Sites that sell access to Apple’s iOS betas to non-developers are nothing new. These sites pop up every year when Apple begins releasing iOS beta, and every year, they seem to attract the ire of Apple and get themselves shut down. Last year, a number of developers were sent cease and decist letters for this practice, and some even had their developer access revoked.
After noticing that several such sites mentioned in a recent Wired article began to go offline, Federico Viticci of MacStories contacted a number of these sites to try and dig up some answers:
…we reached out to some of them asking whether Apple was behind the takedown of their “services”, which infringed on Apple’s developer agreement. While most of our emails bounced, we heard back from one of the site owners (who asked to remain anonymous), who confirmed his hosting provider took down the site after a complaint for copyright infringement by Apple.
This year is no different. Once again, people break Apple’s rules, and sell access to iOS beta to people who shouldn’t have them. As we noted last year (substituting “iOS 5” for “iOS 6”):
Members of Apple’s iOS Developer Program are granted up to 100 slots that they can use to authorize devices on their account. These slots are intended to be used to grant beta testers access to your apps, to give your development team members access to pre-release versions of iOS 5, and so forth.
Because it is not yet ready for the general public, iOS 5 is currently meant only for testing purposes, and is restricted to paid members of Apple’s official iOS Developer Program. Selling device slots and allowing non-developers to test and run iOS 5 is a violation of the iOS Developer Program terms and conditions.
Shutting down these websites is only the beginning. Apple also reserves the right (and sometimes exercises it) to block developer accounts for anyone found selling access to non-developers, rendering their accounts all of their activations (which they pay $99 per year for) useless.
While it might seem harsh of Apple to buckle down like this, it’s really the right thing to do. iOS betas are meant for developers, and for people who understand that iOS betas are unfinished, and may cause significant problems (such as bricked devices) for those who don’t understand how to install and use them properly.
If you want to install a pre-release version of iOS, do the right thing. Pay Apple $99 for an annual membership, and support the developer community. Learn the risks, sign the agreements, and accept the responsibility.
