Apple blocks iFixit dev account following fourth-gen Apple TV teardown
Apple has banned iFixit's developer account and pulled its app from the App Store after the repair firm dismantled a fourth-generation Apple TV dev kit it received as part of Apple's pre-release program.
That teardown violated Apple's terms for the developer program, iFixit admitted in a blog post. The company said it "weighed the risks" in advance and decided to do the work anyway. The ban was imposed a few days later.
iFixit took "actions that may hinder the performance or intended use of the App Store, B2B Program, or the Program," Apple wrote in a notification email.
The app was actually neglected for several months, and became buggy with the launch of iOS 9, iFixit commented. In the meantime the company has been working on its mobile website, and has no plans to rewrite the dedicated software, though it suggested that people could easily adopt its APIs to build their own. An Android app is still available in the Google Play Store.
Although the new Apple TV won't officially launch until sometime in October, Apple recently sent out pre-release hardware to lucky developers. The program was intended to kickstart development of tvOS apps, given that the platform was only announced on Sept. 9.
That teardown violated Apple's terms for the developer program, iFixit admitted in a blog post. The company said it "weighed the risks" in advance and decided to do the work anyway. The ban was imposed a few days later.
iFixit took "actions that may hinder the performance or intended use of the App Store, B2B Program, or the Program," Apple wrote in a notification email.
The app was actually neglected for several months, and became buggy with the launch of iOS 9, iFixit commented. In the meantime the company has been working on its mobile website, and has no plans to rewrite the dedicated software, though it suggested that people could easily adopt its APIs to build their own. An Android app is still available in the Google Play Store.
Although the new Apple TV won't officially launch until sometime in October, Apple recently sent out pre-release hardware to lucky developers. The program was intended to kickstart development of tvOS apps, given that the platform was only announced on Sept. 9.
Comments
iFixit were a bunch of dicks for knowingly violating the NDA and posting the teardown so they could profit from page hits
What were Apple thinking iFixit would do with the unit in the first place? Of all the developers Apple could have sent it to, iFixit must be one of the least deserving.
I am a bit disappointed as iFixit was wrong in their action and it is the risk they took (I would have thought they are much smarter than this). Though I do enjoy iFixit work as it has helped me a lot when I am fixing and upgrading my Mac products. I hope they sort this out with Apple.
Fair enough, iFixit gambled and lost.
They knew it was a gamble and seem to have taken it the right way.
Hehe- of all the company's whose NDA you don't eff with...
Apple doesn't need them or their app. I hope they are permanently banned from the App Store.
Good. "Stick to implicit/explicit contracts with Apple" is a good signal to send.
So they knowingly violated a contract and got the punishment they deserved.
It was wrong of iFixIt to violate the terms of the NDA, and if Apple is only terminating their developer account they're getting off easy.
One just wonders why Apple gave iFixIt pre-release hardware. What did they think they were going to do? Write new software for it? Please. It's like giving a new piece of hardware to Blendtec and being surprised when it shows up on "Will it blend?"
What were Apple thinking iFixit would do with the unit in the first place? Of all the developers Apple could have sent it to, iFixit must be one of the least deserving.
That is exactly what I thought when I saw the teardown from them. I was wondering how they qualified as a developer to get on of these. I suspect that Apples screening process did not look at each request all that closely.
At least they did not whine about it and said big bad apple cut them off and they did nothing wrong. They knew they took a risk.
I'm getting a kick out of the comments on iFixit's blog post about being banned by Apple. Some people are just so stupid.
Yes, it was against policy.
If iFixit waited until the exact day of availability, then no problem.
Something uber top secret Apple did not want leaking?
Like no A9 chip?
Like no 4K capability?
They know they'd be removed, and even THAT was all part of the planned publicity stunt for them! It also gave them an excuse to never fix bugs. Pure genius
Agreed. iFixit outsmarted Apple. Not that Apple cares. Apple doesn't have time to worry about things like this.
Actually what they said was "We weighed the risks, blithely tossed those risks over our shoulder, and tore down the Apple TV anyway,"
So they knowingly violated a contract and got the punishment they deserved.
No they have only been had their developer account pulled/banned
given their statements, I hope apple sends in the lawyers as they knowingly violated a contract
Not everything needs an App anymore, especially a webpage like iFixit. With web browsers getting better and millions of people still rocking 16gb devices, having an app for everything quite simply isn't possible.
My though too, I fixit review is what's on the inside, not outside, send it to the ones that do test software, and even external hardware.
I thought it had an A8? Either way, they do like to keep hardware secret, and also don't want their review units torn up either.
Developers were given the chance to get AppleTV early, so that they could work with tvOS and have more apps ready by launch time.
Today's websites are slow and buggy user experiences, so yeah, apps are still the way to go.