Apple Approves, Then Removes In-App Ad Blocker (reuters.com) 85
Mickeycaskill writes: Apple has pulled a number of applications from the App Store, most notably the "Been Choice" ad blocker, because of concerns the methods they employ to rid adverts could compromise sensitive user data. iOS 9 allows for the installation of applications that block adverts in Safari, but other apps like Been Choice go one step further and let users remove adverts from applications – including Apple News. Been Choice routes traffic through a VPN to filter out adverts in some applications, but it this technique has attracted the attention of Apple, which is concerned user data could be exposed. Apple says it is working with developers to get their apps back up and Been is refining its application for resubmission. In any case, Been says users must opt-in for in-app ad blocking and that no data is stored on its servers.
Re: (Score:2)
I love your bizzarro rants and will be compiling them into book form for sale on Amazon.
Just wait for macos to have the same level of lock (Score:5, Insightful)
Just wait for macos to have the same level of lock down and app store only.
Re: (Score:2)
If OS X is locked down, on what OS will Apple allow people to run Xcode?
Re: (Score:1)
XCode will be Windows only.
Re: (Score:2)
Applying Nintendo-class developer qualifications and overhead costs would just hand the market over to Windows and Android. Apple knows this.
The only people asking for that are Apple haters. (Score:2)
You guys have been begging Apple to do that for years. Apple's not interested in doing it, Apple's customers aren't interested.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Just wait for macos to have the same level of lock down and app store only.
How long have we seen this Hater Meme?
Re: (Score:1)
The Truth About APK
Think about the last time you saw an APK post on slashdot. Did it look normal? Did it look quite how you remember them? If you were paying attention, you would have noticed that something was not quite the same.
Wall Street has all but confirmed that they have rigged the markets according to instructions from Facebook, which has been under secret leadership by APK for over 2 years now.
Is this really the world we want our children to grow up in?
You may think free speech ensures your right t
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
Good (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm the first guy in line to shit on Apple, but having an app that routes all traffic through some unknown server is a major security issue. Apple is right to pull this until they can figure out a way to make sure the user knows the implications and/or the server operator has no way of collecting data from the users routed through his/her VPN.
Re: (Score:3)
Silly they use an external VPN. On Android, local loopback VPNs like Mobiwol [mobiwol.com] work great. All the apps's traffic goes through the VPN, which is local, so you can allow/deny on the fly (can filter foreground vs background too). Mobiwol could easily add some DNS-based blacklists (aka hosts file) and do add blocking plus firewall.
One would have to really trust an external VPN provider to ship all your traffic through. Which if you run your own VPN service or do trust one, it's safer than sending all your plain-
Re: Good (Score:2)
It cannot inspect ssl/tls traffic unless you add certificate authorities, which may be impossible without root. Yes, the local VPN can inspect plain text traffic, intercept DNS resolution, and block outgoing connections- that's the point. Open source solutions are ideal for this case.
Re: (Score:3)
It cannot inspect ssl/tls traffic unless you add certificate authorities, which may be impossible without root.
If you read the actual article, it would appear that's what they're doing.
Re: (Score:2)
It cannot inspect ssl/tls traffic unless you add certificate authorities, which may be impossible without root. Yes, the local VPN can inspect plain text traffic, intercept DNS resolution, and block outgoing connections- that's the point. Open source solutions are ideal for this case.
Yeah, cuz everyone has the time/skill to pore through thousands of lines of code to find the one nicely-obscured call.
Re: (Score:2)
It doesn't have to be everyone. It can just as easily be one person.
Re: (Score:2)
So what you're saying is that all vpn apps sgould be banned because of potential issues?
I think he's saying that apps which claim to be a Fluffy Kitty Screensaver (or any other type that doesn't explicitly indicate that it's a VPN) that route all your stuff through their servers should be banned.
Which is true. I'd be pissed off if I found an 'ad blocker' app I'd downloaded was doing this.
Re:You don't pay enough (Score:4, Informative)
Are people really this stupid? You pay a lot of money for the iphone. But who pays the developers who develop these millions of useless to useful apps? Not Apple and not the consumers either (the vast majority refuse to spend even 99 cents on apps). Therefore, the developer has a better chance to make money via ads.
Re: (Score:3)
And the reason there are so many half-assed, barely useful apps on the app store is precisely because they can 'make money via ads'.
Without ads, the actual useful apps would be much easier to find than they are under the tsunami of adware crap.
Re: (Score:2)
It's easy to distinguish between crap and good apps: the star ratings, number of downloads and user review comments. It doesn't take a lot of time to filter and get the good apps.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, because people pushing out crap apps to bring in ad revenue would never post fake reviews.
Re: (Score:3)
And how will the fake reviews drown out the torrent of bad reviews/ratings from real users?
Re: (Score:2)
And how will the fake reviews drown out the torrent of bad reviews/ratings from real users?
You're new to this, aren't you?
I can't speak for the App Store, but one of the worst movies I've ever seen has a near five-star rating on Amazon, because they keep pushing fake reviews, and reporting every real review to get them removed. If those people put a tenth as much effort into making movies as they do into faking reviews, they'd be millionaires.
Re: (Score:3)
Yes, because people pushing out crap apps to bring in ad revenue would never post fake reviews.
Sure they can. But I personally use the same guidelines I do when doing any online shopping with "User Reviews":
Items with less than 10 User Reviews are very suspect. I pretty much assume those are fake Reviews (especially if there are good and bad ones, or all good ones) and skip those Items completely.
Items with 10-50 User Reviews are less suspect, but I generally read all the reviews.
Items with greater than 50 User Reviews are generally pretty valid.
Sure, someone can get a few of his friends to pos
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, people would pay for them if there was no alternative in the app store. This is kind of what I'm hoping to happen -- adblocking kills that industry, and people can start charging real money for software again. More money in my industry (software development), and a better user experience. I'd really have no issue spending $5-$50 for most of the apps on my phone if they aren't showing me ads or tracking me, and having them compete on features.
Until that day comes I have no problem blocking ads
For general use? Hell no. (Score:5, Insightful)
The summary is horrific because it paints the pulling of these apps as negative when in fact it's one of the better demonstrations as to why non-technical people need a curated app store.
Be honest, your mom or other family member is is not as technically knowledgeable tells you they installed an app that routes all mobile traffic through some VPN the developer runs (never mind how they knew enough to explain that to you!).
Would you SERIOUSLY let that stay installed, or would you run to un-install it?
This is nothing more than a giant security breach. If you really are STUPID enough to want to run all your traffic through some strangers VPN, you can do so easily with existing mobile VPN support on any platform. They can scrub ad blockers and run MITM attacks on your bank or what have you, but at least it would have required more effort on your part to get yourself into trouble.
Re: (Score:2)
This is my problem with Apple/Google and now Microsoft... Each company makes it known they are collecting 'usage data', location, and monitoring content on device. Then virtually all have ways to remotely install anything they wish... ie: a backdoor into every device....
Not Apple, on either point.
Prove it.
Re: (Score:2)
Apple asks you up-front when you turn on the phone, if you ever want to send location or usage data to Apple. You can say know if you care. Also Apple anonymizes that data, and unlike Google will not share it with advertisers.
Re: (Score:2)
Because one is a 'VPN app' and one is an 'Adblocker app'.
Most people downloading and using a VPN app presumably know what a VPN is, and have control over which VPN service to use.
Most people downloading and using Adblocker app (which are becoming ridiculously popular on the App Store) only see the setting to "enable blocking of in-App ads", and do not have control over which VPN service to use. Hell, the users may not even know a VPN is being employed - I don't know the messaging this app uses - but even if
Re: (Score:2)
The summary is horrific because it paints the pulling of these apps as negative when in fact it's one of the better demonstrations as to why non-technical people need a curated app store.
Mods: Mod Parent UP. This is EXACTLY correct!
Re: Apple can't burn fast enough (Score:1)
... he posted from his iphone ...
Re: (Score:2)
No Apple may be evil and I hate them but I also want them to stay (don't expect me to help them though). ...) are here to keep them in check.
We may love to make fun of them for marketing every little feature as revolutionary but we must admit that they aren't without technical merit. And most importantly, they create competition. Without Apple, I don't think Android would be half as good as it is now.
And while I love Google, I think it is a good thing that Apple (and Microsoft, and Facebook,
Honestly... (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Apple says it is working with developers to get their apps back up and Been is refining its application for resubmission.
It's in TFS.
App Developers may have good intentions but.. (Score:2)
The App developers may have good intentions around this and never contemplate using their pipeline from enduser's devices. The issue then becomes how solid they are in terms of security as this opens them up as a big target for others to compromise the user's traffic and device. This becomes a very weak point in the security walls and efforts which Apple has been building and would most certainly become a focus of parties interested in compromising iOS devices. We can't put that level of trust into just any
Your theory is contradicted by the summary. (Score:3)
Do you find that most of your theories end up being wrong? If so then maybe it's time to acquire some reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.
Best solution... (Score:2)
Jailbreak and install a hosts file. This is why I only buy NEXUS phones because they can always be easily rooted to eliminate all freaking ads.
Re: (Score:2)
I would be right along with you if only nexus phones met both my minimum must-haves of an sd card slot and user-replaceable batteries.
Meanwhile I use cyanogenmod on an old Samsung S3 and can do exactly the same.
Does that force it off your phone too? (Score:2)
Probably not... but maybe able to (Score:2)
Android fanboy here... just wondering - when Apple pulls an app from the store, does it force it to uninstall from your device(s) as well?
I've had one or two apps on an iPhone that were in the store and then got pulled for various reasons (nothing malware related). The app remained on my phone and functional. Whether Apple has the ability to reach in and remove the app I cannot say but it wouldn't surprise me if they did have the ability. We've seen Amazon do that with their Kindle and obviously it is technologically possible. I've not heard of them doing this yet and I presume it would be newsworthy if they did.
Re:Does that force it off your phone too? (Score:4, Interesting)
Nope.
So far, if Apple even has the ability to uninstall an app, they've never used it. They've never used their ability to disable apps, either (though limited to ones which use CoreLocation, since the disabling code is in there, so if you never touch GPS...).
All Apple has done is basically prevent users from redownloading apps. But even that's not as big a limitation - you can still back up an app using iTunes. Or download the app using iTunes and install it via iTunes (recommended method for large apps). Even if the app is removed, as long as you have the IPA (the app file, similar to apk for Android) file somewhere, and iTunes is available, you can install it via iTunes. iTunes doesn't check - as long as the app is in your name and account, iTunes will install it on your device long after the developer has disappeared.
This was how users of a particular (medical) assistance app kept using it - after the developer has been sued by some larger company or patent violations that forced Apple to remove the app, the users backed up the app via iTunes and use that to install it on every new device.
The only thing is, it's unmaintained, so if it doesn't work with a new OS version...
And if you wanted, using iTunes you can back up old versions of apps too, so if they try to screw you or add stuff like ads or IAPs (in app purchase) you don't like, you can always revert by installing that particular version of the app.
Re: (Score:2)
Nope.
So far, if Apple even has the ability to uninstall an app, they've never used it. They've never used their ability to disable apps, either (though limited to ones which use CoreLocation, since the disabling code is in there, so if you never touch GPS...).
All Apple has done is basically prevent users from redownloading apps. But even that's not as big a limitation - you can still back up an app using iTunes. Or download the app using iTunes and install it via iTunes (recommended method for large apps). Even if the app is removed, as long as you have the IPA (the app file, similar to apk for Android) file somewhere, and iTunes is available, you can install it via iTunes. iTunes doesn't check - as long as the app is in your name and account, iTunes will install it on your device long after the developer has disappeared.
This was how users of a particular (medical) assistance app kept using it - after the developer has been sued by some larger company or patent violations that forced Apple to remove the app, the users backed up the app via iTunes and use that to install it on every new device.
The only thing is, it's unmaintained, so if it doesn't work with a new OS version...
And if you wanted, using iTunes you can back up old versions of apps too, so if they try to screw you or add stuff like ads or IAPs (in app purchase) you don't like, you can always revert by installing that particular version of the app.
Extremely Informative, thanks!
Re: (Score:2)
Is it me or Ad blockers BS (Score:2)
I'm a firm believer that advertising should not be blocked or redirected to another advertisement service. I believe this because the application developers depend on this to obtain some reward for an application they developed at no "direct" cost to the users.
The argument I keep hearing is: Well the advertisements are annoying.
My answer back is: You don't have to use their application or service. In many cases the ad free apps are available at a small cost.
IMO developers and broadcasters are allowed to mon
Re: (Score:1)
The argument I keep hearing is: Well the advertisements are annoying.~
Well you're not listening very hard. The big issue today is that ad networks are spreading malware. It's now necessary to block ads *as a security measure* (my company blocks them at our gateway for precisely that reason). If you want to be part of a botnet that's your choice.
Re: (Score:2)
Then spend a dollar or some minor amount in-app purchase and the ads are gone. But I bet most iphone users won't spend a cent. They want to have their cake and eat it too.
By all means, keep coming up with more BS to justify your piracy.
Re: (Score:2)
Well you're not listening very hard. The big issue today is that ad networks are spreading malware. It's now necessary to block ads *as a security measure* (my company blocks them at our gateway for precisely that reason). If you want to be part of a botnet that's your choice.
Yes, because that's the reason people use ad blockers... SURE....
Whatever floats you boat!
Re: (Score:1)
I posted this response in another article this morning, but it's valid as an answer here as well.
No one clicks on ads. Money is made from imprints. This is why news sites, which used to display articles on one page, now, quite unnecessarily, spread them across multiple pages for one reason -- ad imprints. More clicks, more eyeballs. It's disingenuous. Advertising is parasitic in nature. There is no obligation that visitors view the ads. None. The website owner may wish for this so he can make money by doing
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Lots of misunderstanding the arguments, and shifting the goalposts.
The problem is not with ads. The problem with the types of ads. Too often we have ads that pop up, takeover the screen, resize, use scripts that bog down the browser, even act as vectors for malware. I don't give a shit if advertisements pay the bills, that need doesn't give them the right to run that kind of stuff, potentially putting people's systems at risk, without some sort of response.
My answer back is: You don't have to use their application or service.
And my response back: You had to use it
Re: (Score:2)
I'm a firm believer that advertising should not be blocked or redirected to another advertisement service. I believe this because the application developers depend on this to obtain some reward for an application they developed at no "direct" cost to the users.
Alternatively, they could get a real job, producing real products that real people are really willing to pay for.
Re: (Score:1)
^ There's this...
So many people think they should attach ads to websites, sit back and rake in the cash. Sorry. Very few websites enjoy this level of income that would make this even remotely viable as serious income source.
I see the adblocking and ad industries entering into a war very soon. Personally, I block all ads, cookies, tracking beacons, HTTP/S referrer, visited link histories, you name it. I'm sure websites hate me, but it's not my concern. Ads are the singlemost easy way to get infected with mal
Re: (Score:2)
So many people think they should attach ads to websites, sit back and rake in the cash
That isn't your decision to make. If you don't want the ads, pay for the premium service and if it's not available don't use the service. It's really that simple.
Ads are the singlemost easy way to get infected with malware in 2015.
I'm sure you're right (for users with outdated browsers) but you need to back you claims with numbers from a reputable source.
The adverse effect of ad blocking is poor browsing experience for those who have it (when countermeasures are in place) AND the reduced value of ad prints. The results of reduced ad value is that more are published to accomp
Re: (Score:2)
Alternatively, they could get a real job, producing real products that real people are really willing to pay for.
Ahhh, so you fall in the category of "sense of entitlement".
And why don't you defined real product for me because last I checked, apps are real products and so are online services.
The fact that you are using the application and are blocking ads is sign that you are interested in the product but aren't willing to pay (sense of entitlement). That's where you way of thinking falls flat on it's face.
MITM attack execution (Score:2, Insightful)
Downloaded BEEN when first posted online. I expected it too good to last. Here's why:
Websites are unusable due to advertisers banner attacks. Apps are quickly monetizing to un-usability too. BEEN stops that Shit! Not only did I download, install and turn on BEEN, gladly, I added VPN capability to Stop app advertising pollution.
Why? BEEN is my MITM gatekeeper. I have the Internet back ad-free and yes Shit from advertisers is trapped before It can waste my time in-app or online.
Advertising is POLLUTION. Stop