10 replies to this topic

[orateam]

I didn't see a forum for general chat, so posting here unless an admin finds a better place.

Not sure everyone has seen the latest news going on from the Bigger game developers of the world, but lately they've been bashing Android. A recent posting by John Romero of Wolfenstein 3d Fame and ID software blasted Android as being a haven for piracy and will never be a successful platform. Also saw a Carmack and a few other big developers claim Android will never succeed. Just saw a post from a few weeks back about the makers of

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also denouncing Android for piracy.

My question is this. Android still is #1, even hackers like me pay for some software. Lately Where's my water,where's my perry,Dead trigger in game levels, all got my money. I can't imagine they would want to look away from all these android users. So why make a big stink about this now? Are they just asking Google to making it harder to pirate? I mean PC games are notoriously easy to pirate, yet WOW and Diablo 3 (i just bought) both sold over 9 million copies. Make your game pirate proof is my point. what are your thoughts?

[Alex.Abraham]

Funny you should put up this post because the DoJ just got involved for the first time with regard to Android piracy

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I think this problem will die down now that the 3 main sources of Android piracy are dead. It will definitely not stop Android piracy, but to be fair pirating apps on iOS isn't the hardest thing to do... (just jailbreak and install installous )

[SoLongSidekick]

The biggest problems are the loads of sites that offer .APKs for download as they offer paid versions as well as free ones. There are thousands of downloads a day off sites like that. Plus, think of how easy it is to just browse into your apps folder and send someone an .APK of a paid app. It is really easy to pirate android apps, but it's not impossible to stop it.

Apps like Nova Launcher Prime have found a way (I believe) to stop it from happening. Their paid version is an unlocker, but DLing it off an .APK site and installing it on your phone won't work. I think it either directs you to enter a promotion code or send them an email with your purchase ID to verify your copy. I am not sure how hard this would be to circumnavigate, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

[Alex.Abraham]

The biggest problems are the loads of sites that offer .APKs for download as they offer paid versions as well as free ones. There are thousands of downloads a day off sites like that. Plus, think of how easy it is to just browse into your apps folder and send someone an .APK of a paid app. It is really easy to pirate android apps, but it's not impossible to stop it.

Apps like Nova Launcher Prime have found a way (I believe) to stop it from happening. Their paid version is an unlocker, but DLing it off an .APK site and installing it on your phone won't work. I think it either directs you to enter a promotion code or send them an email with your purchase ID to verify your copy. I am not sure how hard this would be to circumnavigate, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Also apps like Titanium Backup use an unlock key app. It is probably the best way to prevent piracy but some developers don't like the idea of making their customers download 2 APKs to get eh app working. Also they would have to offer a free version for it to make any sense

[SoLongSidekick]

About to move this thread to General Discussion; just a heads up.

[carracerz14]

Damn I loved applanet.

Sent from my RAZR MAXXIMUS

[bstrong]

I saw an idea awhile back about offering every app as a lite version with the opportunity to purchase in the app itself.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[snives]

Piracy is not an issue on any platform, or for any media content. Traditionally 'piracy' referred to the theft of goods to make a profit while taking things away from and causing damage to the original owner. What people call software 'piracy' so loosely today is rarely this, as most 'pirates' are causing no harm to the owner of the content in any form. 'Piracy' is the result of companies regularly overcharging for sub-par quality product. With the release of Netflix the piracy rate of movies took a plummet, with Steam video games did the same thing. iTunes Store was actually credited by some for one of the biggest booms in music sales in history because it made singles in a readily usable format highly accessible. Provide a service that customers don't regret paying for, and they will pay readily.

The people pirating things and never paying for them, would not have paid for them in the first place. The people buying them regardless are still buying them, with additional feedback being provided from 'pirate' friends that urged them to get it. A very small minority of 'pirates' are actually taking the software/media with intent to redistribute or sell it... they are obviously in the wrong but being that I don't see people standing in front of Best Buy selling copied movies to prevent legitimate sales this will have minimal impact on the market. There has even been countless studies that show bootlegging drives sales for music up as customers appreciate the ability to preview, and more often purchase after having heard it from a friend. The lobbyists claiming it is causing damage are the same ones trying to control the internet through controls that acts like SOPA/PIPA would have put in place. They claim losses as a direct correlation to number of downloads and ignore the possibility that anybody could ever use a service like Pandora/iHeartRadio or a radio. /rantover

The biggest problems are the loads of sites that offer .APKs for download as they offer paid versions as well as free ones. There are thousands of downloads a day off sites like that. Plus, think of how easy it is to just browse into your apps folder and send someone an .APK of a paid app. It is really easy to pirate android apps, but it's not impossible to stop it.

Apps like Nova Launcher Prime have found a way (I believe) to stop it from happening. Their paid version is an unlocker, but DLing it off an .APK site and installing it on your phone won't work. I think it either directs you to enter a promotion code or send them an email with your purchase ID to verify your copy. I am not sure how hard this would be to circumnavigate, but it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Also apps like Titanium Backup use an unlock key app. It is probably the best way to prevent piracy but some developers don't like the idea of making their customers download 2 APKs to get eh app working. Also they would have to offer a free version for it to make any sense

That method is actually extremely easy to circumvent. It is used for the convenience of the developer (only have to keep 1 version up to date), not for security. I'm not going to share methods here (not via PM either, don't message me about it) but nearly every app can be cracked quite easily. The most secure app I've come across is Spectral Souls. I haven't found many things in general though that are not easy to crack.

For reference, I tend to crack just about every game/app I get even though I legitimately own them to remove DRM checks (on various platforms). I also have 'pirated' several things over the years simply because no demo was adequate to satisfy me. I pirated P90X, recommended it to many people, had a dozen friends/family that bought it, then bought it myself. If I had not 'pirated' it they would have been out a nice chunk of money.

[androidlearner]

I kind of agree here. I myself have downloaded apks for paid apps to try them only because they do not provide a trial version or lite version. However I always pay for it if it's something I want to keep. If app developers provided a trial or lite version of apps they would probably see less pirating going on. Kind of like how you can preview music in iTunes before purchasing.

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[orateam]

I kind of agree here. I myself have downloaded apks for paid apps to try them only because they do not provide a trial version or lite version. However I always pay for it if it's something I want to keep. If app developers provided a trial or lite version of apps they would probably see less pirating going on. Kind of like how you can preview music in iTunes before purchasing.

I found pirating on the Ipad/iphone much easier personally. A friend came over and jailbroke my ipad3 in 10 mins and had something called hackulous and installous which provided an appstore like app in the ipad. It basically mirrored the app store sans the buy button. Waay too easy in my opinion. I still buy apps for all my systems when i actually keep them. I use pirated versions to trial the app. I realize that i don't need to, but i'm a developer and believe in paying for software you use.

The music industry ran into the same situation 10 years ago. Nobody wanted to pay $15 for a CD when obtaining a digital copy was much easier. You liked a song, just get bearshare and get it. Saved going to the record store at the mall and getting the whole album. Once Apple got them organized, they beat the problem. Every once in awhile, google and amazon will put entire albums out for $2 to $3 and i grab a bunch of them. Go figure, music is cheaper than it was 10 years ago and more profitable.

The software industry charges too much for some software and just right for others. How is it possible for a game like angry birds with touch screen graphics offering as many hours of gameplay as Madden to be $1 while madden costs $60 a year. I live in Orlando near Tiburon (madden) and they have alot of people working on the updates each year, but they even told me they could sell that game for $10 and still make a profit ($8 is cutting it even). That included the cost to the NFL too.

I'm tired of seeing people ripping google and android as a busted operating system for developers. We saw this same argument with Xbox and 360 (flash hacking the DVD drive) and eventually all the games for the PS3 made it to the xbox and 360 after all. It's a lame excuse that only sways iphone people on the fence to stay on iphone/ipad. Bad for business, bad for diversity in products and bad for consumer pricing eventually.