Is it possible for a user to access the XAP installation file of an app installed via the Marketplace? If yes, is it possible to restrict access to it?
I basically have some copyrighted images used in the app, and dont want the users to be able to gain access to it.
Only by hacking (ie. jailbreaking) the phone. So in short, no, users are not able to access your XAP.
On all devices in the world, you can't avoid the possibility that someone is going to crack the security measures (in this case, Microsofts). But it's very difficult on WP7, if not impossible still, as opposed to Android where it just takes a few clicks to get the content of a marketplace app, and then decompile it.
Yes, now ANYONE can download your xap from the marketplace, this application for example access to free apps on the WP7 Marketplace http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile/search-and-download-free-windows-phone-7-marketplace-apps-xap-files-to-pc/
For paid apps, it won't be any harder than analyzing the xml files exchanged by Zune.
Related
I'm thinking about a new mobile/tablet application.
I want to allow the users to develop their own plugins.
Imagine a cash desk application running on a Android tablet. The user could use many alternative when connecting to the credit card reader (Square, Sum'Up, ...).
If my application was an old Win32, I would just publish an API and let Square or Sum'Up developpers create a DLL. This DLL would then be placed somewhere on the computer. At application startup, I just have to look for those DLL and dynamically load them.
In fact, the real question is : Is it possible to create a plugin based application ? I'm thinking about Managed Extensibility Framework here. Many questions come to mind :
How to deploy those plugins ?
Does this work for all the platforms (iOS, Android, UWP) ?
...
I was unable to find any documentation on this.
Many thanks for your thoughts and indications.
Not sure if this answers your question fully.
However, a MEF like architecture could probably work on Android if you put the DLL's somewhere publicly discoverable, such as in /storage/emulated/0. Alternatively, such plugins could be distributed as separate Apps, providing Services, Content Providers and Activities consumable from other Apps.
However, on iOS you would not be able to publish such an App in the App Store though, as Apple does not allow you to use dynamically linked libraries there. You could maybe do it for Apps that don't go on the App Store, such as for Enterprise distribution.
While it might not be the greatest solution. You would always be able to navigate between Apps on iOS through URLs. However, that is not the greatest experience, since this would mean you would be leaving your App every time you wanted to get into a "plugin" App to do something.
I created and used application softwares(exe file written in C++ with Win SDK) of Windows OS(Win7) which has a function to upload(post) user photos to Facebook. They were working fine but now it is not possible to post photos to Facebook and I got to know I need get my application reviewd for public_actions permission. I tried to do it but could not find way to submit since there's no category for Windows application. How can I do it? I think the reviewers need to 'run' the app and it looks OK for andriod, iOS, Win8 apps, and Web site since reviewers can access to them by codes or URL for the apps but I have no idea how to make it for my Windows application. It is big size application with lots of images over 1Gbytes. Will it be OK to use an FTP account for the reviewers to download and review it?
In your review notes you can explicitly mention that this is a Windows application. You will need to provide as much screenshots as possible or preferably, a screencast where you show how you use the Facebook integration.
To get all the required fields, you can fill in the website for your application (if you have one) or an other website. Just make sure to mention that in your reviewer notes.
That should work with getting your app reviews.
ps: this question actually is not appropriate for Stackoverflow. I suggested using the Facebook Developer Community group for these kind of questions (non-technical).
I'm trying to create some application for Windows Phone >= 7.1
During plannin my work and specyfiong technical requirements I've come across one problem.
I wan't to have free application with basic functionality. And then it should be extendable with some non-free extensions (dlls?, databases?, SaaS?)
Is it possible at the moment to use some MS api/app/etc. to be able to publish such extensions and sell them? What is the best way to do this if there is more than one solution?
Thank you for any help.
As of right now (June 2012), in-app purchases are not supported. Your only choices, then are being a paid app and supporting trial mode.
The only way you can do this at present is to handle the additional purchases yourself.
You'd have to set up a website which customers could create an account on and purchase extensions through, then have them also log into your app with those account details to determine what additional data to download or functions to enable.
You could be smart and include the website functionality into your app with a browser control. Take a look at the Amazon Kindle app for an example of how they accomplish it.
My company needs to upload an app to the store , that will only be available to 80 people over the world that will get the permission to test it.
The ad-hoc method requires their iphones id's to be register with the app, and obviously we dont have it.
Whats the best way, to upload the app to the store ,to let this people to get it ?
(NO, without just go to the review process of apple)
thanks.
Besides the enterprise developer program, Ad-Hoc distribution is the only way to limit your audience.
If you try to game the app store with an unreasonable high price and promo codes (limit of 50 codes per app version) Apple will kick you out of the review process in no time.
Use testflight to get device IDs easier and deploy you app to the testers.
There is no way to do that, for the Adhoc, you must register their UDID devices.
You can upload the app in the AppStore, put it's price high, and give the prople that you want to test the app a redeem code that will download the app free, but i think the number of redeem code you have is 25. If you find anyway to do that, share it with us please.
If the 80 people that will be testing/using the app are employees of the company, you should look into the Enterprise Developer Program. Enterprise development lets you deploy an internal app to employees of your organization that is not released to the App Store. It essentially lets you build an Ad Hoc like version of your app that can then be installed on devices without the need to get UDIDs.
The cost is $299 instead of the normal $99 and there are a few caveats on whether or not your organization qualifies. But if you do qualify, it vastly simplifies deploying an internal app and it gives you specifically what you were asking for - no review and no need to ask for UDIDs. You can put the signed bundle up on a website and simply give people the URL to it for OTA installation, so you don't even need iTunes.
Alternatively, if the end users are not a part of your organization, you can also look into developing Custom B2B Apps. This one comes with a few more hoops to jump through and it also requires an Apple review, but it allows your app to be sold only to specific customers and doesn't put it in the App Store. If you're already a developer with Apple, there's even a WWDC video on it.
I have a Wp7 app (ready in a xap), and I'd like to give it to a client, so he can use it in 5-10 devices. But it is an "internal" client for our service, so I'd rather not publish it on WP Marketplace for all to see...
Is there any reasonable way to do this?
when you upload app on marketplace you can set it as private so only users with direct link can see/install it. There was an app which hacked WP7 that allows you to install apps without marketplace but I've heard it's not legal anymore*.
*search for it because I'm not sure about this one.
edit: http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/01/02/chevronwp7.runs.out.of.tokens.may.not.renew/
Maybe you can try http://labs.chevronwp7.com/
EDIT : Sorry, it seems that all tokens are sold out, so this is not solution for you.
As pointed out by others, you can publish a application on the marketplace as a beta, allowing 5 users to test it using their Live IDs.
But all unlocked phones can have a XAP installed. Generally, Windows Phone applications aren't designed for internal distribution. If you don't intend to publish the application on the marketplace at any point, you need to estimate in the cost of $100 per phone, per year, for the usage of your application.
I'll recommend you contact Microsoft, if you need a specialized deal.