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Apple Error Leaves iPhone Developers In the Lurch
canadacow writes "iPhone developers enrolled and active in the iPhone OS 2.0 beta program got a nasty surprise today when Apple inadvertently 'expired' the recently released version. While for a beta program this typically would not be an issue, Apple has yet to release a new deployment of the iPhone OS. So developers like myself who use their iPhone for both actual phone and iPod use are bricked. Of note, this particular expired build is just 11 days old."
They tried to call you and apologize but you didn't answer your phone.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Let's complain about BETA software!
It is not a brick. It's a perfectly functional device with a software problem. That is not "bricked".
Couldn't they just re-release the exact same beta OS but fix the expiration date? They must know about this by now, and it doesn't seem like it'd even take that long. Maybe they are having a day off or something.
I know this will be the theme for the whole slashdot story, but I have to say that if MS did this, I think there'd be public burnings, see-I-told-you-so's, etc.
But, I guess that getting on the front page of slashdot is more important.
Username taken, please choose another one.
Consider the open source alternative, OpenMoko No worries about some sudden "change in corporate direction" screwing you over.
Is anyone else getting tired of the sensationalist misuse of the term "bricked" around here?
Unless it's nigh unrecoverable, your hardware isn't bricked.
If there's anything more important than my ego around here, I want it caught and shot immediately.
"Bricked" is unrecoverable.
"Bricked" is permanent.
"Bricked" is having absolutely no way, ever, of interacting with the object in a manner that is inconsistent with interacting with a brick.
This, on the other hand, will be fixed by tomorrow.
Beta testers were notified by e-mail of the software expiration that night. A new copy was available immediately from the AppleSeed site.
My phone is fine and probably a lot of other beta testers who have a clue have a working phone as well.
Maybe people who beta test software should have a good understanding that it is a BETA test and Apple highly recommended that the BETA software not be installed on personal or business-related phones that need to have 100% accessibility and reliability.
How many beta testers in this program understand how to use a web browser to go grab the new release? If you're gonna be a n00b about it, don't sign up to be a tester.
Now you know what Radio operators feels like when we geeks talk about "bandwidth". Perhaps it's karma ;)
If you RTFA, you'll see that at least one person tried to buy a phone to use just for testing -- and no one had any to sell. So what do you do -- not do the stuff your $99 entitles you to do?
i am a soviet space shuttle
"Bricked" is permanent. ... This, on the other hand, will be fixed by tomorrow.
So it's a werebrick.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Not that I suspect there was any question about the matter, but Apple is in control of your destiny not only as an iPhone developer, but also as an iPhone user.
The expectations of developers are being shifted from the norm by actions such as these... Apple has effectively halted or paused development for the iPhone.
The expectations of end users haven't been completely altered yet, but there's strong potential for that sort of thing to happen at Apple's whim... and it's probably already in the EULA that Apple can and probably will enable, disable and remove features at their leisure with or without the end users' consent. Some of the initial shocks have already been felt, though, where battery replacement isn't a simple matter and is instead a costly and inconvenient one. Other examples are that a user can't save attachments like pictures into the phone and cannot do even the simple things like copy and paste.
I expect to see more things coming down, but what I cannot predict is end user response. Apple devices seem to cause reactions among their users not unlike a drug that yields a minor high combined with caffeine and nicotine. I am often surprised or awed at how much nonsense today's consumers will accept and the limits are constantly being pushed to new extremes. But generally speaking, Apple users both old and new routinely accept abuses that PC users wouldn't tolerate from a vendor... so I expect there to be a lot more user abuse without backlash.
I don't get it - My "friend's" iphone expired at midnight but guess what, there was an email from the Apple beta program in my "friend's" email telling my "friend" to update their iPhone. Update, start using the phone again.
This is just a sensationalist article using the Dvorak Method (TM) to get more hits.
How else are you supposed to test something thoroughly than to use it as your primary device?
I can understand perfectly why devs would use the iPhone as their primary. It's hard to catch the bugs unless you're regularly testing your software in a real-life environment... or do you really want the bugs (usability or functionality) to show up when the customers start using the tool in a real-life way.
Oh, and that probably affected more users than the iphone beta expiration.
There are a few things wrong.
1. Apple specifically told you not to use it on a iPhone. You decided it didn't belong in the SDK emulator, unlocked it, and put on your iPhone. The fact that this didn't work out well for you is your problem.
2. You can put the proper firmware for a phone, and not the one designed for development, on your iPhone at any time using iTunes.
3. A new firmware is available. The SDK program specifically states that if you don't download the newest SDK from time to time, you will have the old one stop functioning.
Burn Hollywood Burn
Suck it the fuck up, and use the emulator till there's a working firmware release.
Folks, don't tell him the phone isn't bricked, it just encourages him. Instead of going to a forum and asking "hey, what happened to my iPhone with this devkit installed?" he comes to Slashdot and hyperventilates about a bricked phone. And whaddya know, several people already gave him a solution (rollback firmware through iTunes - hey, great idea!) I propose we no longer act as Apple Technical Support for the Un-Bricked.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
This whole thing can be fixed with ziphone. I was able to restore my phone back to 1.1.4 in less than a minute. simply downgrade you bootloader and you're golden.
Beyond its inherent features, people (like me) bother with the iPhone because of their experiences with other phones, which have opaque manuals that attempt to explain how the phone would actually work had the carrier not installed their custom OS on it and disabled the useful features to force you into their pay-per-use services. Oh, and some people (like me) were already with the carrier in question.
I hope that cleared that up for you.
"I guess the moral of the story is, don't paint your airship with rocket fuel." -- Addison Bain
Just put up on the iPhone dev site, go get it.
Part of the shock that some people are feeling comes from the fact that 'beta' doesn't carry the same weight it used to. While others have jumped on the bandwagon, Google has been the big one for devaluing the term. Beta is supposed to mean a potentially unstable build released for testing and feedback purposes. It is labelled beta precisely because it might have some show stopping bugs lurking inside.
However, many people are now used to Google's beta software, which means a functional, polished release that happens to be missing some of the blue sky features that are planned. Oh, and it might get a UI redesign at some point.
The two uses are very different and anyone expecting one should be quite shocked to find the other.
...and go download the new version: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/
The Unofficial Apple Weblog reports that the new SDK is available, which should rescue any iPhones or iPod Touches from the Pink Screen of Death.
It's surprising to see Apple drop the ball like this. You should probably post a new SDK before the old ones expire and prevent developers from working. This is an amateur mistake.
I suppose it's possible that you are the arbiter of usability, but I'm going to go ahead and suspect that's not the case at all.
(with apologies to Dr. Evil)
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]
Yes Beta 2 exppired today but Beta 3 was also released today. There was a gap of a few hours. This software is for DEVELOPERS and has not effect on end users.
Fact: Everything I say is fiction.