Did Apple close the 24kpwn exploit in the latest shipments of the iPhone 3GS due to app piracy? MobileCrunch thinks it’s certainly a factor:
While jailbreaking allows for countless wonderful (but otherwise disallowed) apps to run on the iPhone, it also allows cracked versions of paid applications to be installed. As a result, piracy is mind-blowingly, soul-crushingly rampant on the iPhone. Many iPhone developers – such as those behind the popular IM client, Beejive – are reporting that 80 percent of their users are pirates. Yep. For every 10 users on Beejive, 8 of them didn’t pay for it. I’m no saint myself, and all of us here fully understand that a download does not equal a lost sale – but when 80% of the people using your app (and in Beejive’s case, your servers) aren’t paying to keep the lights on, it’s likely seen as a big issue.
As Jeremy posted yesterday, Apple has begun shipping iPhone 3GS with new boot ROMs patched against the longstanding 24kpwn exploit commonly used to Jailbreak the devices. We also saw some reports on the state of app piracy from Pinch Media.
What do you think? Would Apple turn a blinder eye towards Jailbreaking if app piracy wasn’t a factor? Or is Apple duty bound to patch known security exploits no matter what?
Pinch Media has shared some data they presented at 360iDev on the state of app piracy on the iPhone, and there are a few key take-aways:
- Pinch Media began “jailbreak detection” analytics in response after developers noted spikes in their userbase that were beyond what iTunes connect was reporting for downloads.
- These analytics show roughly 4 million jailbreak devices, 38% of which are using pirated app(s) (aka cracked apps). In other words, most jailbreakers don’t steal apps.
- Piracy is highest in China, Russia, and Brazil, with Europe and Canada being the mid-ground, and the USA, Great Britain, and Japan having the lowest rates.
- Of paid apps that use Pinch Media’s services, 60% have been pirated.
- Of those pirated apps, 34% of all installs are the pirated version.
- Like legitimate app downloads, pirated apps are used a lot at first, but drop off quickly (more quickly than legitimate app usage, in fact).
- Pirated apps on jailbroken iPhones crash more, which may be why they’re used less.
- Those who claim to use pirated apps as a way to “try before they buy” are full of it. While 7.4% of legitimate “Lite” app downloads up-convert to the paid version, only 0.43% of pirated apps lead to purchase of the legitimate paid version.
Interesting to say the least. Read the full report for all the details, then come back here and let us know what you think.
