Looks like my Anit-Piracy code works!

[pjlocko]

Well, my apps been out for just about 2 weeks and I get my best customer feedback email yet...

Background: I do not have a FREE version of my app.

The email:

I downloaded the free version of this and thought it was really cool.   
Now it's saying I pirated it.  That makes me mad because I wouldn't do  
that.  Did you decide not to let us use the free version?  Fine, but  
don't say I stole it.

LMAO - Makes me mad that people a too tight to buy a $0.99 app!!

Make sure you all add AP code to your apps.

Happy coding.

[TapTouchClick]

Honestly, made my day. that was funny.

[dljeffery]

It's not very nice to tease people with a free version and then call them pirates and not even let them use the app. Especially when they went to all the trouble of finding it somewhere other than the App Store.

I hope you at least apologized?

[ansonl]

Originally Posted by pjlocko

I downloaded the free version of this and thought it was really cool.

lol, The person thought that the cracked version of the app was a legit free version.

[pjlocko]

Turns out the last laugh is on me!

It is my app at fault!

But - none of the AP checks are activating in the simulator or on any of my devices... WTF?

V1.0 of my app did not have this bug and I did not change the AP code for V1.1

Now its time for a BIG slice of humble pie with said customer and get this $#!t fixed.

Does anyone know if a timstamp check can be screwed up with an app update?
I made sure to do a clean build before uploading the new binary.

[nobre84]

Was it a real paid customer ? He forgot he paid for it ? Lol

[cribasoft]

Originally Posted by pjlocko

Turns out the last laugh is on me!

It is my app at fault!

But - none of the AP checks are activating in the simulator or on any of my devices... WTF?

V1.0 of my app did not have this bug and I did not change the AP code for V1.1

Now its time for a BIG slice of humble pie with said customer and get this $#!t fixed.

Does anyone know if a timstamp check can be screwed up with an app update?
I made sure to do a clean build before uploading the new binary.

...and that, my friends, is why my apps don't have any anti-pirate code in them at all.

[bravetarget]

Someday I'm going to bump into the guy that leaked my pirated apps, its going to be at the mall, and he better have been shopping for some running shoes.

btw gj OP, I always tell people there are false-positives with piracy checks.

[smasher]

Originally Posted by pjlocko

Does anyone know if a timestamp check can be screwed up with an app update?
I made sure to do a clean build before uploading the new binary.

How are you getting the timestamp, and how are you checking it against a known stamp? Have you tried it with different country/language settings? If you're doing any kind of conversion of dates to strings it will not work the way you expect in locales that use day-month-year instead of month-day-year.

[ZunePod]

Can't you just take the anti-piracy code outta the free version?

[pjlocko]

Originally Posted by ZunePod

Can't you just take the anti-piracy code outta the free version?

I dont have a free version - thats what the customer said they downloaded which made me think they had a cracked copy.

I took out the timestamp check for now and see what the next update is like after release.

[itzdark]

I get the feeling people have misread this post.... The person said that they downloaded the FREE version of his app and the app told him he pirated it. The OP doesn't have a free version of the app, only a paid version. The person downloaded a cracked version for free and obviously doesn't understand what it means to pirate an app.

OP, maybe you could rethink what your AP message says. Something like "The application you are running is an illegal cracked version. Please download the app from the iTunes app store to continue use. If you believe you have received this message in error, please contact us immediately."

Please feel free to use this statement directly, if you would like.

Maybe a good addition to the ap check would be to store udid of the devices in a mysql database when the device is connected to the internet. Then if anyone happened to get the message in error you could restore use of the application to the user by modifying a value in the database.

[dre]

Originally Posted by itzdark

I get the feeling people have misread this post.... The person said that they downloaded the FREE version of his app and the app told him he pirated it. The OP doesn't have a free version of the app, only a paid version. The person downloaded a cracked version for free and obviously doesn't understand what it means to pirate an app.
.....

That's another problem. People don't even known that they are pirating. They think "wow, cool, just install crackulious and you get all the apps for free, that's really cool".

I think implementing anti-piracy measures is absolutely essential..

But it was funny

[rocotilos]

Originally Posted by nobre84

Was it a real paid customer ? He forgot he paid for it ? Lol

Possibly. Especially if he is like my friend who buys app by the truckload over the weekend. Once it is installed, its hard to know whether it was a free app or paid one.

[kiancheong]

i agree with itzdark's version of the message..
also, since the Customer downloaded a cracked version, there's no need to worry about him putting a bad review.. lol!

[smasher]

Originally Posted by kiancheong

i agree with itzdark's version of the message..
also, since the Customer downloaded a cracked version, there's no need to worry about him putting a bad review.. lol!

Pjlocko's reply said that it was all a mistake. The user was not a pirate, and the anti-piracy code was buggy. This highlights a serious danger with anti-piracy code - if your code is incorrect, you punish paying customers and accuse them of being pirates.