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Apple Bans iFixit Repair App From App Store After Apple TV Teardown
alphadogg writes: iFixit, the fix-it-yourself advocate for users of Apple, Google and other gear, has had its repair manual app banned from Apple's App Store after it conducted an unauthorized teardown of Apple TV and Siri remote. iFixit blogged "we're a teardown and repair company; teardowns are in our DNA -- and nothing makes us happier than figuring out what makes these gadgets tick. We weighed the risks, blithely tossed those risks over our shoulder, and tore down the Apple TV anyway." iFixit does still have Windows and Android apps, and has no immediate plans to rewrite its Apple app to attempt being reinstated.
bad link to the iFixit blog link
here's the correct one
http://ifixit.org/blog/7401/if...
"For I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and Long Words Bother Me"
Can you buy the new Apple TV yet? I'm sure if iFixIt had waited until they could purchase one instead of using a preview unit, they wouldn't have gotten as much flack as they did. They threw caution to the wind and it boomeranged back in their face.
Apple aren't taking legal action against iFixIt either, they're revoking their development account for breach of terms of conditions. iFixIt has the right to tear it down and Apple has the right to revoke the account as a result.
Yep. If you buy an object, you have every right to take it apart.
While I agree with the above statement (and some of your others), they didn't buy the devices. It was a developer preview provided to them under NDA. I think iFixit is clearly in the wrong here.
From the article:
The developer unit we disassembled was sent to us by Apple. Evidently, they didn’t intend for us to take it apart. But we’re a teardown and repair company; teardowns are in our DNA—and nothing makes us happier than figuring out what makes these gadgets tick. We weighed the risks, blithely tossed those risks over our shoulder, and tore down the Apple TV anyway.
-=Lothsahn=-
No it isn't. Apple LENT them a unit, and they tore it down. If I lend you a lawnmower, and with out my permission (unauthorised) you pull it apart, then I'm going to punish you too.
If iFixit waited till they could buy their own in store, then tore that down, then there wouldn't be a problem.
No, Apple LENT them one. Review units are not gifts.
“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
Oh, unless they do things that we don't like. Then we ban them.
I see your point but at the same time, what was APPL thinking giving a developer unit to iFixit, a website whose sole purpose is to take apart things?
Apple was daring iFixit to break the NDA. Sort of like giving a two year old a marshmallow, telling him not to eat it, and then leaving the room. Who is at fault, the two year old or the person giving the marshmallow?
Seriously, I am speaking from ignorance about the specifics, but aren't the products in question, on the market?
No, they are not. At the moment you can only buy one if you are a registered developer and are willing to sign an NDA.
#DeleteChrome
I am thinking that Apple was thinking that iFixit would do a teardown of the AppleTV and keeps it under NDA, until the AppleTV units are available.
Giving iFixit some time to prepare before putting the photos and repair guides on their website and app.
I think Apple doesn't mind iFixit, Apple probably supplies most of the spare parts to iFixit.
I think Apple does mind that iFixit breaks the NDA, and I am not sure but the App was probably rejected because the contents contained information that was under NDA.
It was pretty foolish of them to publish a teardown of a pre-release developer unit. They could have taken it apart, published something on the repairability of it, etc., and left the teardown until the product was available for sale. Apple only really cares that the information was leaked and people got a look at it that wasn't the look they wanted to be first.
All iFixit has done here is made sure they won't receive any developer units from Apple in the future.
No, they are not. At the moment you can only buy one if you are a registered developer and are willing to sign an NDA.
Not even that. They held a lottery for registered developers and gave the winning developers a developer kit. As a registered developer who was not selected for the lottery, I cannot even buy an early-access unit.
iFixIt signed up for that lottery and was picked to receive a developer kit. I remember when I signed up for the same kit, I did a very cursory skimming of the NDA and it was pretty explicitly stated that I wasn't allowed to publicly publish pictures or even publicly discuss the unit/software.
The summary is pretty bad on this one.
Right after the Apple TV 4 (ATV4) was officially announced, Apple put a form on their Developer's site to give some of them away to developers. These are pre-release units, and the packaging on them even says "Developer's Edition" or something on it. There was a (since pulled) eBay auction showing the packaging.
Part of the agreement in getting this unit was an NDA which stipulated, amongst other things, that you can't take it apart.
iFixit got an ATV4 as part of the giveaway and decided to violate the NDA and get an exclusive article in the process. Since the developer program was what they used to get the ATV4, the developer program is what they were kicked out of. As a result their iOS app got yanked as well.
Several people have noted that their iOS app hadn't been updated in years (may still have been on the 3.5" screen) and so the app itself isn't much of a loss. The summary says something about being "rewritten" but that doesn't make any sense - if iFixit were to get another developer account they could just put the same app up again from the same source code. The content of the app is not what was offensive to Apple, it was the NDA violation. It may need to be upgraded for modern phones (i.e., be adaptive to the iPhone 6/6+ screen sizes) but it doesn't need to be rewritten in order to adhere to Apple's policies.
iFixit entered into an agreement with Apple that had consequences. It violated that agreement and so it's suffering the consequences. Which it knew would happen and it didn't care about. And since it's an old app that's being pulled it's not much of a loss to them, not compared to the exclusive early article and coverage this stunt's consequences has given them.
But to clarify for everyone, this wasn't a review unit, it wasn't on loan, it was a unit Apple gave them and other developers in order to develop for it early before the actual thing is released. And really, a number of developers didn't get these units and so to some extent the idea that iFixit got one not intending to write an app for it but instead just want to tear it down for page clicks and ad impressions is sort of offensive. If they had waited for the thing to be in stores and bought one retail and then tore it apart they would be in the clear.
Schnapple
"The developer unit we disassembled was sent to us by Apple. Evidently, they didn’t intend for us to take it apart. But we’re a teardown and repair company; teardowns are in our DNA—and nothing makes us happier than figuring out what makes these gadgets tick. We weighed the risks, blithely tossed those risks over our shoulder, and tore down the Apple TV anyway."
iFixit knew that Apple would not be happy with them disassembling it but did it anyway.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Their issue is not that they took apart the hardware. Their issue is that they took apart the hardware and then did an article about it before the ATV4 hit stores. Here's the relevant portion of the agreement.
Everyone is getting this wrong - the issue is not that they tore it apart but that they did an article on it before the NDA was up. If they did an article on the still-assembled unit they would be in violation of the NDA as well. They were not giving these things away to be reviewed, they were giving them to people to write apps for them.
Quite frankly the majority of Slashdot seems to be completely down with disregarding all of contract law, which is sort of hilarious given the fervor with which they go after GPL violators with.
Schnapple
Presumably so they can study it, do their teardown, prepare their materials etc, and then wait until the product is released before publishing their results.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
The person giving the marshmallow.
But if you give a 30 year old a marshmallow, and tell him not to eat it, then leave the room and he eats it, then it's his fault.
Grownups are supposed to know better.
NO matter what iFixit did, this just makes Apple look like a petty asshole. Sent from my Mac Mini.
Good-bye
What happened was that iFixit broke the NDA by posting the pics before the device was released. Apple then cancelled their developer account, which as they also used that developer account for their App, had the knock-on effect of pulling their app from the App Store
http://ifixit.org/blog/7401/if...
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