Why Apple Needed to Take Down Sites That Sell iPhone OS Beta Versions

Websites that make money on selling iPhone apps takes down by Apple.

Fayetteville, NC (prHWY.com) July 11, 2012 - If you think that people make money from Apple only by pushing to sell iPhone apps or by being retailers of iPhone units, then you're wholly mistaken. Apparently, there are websites that make money by selling beta versions of iPhone operating systems even before it goes out to the market. But hey, don't search for those websites anymore because most of them are now gone, thanks to Apple.

Shady Developers

Aside from getting big fat paychecks through their ingenious application programming, iOS app developers also have very big advantages over us, little Apple monsters. First, they get to see the genius behind the incoming Apple products (read: iPhone 5). Second, they also get first hand information from the consumer electronics giant and freebies a techie would die for. They even have special developer kits that include the beta version of the latest iPhone operating system the tech giant came up with. Now if you're not a developer and you want to get your hands on the iOS 6, the most appropriate thing to do is to sign up for the iOS Developer Program and get the beta iOS for $99. But if you don't want to shell out 99 bucks for a buggy alpha version, you can actually buy it from a different source for only 10 bucks for every Apple device you have. Shocking? More like shady, actually.

Basically, each developer who is successfully registered in the iOS Development Program can activate a hundred UDIDs or unique device IDs for their account. Once a device is activated for the IOS Developer Program, the user may then access beta versions of the iPhone operating systems. So yeah, developers from the WWDC (as well as a dozen or more other developers) can actually sell iPhone OS' beta versions for less than ten bucks and make a hundred dollars or more from the 99 bucks they spent on registration. Does Apple know about it? Of course they do! But they don't seem to care despite the fact that it's been around for ages--until very recently.

The Lock Down

Try Googling the keyword: "UDID Activation" and the search engine monster will concoct a list of websites for you that offer to activate your UDID and give you access to the iOS 6. Mind you, these websites are no laughing jokes. They have Facebook Pages, Twitter pages, live chat support and even customer service support for their loyal customers. It is a very robust business for app developers all over the world. In fact, one developer who made selling iPhone OS a business told Wired a shady secret he's been doing all these years. "I set up a new Apple developer account every time I need another list... I have 30 developer accounts, all with the same name and address, and Apple's never said anything."

Here's what we think: Either Apple had no idea about what's been going on or the tech giant just didn't care as long as they can still sell iPhones. Why? We found out that after the Wired article came out last month, all of the websites listed in the article were closed because the tech giant has finally taken action against these shady developers. Macstories says the Cupertino-based tech company has "chosen the more direct path of shutting down websites and their services by filing DMCA requests to their hosting providers." Then again, there were also reports that Apple knew about these shady iOS Developer Program accounts since last year and has shut down a couple of developer accounts who sold their UDID slots.

So Why the Lock Down?

Here's our own input regarding the matter. Despite our abhorrence of the high prices Apple set when they sell iPhone related services (like 99 bucks for a buggy alpha version of their OS), we have to remember that they do have a right to shut down websites that can affect their business. However, it can also be noted that most of the people who seek illegal UDID activation are usual iPhone addicts who want to use the most recent beta version for their casual iPhone usage and thus wouldn't really affect Apple's large iPhone buying market. But let's look at the bigger perspective. Beta software is always problematic and buggy which is why it is often exclusive to developers only who have technical know-how on bugs and troubleshooting. Why the hell would you want to use a beta version when you can eventually have the final version? Also, the iOS Developer Programs is a business to business scheme. Let's leave it at that.

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Tag Words: os beta version, sell iphone

Categories: Technology

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