Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing Apps

Re:Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing... by spacemanaki on Wednesday August 17, 2011 @09:49PM (#2897666)

I pointed this out the last time this came up, but an additional measure would be to also crack down on sites that sell access to iOS betas, if they aren't doing that already. That would (likely) drastically reduce the number of non-developers running beta OSes since isn't it $100/year for a developer account, but you can install betas on many devices? There are sites selling access for less than $10. If it's not against the TOS of the developer accounts, it definitely should be.

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Re:Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing... by zhoutong on Wednesday August 17, 2011 @10:01PM (#2897683)

Apparently Apple has noticed this issue and they have taken down a few sites. (http://appadvice.com/appnn/2011/08/apple-takes-steps-against...) In fact Apple can try to increase the technical barrier to install iOS beta. (Must upgrade in Xcode or must own at least one app in App Store to be eligible for beta access.) This way can block the vast majority of non-developers while not affecting real iOS developers.

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Re:Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing... by silencio on Wednesday August 17, 2011 @10:10PM (#2897707)

There was speculation that that might have just been betas expiring, and not developers selling access getting their access revoked (http://www.macrumors.com/2011/08/05/apple-disabling-ios-5-be...).

> must own at least one app in App Store to be eligible for beta access

That doesn't work for many reasons. App Review, as if they didn't have enough of a hard time with a bad reputation, would just be flooded by trash from first time developers or contract developers/companies that just created an account. Apple could make it mandatory to install using Xcode, but in the past, Xcode upgrades have bricked devices where iTunes doesn't. So I have a feeling that's not really a priority and more of a burden. Plus, it's braindead simple to install and use Xcode to install betas, and anyone desperate enough to pay $10 but not $100 should easily be able to get around that.

I really think all Apple needs to do is to block reviews from iOS 5 devices. Developers running betas won't be reviewing apps in the store (that's incredibly hypocritical and cruel if so) so nobody's going to be missing that. This doesn't harm beta testers and devs that want to install iOS betas.

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Re:Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing... by dunham on Thursday August 18, 2011 @01:35AM (#2898108)

I'd also block reviews from beta versions of iTunes, since many reviews are entered via iTunes.

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Re:Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing... by shaggyfrog on Wednesday August 17, 2011 @10:13PM (#2897711)

Your proposals take things a bit too far without any real return.

Blocking access to devs who don't have an app in the store is counterproductive, because that prevents the developers from testing against the latest iOS and finding bugs -- which is the entire point of access to the iOS beta! Not to mention some devs might be working for other clients and not yet shipped something themselves (as in my case).

Requiring installs via Xcode would only be a temporary slowdown before someone figures out the secret handshake and hacks around it.

Blocking reviews from devices with the latest iOS beta installed should be sufficient to eliminate most of these unfair reviews.

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Re:Apple, It’s Time To Block iOS 5 Beta Users From Reviewing... by silencio on Wednesday August 17, 2011 @10:26PM (#2897735)

The secret handshake is merely the Xcode Organizer. I actually find it easier to restore there than do the opt-click dance in iTunes.

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