd77]

You can authorize your itunes account on 5 machines. So that means you can have 5 machines worth of iphones running the app that you paid for once. Was this purposely done or do you think this is something apple overlooked?


Anyway for right now this is awesome.

Does anyone know if the apps for the iphone and ipod touch are different. Or could i buy an app for the iphone and also have it work on my girls ipod touch? I have not tried.

thanks

 

[GregA]

hm, If I want a program that only exist in USA (me live in Sweden) - can I borrow a USA-acount from a friend and do like this method?

I haven't tried anything with sharing apps yet - but with music you can certainly move a purchased song on a US account onto an Australian computer - and then authorise the Australian computer to play the song.

I would tend to minimise any foreign applications or songs on your computer, under the assumption that they may prevent this in future. If you've paid a US friend to buy it for you, you may then lose access to it.

 

[gcmexico]

this works perfectly!!! great little trick

 

[winterspan]

If you have multiple iPhone users that purchase Apps and Music on the same credit card, then you should be able to place your Apps on all of the iPhones that you own. I guess we will have to wait and see what comes of it.

I guess that the ethics of this really boil down to the license that you agree to when you purchase the software. Most softwares' licenses allow the software to be installed on a set number of devices (often 1 device). Without having seen the licenses for iPhone software, I don't know what the licenses state.

....To be clear, there is nothing illegal — or immoral — about this, as this is exactly how it is intended to work.

Can a current iPhone application developer comment on this? Did Apple notify developers that iTunes would ALLOW this? Is this an Apple policy or a major blunder? I cannot even BELIEVE that Apple created this environment!

Come on guys, distributing copies of applications to other people's iPhones for them to avoid paying for a license is unethical and basically amounts to theft. As has been covered so many times in regards to media, software, and other IP, you are purchasing a LICENSE to use the product. It's really very simple, this is absolutely no different than regular Mac OSX software. You DON'T get to buy ONE COPY of OSX or iLife or Photoshop and then install it on 5 different computers! Unless it is stated somewhere to the contrary, you would have to assume you are purchasing ONE license for your personal use. If you own two iPhones (for work perhaps) or an iPod Touch in addition to an iPhone, I personally feel (and will do so for my developed apps) that you should be allowed to purchase it once and use the license for both devices as long as they are exclusively yours.

Don't get me wrong, I almost always side with consumer rights versus overly restrictive IP copyright, patents, etc. If you purchase media content, such as music or video, you should no doubt be allowed to listen to or watch it on whatever device you wish, and not be held to the whims of media companies DRM. Although I can understand the reasoning behind it, I am against most forms of DRM, except in very limited occasions for thing such as video rental. I also absolutely support the rights of consumers to make backup copies of media and not have to repurchase it because the CD/DVD was scratched or whatever.

Obviously the "mix-up" is that iTunes has historically been setup for MEDIA. In the case of media, no doubt you should be able to take a song and play it on any computer in the house, or if you own multiple iPods and cellphones you should be able to play them on any device. Likewise, the same applys for movies or ebooks or anything else. I don't think anyone denies this. The reasoning being that you are only really "using" the media on one device at a time, and are simply transferring that ONE license around to different devices. However, using the 5-computer license to distribute music and movies to four other friends on different computers and iPods so they don't have to purchase it is not what was intended, and unethical.

Besides, software is a different beast than media in this case. It has always purchased one license at a time, or in more expensive multi-license packs. If you want OSX Leopard on your Macbook Pro, your wife's iMac, your daughter's Macbook at college, and your son's Mac Pro, then you have to buy the 5-license family pack. You can't just distribute the same license to all the computers! I do think that in certain cases you should be able to use software on two (or more) of *YOUR PERSONAL* computers --- say you use Quickbooks for finance, you should be able to access it from client software on both your laptop and your desktop computer. Same thing with iPhones or iPod Touches that you own and use.

But again, copying applications you purchased[/B] from the iTunes store onto your friends iPhones and iPod Touchs so they don't have to pay for them?
I don't see that as a grey area at all. It is just not ethical and unless it is expressly stated by the developer (or Apple) that you are purchasing a multiple-device license, then it basically amounts to PIRACY!

 

[pincho]

its called bluetoothing your apps and music over to another phone..

oh wait my iphones bluetooth is worse than my first colour phone nokia.. why is it gotta be so closed..

 

[daveschroeder]

Can a current iPhone application developer comment on this?

Yes. I just did.

Did Apple notify developers that iTunes would ALLOW this? Is this an Apple policy or a major blunder? I cannot even BELIEVE that Apple created this environment!

This is exactly how it is designed to work.

Come on guys, distributing copies of applications to other people's iPhones for them to avoid paying for a license is unethical and basically amounts to theft. As has been covered so many times in regards to media, software, and other IP, you are purchasing a LICENSE to use the product.

Yes. And in the case of all media obtained via iTunes, it can be used on an unlimited number of iPods/iPhones associated with up to 5 authorized computers.

 

[AL3]

What happens when you de-authorize a computer?

I have a quick question about this (it's just a little hard to explain it..)


Let's say I authorize 5 computers to use and sync my purchases (music, videos, apps).

Then, I decide to de-authorize one of these computers (in order to authorize another one later).

My question is: The person who owns this de-authorized computer (one of my kids for example), will still be able to have/sync/use the apps that were "transfered" from my iTunes library before the de-authorization?

In other words: can I "transfer" my purchases to a lot of computers if I remember to de-authorize each computer after I did it?
Or the purchases will "erase" themselves after I de-authorize the computer they were inside?


Thanks for the help!

 

[macnews]

Would think Developers would want this

I would think developers would want this. Hear me out -

If I make an app, word of mouth is likely to be one of the top ways people will decided to purchase it. If my app is so good a husband and wife who both have iphones or some ipod touch combination want it on all their devices, they are more likely to spread the word. If I make it difficult for them to share it, the less likely they are to use it on both devices.

Sure, some hacker or work around might be discovered but how many people will really do this? That is like saying people are stealing songs from iTunes. Sure, it likely happens but on a large scale? A developer is going to make more money from the honest people then worrying about those who are stealing their app.

 

[lorkkrue]

Well . . .

I have a quick question about this (it's just a little hard to explain it..)

In other words: can I "transfer" my purchases to a lot of computers if I remember to de-authorize each computer after I did it?
Or the purchases will "erase" themselves after I de-authorize the computer they were inside?


Thanks for the help!

In this case the Apps, musics, and movies would just be unable to play on the "de-authorized machine" or any devices synced to it.

 

[.:R2theT]

I have a quick question about this (it's just a little hard to explain it..)


Let's say I authorize 5 computers to use and sync my purchases (music, videos, apps).

Then, I decide to de-authorize one of these computers (in order to authorize another one later).

My question is: The person who owns this de-authorized computer (one of my kids for example), will still be able to have/sync/use the apps that were "transfered" from my iTunes library before the de-authorization?

In other words: can I "transfer" my purchases to a lot of computers if I remember to de-authorize each computer after I did it?
Or the purchases will "erase" themselves after I de-authorize the computer they were inside?


Thanks for the help!

No. Once you de-authorize a computer it no longer has privileges with that iTunes account to play/use that content. You could go forever authorizing and de-authorizing accounts.

Don't forget to de-authorize a computer if you sell it or give it away to someone else.

 

[rageboi]

take this story down. We don't want apple to close this loophole up anytime soon.

This is not a loophole, apple designed iTunes with this FEATURE. It's no accident.

Maximium of 5 accounts can access content purchased from the iTunes store, they form the rules of how apple enforces their DRM.

 

[jdechko]

Snip...

i) Regarding photoshop & CS3 in general. The licensing does, in fact, allow you to install it on 2 machines, a desktop and laptop, provided that they are not used concurrently. (more of an FYI).

1) I completely agree with you that the iTS was originally designed for media, and while the RIAA and MPAA would ultimately love for each member of a family to purchase a copy of a given album/movie, I think even they know that it's pushing it. But software distribution is different, as you mentioned. And while fairplay does a good bit to curb rampant piracy, it's definitely not perfect.

2) It really needs to come to a compromise/resolution between the creators and the customers. Because if a customer had an iPhone and iPod Touch and didn't use them at the same time, should he be required to purchase the same app twice (a la point i)? I don't think so.

So I think it basically comes to this:
a) Require us to purchase multiple copies. Piss off customers and drive them away to free apps or to apps whose developers don't mind the sharing.
b) Adjust prices, albeit slightly, to compensate for "family-licensing". Approx 1.3-1.7x the price of the app seems appropriate based on Apple's own family-pack model.
c) Implement a model similar to the iTS movie rentals. A paid-for app can only be synced to one device at a time.
d) Do nothing, accept that the paradigm for mobile apps is shifted with respect to desktop licensing.

I think the correct answer is B and D depending on the application. Fortunately, it seems like the app store is flexible in terms of pricing, allowing developers to change prices on a whim. Also, the market will drive adoption. There are good free apps, and there are good apps that cost decent money. And there are jailbroken apps that completely bypass everything the App Store has to offer. As I mentioned in point D, the OSX Touch platform is a new paradigm for everyone, really, and as such, we are going to have to shift our thinking, everything from applications to even computing (no c/p, no user documents folder, etc).

 

[butterfingarz]

So in theory I could take my iphone and laptop over to my friends house who already bought a 10 dollar game on his ipod touch and have him sign into his account on my laptop install the game and sign back in with my account so he knows I wont be making any purchases on his account?

 

[kjs862]

Nice that they allow this.

 

[AL3]

No. Once you de-authorize a computer it no longer has privileges with that iTunes account to play/use that content. You could go forever authorizing and de-authorizing accounts.

Don't forget to de-authorize a computer if you sell it or give it away to someone else.

Ok, I understand. It makes sense..
Thanks for the help!

So in theory I could take my iphone and laptop over to my friends house who already bought a 10 dollar game on his ipod touch and have him sign into his account on my laptop install the game and sign back in with my account so he knows I wont be making any purchases on his account?

Yeah.
The thing is: your friend, by signing in to HIS account on YOUR laptop, will be authorizing your laptop to use his purchases.
Your friend can authorize up to 5 computers, so in a way it's kinda like a commitment, because if he decides do de-authorize your laptop, you won't be able to use his App any longer.

 

[butterfingarz]

What do you mean by if he de-authorities my computer I will no longer be able to use that app? Say if i load the app on my iphone then he de-authorizes my computer so the next time i sync to my computer that app will no longer work?

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

yeah. there is no legal issues here. this is how it's supposed to work.

You can only do this if you trust the other person with your credit card, since they will have one-click purchasing power from your iTunes account.

That pretty much eliminates sending this to even casual friends.

arn

I don't believe this is correct. When you authorize another computer, this doesn't in any way give them access to your credit card information or give them purchase power under your ID. It simply allows your already purchased content to be accessible to them. I've had my computer authorized for other people before and when they purchase music it doesn't pull up my information or allow them to clear out their info and put in mine and have my password just show up. Authorization is a completely different process from actually signing into the store using your account information.

 

[Zwhaler]

I've been using the drag and drop .ipa method with my friends since I got the iPhone. Saved tons of money