Skip to main content
Question

packaging AppStore apps

  • May 2, 2011
  • 4 replies
  • 5 views
A
  • Anonymous

Hey folks,

Seems to me that more and more apps are being sent over to the AppStore and only available for download via the AppStore
Like most of you, we are not allowing the AppStore to operate on our units. At the same time we do grant our users a higher level of accessibility and freedoms.
One of those is the use and installation of Twitter.

Twitter, (formally known as Tweetie) is now only available via the AppStore. (looks like Trillian is also AppStore only now)

So, I know these are not "mission critical" apps and many times the default answer would just be that these apps are not needed for work.
Yet, this all makes me wonder, what if more developers head down this road?
What if one day Firefox is only available via the AppStore?

For fun, I downloaded the Twitter app via my account in the AppStore. The app is self contained and since its free, I went ahead and made a Composer DMG of it and deployed to a user on the floor.
The user on the floor does not have the AppStore on his computer and has now been able to use this app for 5 days without any issue.

I have not tested this with a purchased app and don't plan on it. My hunch is that a purchased app will behave much like a DRM music file and will want to check in with the AppStore. That also opens up an entire new chapter in a book that I am not ready to look at. So for the near future I'm only looking at the free apps.

The beauty in using JSS for this is that if we go wrong with this free app, we can quickly remove it.
Would love to hear some feedback, comments and general banter on this subject.

Nick Caro Senior Desktop Support Administrator

Phone +1 212-839-1587 Fax 212-946-4010 nick.caro at rga.com<mailto:nick.caro at rga.com>

R/GA 350 West 39th Street New York, NY 10018
www.rga.com<http://www.rga.com/> www.twitter.com/rga<http://www.twitter.com/rga> www.facebook.com/rga<http://www.facebook.com/rga>

The Agency for the Digital Age(tm)

    4 replies

    A
    • Anonymous
    • May 2, 2011

    Free apps can check for validation; similarly, paid applications do not
    On 5/2/11 8:57 AM, "Nick Caro" <Nick.Caro at rga.com> wrote:
    have to. It is up to the app developer to decide whether they will
    implement receipt checking. This is not like the iOS App Store, where the
    OS handles all the validation.

    The mechanism behind the App Store is that when the app is downloaded, the
    Store writes out a signed receipt in the file
    [App.app]/Contents/_MASReceipt/receipt. This file includes the app
    identifier and the computer's GUID (but that seems to mean "MAC address"). Apps are to verify their receipt, if they want, and then signal the
    system if the validation fails - if it fails, Finder will trigger an App
    Store login and the Store will attempt to download a new receipt that
    matches the computer.

    --Jim

    talkingmoose
    Forum|alt.badge.img+36
    • talkingmoose
    • Community Manager
    • May 2, 2011

    Read the licensing agreement for the Mac App Store.
    On 5/2/11 7:57 AM, "Nick Caro" <Nick.Caro at rga.com> wrote:

    http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/us/terms.html#APPS

    One line says it all: "(i) You may download and use an application from
    the Mac App Store ('Mac App Store Product') for personal, non-commercial
    use on any Apple-branded products running Mac OS X ('Mac Computer') that
    you own or control."

    Apple is unlikely to seriously worry about Twitter, Firefox or other free
    applications, however, application developers really need to release
    applications independently of the Mac App Store if they want them approved
    for enterprise use.

    I'm not a lawyer and won't say you can or cannot use these applications.
    You need to contact your own institution's legal counsel for this matter.
    It's not a technology issue.

    --

    William Smith
    Technical Analyst
    Merrill Communications LLC
    (651) 632-1492

    J
    Forum|alt.badge.img+24
    • jarednichols
    • Valued Contributor
    • May 2, 2011

    Download the source and compile it yourself

    </snark>

    :)
    --
    Jared F. Nichols
    Desktop Engineer, Client Services
    Information Services Department
    MIT Lincoln Laboratory
    244 Wood Street
    Lexington, Massachusetts 02420
    781.981.5436

    RobertHammen
    Forum|alt.badge.img+29
    • RobertHammen
    • Esteemed Contributor
    • May 3, 2011

    I know that Citrix sent us a non-App Store version of Receiver 11.3.3 (after we found a huge proxy PAC-parsing bug in 11.3). I was then able to package it up with Composer without a care.

    Contact the developer first; chances are they have heard this from other corporate and/or educational users, and can send you non-App Store versions of their products.

    --Robert

    Terms & ConditionsCookie settingsAccessibility statement