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iPhone Apps Can Be Dragged and Dropped Into iTunes Without Going Through App Store
Posted by Jason Chen at 1:30 AM on July 10, 2008
Gabe Jacobs made this video of dragging and dropping iPhone apps, which proves conclusively that you can drag and drop iPhone apps you download from the internet into iTunes. What it doesn't prove is whether or not it will work on your iPhone--it almost certainly won't--since apps from the App Store are wrapped in DRM.
Gabe Jacobs made this video of dragging and dropping iPhone apps, which proves conclusively that you can drag and drop iPhone apps you download from the internet into iTunes. What it doesn't prove is whether or not it will work on your iPhone--it almost certainly won't--since apps from the App Store are wrapped in DRM.
If it works like iPod games and iTunes music, you'll be able to mail them around just fine, but once you get around to actually playing them, it'll prompt you for the correct iTunes account tied to this piece of software. On the other hand, if you can somehow strip the Fairplay DRM off of it, that means free Apps. We know they exist for music, but we're not sure about iPod games. Does this also mean that if people create games without DRM, you'll be able to directly import them into iTunes, bypassing the store entirely? [Gabe Jacobs via Gadgets on the Go]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Spyrojoe
Posted 2:14 AM 10/7/08
@rpr986: Well it's a good thing you took the time to comment. We wouldn't want you to user your time productively, would we?
Spyrojoe
dallasmay
Posted 1:55 AM 10/7/08
Is it time to change the name of "iTunes" yet? How about "iBloodyhellanythingthatisdigitalnow"
dallasmay
ar7983
Posted 1:53 AM 10/7/08
Anyone know what song that is?
ar7983
rpr986
Posted 1:51 AM 10/7/08
waste of my time
rpr986
spyker3292
Posted 1:50 AM 10/7/08
It would be cool if this would work but I won't believe it until the app syncs with an iPhone and runs on the phone.
spyker3292
cloudnine
Posted 1:49 AM 10/7/08
@dallasmay:
that's actually an amazingly good idea... i hadn't even thought about that :)
cloudnine
michaelwiggins
Posted 1:49 AM 10/7/08
Yea I doubt they'll work... but if they do I'm sure Jobs will fix it for the next iTunes update.
michaelwiggins
dallasmay
Posted 1:43 AM 10/7/08
One more thing, this was why Fair Play was needed on the Apps. Let iTunes do the grunt work, makes sense.
dallasmay
dallasmay
Posted 1:42 AM 10/7/08
This is not surprising. Steve Jobs said you could do this during the keynote at WWDC. That was how Apple was going to allow in software for businesses that didn't want to distribute via the App Store. The video is cool though, not often we get a real spy vid from Apple.
Now what would be REALLY COOL is if you can buy OS X software via the App store too! That would explain the "4000 initial apps" that has been tossed around. And would make the Macbook Air a lot more usable.
dallasmay
jimmie geddes
Posted 1:40 AM 10/7/08
I didn't make the video. A person by the name of Gabe Jacobs did.
[www.gabejacobsblog.com]
He had to take down the video dude to Apple's legal team.
jimmie geddes
rtwod2
Posted 1:37 AM 10/7/08
When do we iPhone 1.0 folks get to upgrade to 2.0 software? Friday?
rtwod2
ericlewis91
Posted 1:33 AM 10/7/08
well you can drag them into itunes..but they wont sync to the iPhone
ericlewis91
rochec
Posted 2:36 AM 10/7/08
@ar7983:
One Big Holiday by My Morning Jacket
rochec
robotleawesome
Posted 2:34 AM 10/7/08
@scott johnson: oh, you mean it doesn't protect people from just dragging and dropping pirated apps? Or making sure Mrs. Johnson the 45 year old housewife doesn't brick her iPhone with an unauthorized app?
you're right - it's only there to hurt developers.
robotleawesome
robotleawesome
Posted 2:30 AM 10/7/08
@dallasmay: You can buy most software online now buddy, welcome to 2008.
robotleawesome
robotleawesome
Posted 2:28 AM 10/7/08
Yawn, call me when jailbreaking and the app store work side by side.
robotleawesome
scott johnson
Posted 2:25 AM 10/7/08
@dallasmay: This is absolutely not why Fairplay was needed. iTunes handles files without DRM just fine (I only have non-Fairplay MP3s on my non-jailbroken iPhone). The DRM is only there to "protect" Apple's platform. (i.e. screw Joe developer)
scott johnson
Joseph
Posted 2:22 AM 10/7/08
This post will probably get taken down as well.
Joseph
sumocat
Posted 2:20 AM 10/7/08
Wow, what any utterly worthless piece of information. PDFs can be dragged and dropped into iTunes too. Doesn't mean you can do anything with them.
sumocat
contempt
Posted 3:02 AM 10/7/08
The big unknown is, if you purchase an app, how many licenses does it come with? If it's like iTunes regular authorization, does that mean every app has 5 licenses associated with it? That's pretty good.
contempt
juicebytim
Posted 3:27 AM 10/7/08
I would like to know if I buy an app on my iPhone, will it also work on my wife's iPhone? It would be so annoying if we bought a game for $9.99 and had to buy it again on the second iPhone to play on there.
Since we can each play the same game on two different iPods, I'm assuming the same goes for apps with iPhone. So hopefully, download to iPhone #1, transfer to Macbook Pro, transfer to iPhone #2... no problem.
juicebytim
abhilash0505
Posted 3:21 AM 10/7/08
Snow Leopard Wallpaper!!
abhilash0505
Paradise
Posted 4:02 AM 10/7/08
drag and drop ... it's the wave of the future.
Paradise
pzich
Posted 4:34 AM 10/7/08
I'm hoping free apps aren't drm, it'd be nice to distribute them through other means.
pzich
ghmlco
Posted 4:33 AM 10/7/08
"On the other hand, if you can somehow strip the Fairplay DRM off of it, that means free Apps."
No, it means stolen apps...
ghmlco
rimplestultskin
Posted 5:37 AM 10/7/08
@pzich: apple made it seem like even the free apps have to be DRM-encrusted, so no dice. yes, i said encrusted, not protected.
and at everyone worrying about paying twice for an app: doesn't apple license iTunes purchases to up to 5 computers and unlimited ipods?
rimplestultskin
badweasel
Posted 9:51 AM 10/7/08
I hate freaking syncing. I always set my ipods and iphones to MANUALLY MANAGE MY MUSIC. A year ago when the iPhone first came out that feature didn't work on the phone.
I think you can still sync music but it will delete all the music you have on there. I know you can still sync contacts. The GREAT thing about manually managing your content is that you can put movies and music on there from multiple computers. Up to 5 different computers I think. iPods and iPhones can hold multiple DRM keys - although this isn't a very well known feature. If you read Apple's license agreement they TELL you that you can listen to music from multiple computers. It's sort of essential if you own more than one mac.
Now as for being able to drag applications.... HELL YEAH! You should be able to do this. Not that apple will let you, but still...
badweasel
Xenocide
Posted 10:30 AM 10/7/08
I hear that apps are also wrapped in delicious bacon. mmmmm bacon.
Xenocide
krom
Posted 8:20 PM 10/7/08
Well, of course this is working and the apps will also run on the iPhone when you sync them via iTunes: [developer.apple.com]
1. Develop: iPhone SDK, iPhone Simulator.
2. Test: Test and debug your code on iPhone.
3. Distribute: Dist on the App-Store.
krom