One step closer to requiring all devs to register and/or only sell on the Store.

Maybe I'm an optimist, but the new options suggest to me that fears of being required to use the store were unfounded.

robdut wrote:

The name "gatekeeper" is a bit ominous but it indeed sounds like one has options. i wonder which will be the default option though?

According to Daring Thunderball, the middle one. But you can override it for a particular app at any time.

I also wonder what they mean by Developer Id. Hopefully just that you have one

That you have one, and have signed your apps with it.

Shane Stanley wrote:

One step closer to requiring all devs to register and/or only sell on the Store.

Maybe I'm an optimist, but the new options suggest to me that fears of being required to use the store were unfounded.

Despite being basically a pessimist, I am glad to note that I agree with you on this, i.e that we may still live a life outside the Store while still being welcome to the Mac! Code signing by a registered (free) developer seems to be a very reasonable requirement for being accepted by the middle security setting in GateKeeper.

I really don't want to go to the Store with my app, since I don't see the advantages for me, and would prefer to stay clear of sandboxing. I'm conservative, so I still happily run Snow Leopard and Xcode 3, despite I nowadays mostly do Objective-C rather than ASOC. (But relatively soon, I will hopefully have a new computer, and that one will run the new OS and Xcode 4.)

I was surprised that I got a direct mail from Apple that invited me to participate in this software seeding project -- historically, I don't think Apple let members of their free Developer program to participate, but this time, they obviously let in a larger group (unless my invitation is a result of someone making a referral specifically to me). Although I am not a paying member of Apple's developer club, I have been a free member for much more than a decade and I have sent numerous bug reports on various topics to the bug reporter, mostly related to AppleScript though.

Greetings from snowy Sweden

heb wrote:

I was surprised that I got a direct mail from Apple that invited me to participate in this software seeding project -- historically, I don't think Apple let members of their free Developer program to participate, but this time, they obviously let in a larger group (unless my invitation is a result of someone making a referral specifically to me). Although I am not a paying member of Apple's developer club, I have been a free member for much more than a decade and I have sent numerous bug reports on various topics to the bug reporter, mostly related to AppleScript though.

That must have something to do with it because logging in with my free dev account tells me that I'm not authorized and must be part of the paid dev program. Oh well.

SuperMacGuy wrote:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/mountain-lion/features.html#gatekeeper
One step closer to requiring all devs to register and/or only sell on the Store.

Unfortunately you are right.

I (unfortunately) wrote:

heb wrote:

Despite being basically a pessimist, I am glad to note that I agree with you [Shane] on this, i.e that we may still live a life outside the Store while still being welcome to the Mac! Code signing by a registered (free) developer seems to be a very reasonable requirement for being accepted by the middle security setting in GateKeeper.

I have to take back the optimism in this statement, since the claim of "Code signing by a registered (free) developer" turned out to be unfounded.

I have asked around, and it seems that Apple has no intentions whatsoever to allow a free developer account to get a Developer ID certificate. That means that the default setting in Mountain Lion will prevent install of any software that does not come from the App Store or from a developer who has payed Apple a yearly fee (USD 99) for a Developer ID certificate!

I personally think that is VERY bad! Why do we in practice have to buy the certificate? And with a yearly subscription!? In contrast to what many developers think, the Developer ID only says that this software comes from a registered developer whose certificate is not (yet) revoked by Apple, so neither the developer, nor the software is endorsed in any way, but it is still a very powerful way to stop malicious software, since revoking a certificate will prevent all software signed with that key from being run. I think the Developer ID should receive a wider audience.

Last edited by heb (2012-05-02 01:19:15 pm)

I sort of agree with you, tellboy. I'm in the MAS and I have seen, over the last 6 months, that most of my sales come from there and my website traffic has decreased. I don't do any advertising at all, so I can't say for certain that I simply wouldn't have lost sales outright. But the signs point one direction, at least for mass market apps.

Us long time Mac users usually bristled when non-Maccies said there was an "Apple tax". This $99 dev fee is clearly the Apple tax, put upon us Devs, not even the end users! You could call it "cost of doing business". You could also say that Apple is making 35+% profit on the iDevices AND taking 30% from MAS/iTMS store, AND taking $99 a year from Devs. When does it stop? Aren't they doing well enough that they could provide Devs with free tools?! If the sale price of an app is $1 it takes 130 sales just to break even on Apple's take. My sales are no where near that quantity (but higher price point).