Apple Error Leaves iPhone Developers In the Lurch

canadacow writes "iPhone developers enrolled and active in the iPhone OS 2.0 beta program got a nasty surprise today when Apple inadvertently 'expired' the recently released version. While for a beta program this typically would not be an issue, Apple has yet to release a new deployment of the iPhone OS. So developers like myself who use their iPhone for both actual phone and iPod use are bricked. Of note, this particular expired build is just 11 days old."

In Apple's defense

[elrous0 (869638)]

They tried to call you and apologize but you didn't answer your phone.

Re:In Apple's defense

[hackus (159037)]

It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

I believe that people are getting incredibly stupid about all this EULA terms of service.

I mean, on the Apple forums I am seeing posts "Well, they turned my $800 dollar phone into a brick, but schucks, I guess I deserve it because it is in the EULA."

I mean people go BERZERK over Microsoft shutting down their systems after upgrades and their keys fail to match the hardware anymore so Vista doesn't boot.

Apple users are just happy and content they spent $800 bucks it would seem for a phone and the company just turned it off, with no recourse.

I can see it now: "Damn, stuck out in nowhere with a flat tire.....Darn...looks like my EULA is gone, so I will have to die out here in the heat. Darn, but I guess I deserve it."

Absolutely amazing. I wonder if the EULA comes with a agreement that your IQ must be reduced to a 2 year old?

The only person who is ever going to shut my phone or PC off is going to be me and when I and only I hit the off button.

Mac Customers=Stupid

-Hack

Re:In Apple's defense

[Otter (3800)]

Apple users are just happy and content they spent $800 bucks it would seem for a phone and the company just turned it off, with no recourse.

These aren't users whose phones are gone forever, they're developers (or "developers") whose platform (or phone) is down temporarily. Apple screwed up here, but "It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic" might be overstating it a bit.

Re:In Apple's defense

[poetmatt (793785)]

So how do you like your ibrick? After the first brick today, or after the second brick today?

I mean seriously, how many times has this phone been bricked lately? I could be building myself a house by now with all of the bricking. /half sarcasm, half facepalm

Re:In Apple's defense

[truthsearch (249536)]

I mean seriously, how many times has this phone been bricked lately?

0, if you're a regular customer who uses the device as intended. No one should be surprised to find problems when signing up for a beta program.

Re:In Apple's defense

[ta bu shi da yu (687699)]

Yes, but is Apple seriously trying to discourage all development on their platform? That's what's going to happen if they keep this up.

Re:In Apple's defense

[truthsearch (249536)]

Unlocking isn't illegal.

The phrases you missed from my post are "regular customer" and "as intended". That excludes unlocked phones ("jailbroken") and beta testers. Those articles all reference unlocked phones and those that install 3rd party software before Apple offered any.

Re:In Apple's defense

[Simon80 (874052)]

It's not even a question of legality. I think the phrase you are looking for is "well-behaved customer", where good behaviour is defined by Apple. This case shows that apparently even well-behaved developers, who are worth more than customers, are still prone to getting screwed. The moral of the story, in my opinion, is stay away from locked down hardware.

Re:In Apple's defense

[falcon5768 (629591)]

actually its never been bricked for the consumer. Its been bricked on developers (and your dumb if you are developing on your currently in use phone but thats another story) and its been bricked by people who violated their contract with AT&T.

But bricked by Apple legitimately? Never been.

Re:In Apple's defense

[by Anonymous Coward]

your dumb

sigh...

Re:In Apple's defense

[Sentry21 (8183)]

What is it with the overuse of the term 'bricked' lately? These phones are NOT bricked. They are not usable as phones right now, but they can be easily fixed by restoring older firmware, or installing newer firmware. There's even a way to keep using the current firmware without the PSOD.

So, ignoring the fact that you can only 'brick' a device once (after which point is is worthless anyway), anyone who installs as-yet-unreleased beta firmware on their phone should be fully aware that something unpleasant could well happen. If this were foolproof, Apple would have shipped out the new firmware to *everyone*.

To mix some metaphors, if you want to play with the big boys, you're going to get burned.

Why do people keep abusing the term "bricked"?

[KWTm (808824)]

What is it with the overuse of the term 'bricked' lately?

Exactly! Geez, throw me a brickin' phone!

(with apologies to Dr. Evil)

It's HARD to brick...

[RudeIota (1131331)]

The iPhone is hard to break... If you hose it through a firmware update or jailbreaking it - recovery mode works regardless.

• * Turn your iPhone on
• * While it is on, hold the lock (button on the top) and home (button on the lower front) buttons down.
• * Continue holding both buttons until the screen goes black (just a few seconds after the apple logo appears)
• * Let go of the top button. Continue holding the Home button for several seconds.
• * Plug your iPhone into your computer. iTunes will detect your phone in 'Restore mode' Recover your phone using the latest firmware. If you want to use older firmware (1.1.4 works just fine with Ziphone, BTW), hold the shift key as you click on firmware update button and you can browse for a firmware file (You will have to download an older firmware manually to load onto your iPhone using this method).

Re:In Apple's defense

[Mr. Underbridge (666784)]

Apple screwed up here, but "It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic" might be overstating it a bit.

Come on, this is Apple. They practically have a 100% market penetration among emo kids. *Everything* is tragic to them.

Re:In Apple's defense

[Auckerman (223266)]

There is no "official beta release" of the 2.0 firmware. There is a version of the pre-2.0 firmware that comes with the emulator in the SDK. In order to get that on your iPhone you need to unlock it, against Apple's say, then put it on your iPhone.

Re:In Apple's defense

[syzler (748241)]

Actually there is an Official 2.0 beta release of the iPhone software available for the iPhone (current build 5A240d), however you have to be a registered iPhone Developer to download it from iPhone Developer Portal. The software in the simulator is not the same Beta software which Apple makes available for the physical phone.

Re:In Apple's defense

[truthsearch (249536)]

I think you missed the part where these are people choosing to explicitly install beta development software on their mobile phone. If want to be sure your phone will work, either don't install early beta software on it, or buy a second phone.

Re:In Apple's defense

[syzler (748241)]

I would agree with you if the people you refer to used stock firmware, however we have requested and gone out of our way to use Beta firmware in order to get a head start on developing for the platform. Although I am frustrated that my phone has had bugs since I loaded the beta firmware and I am upset that my phone is not working, I recognize that I placed myself in this situation by switching to the beta software despite Apple's warnings posted in their portal about doing so. However I am mostly angry with myself for being too "cheap" to buy a test device (an iPod Touch maybe) and instead opted to use my primary phone for development.

Re:In Apple's defense

[agrippa_cash (590103)]

But with OS & applications they make it expire so you can't use the beta instead of the product they are testing. With the phone, you've paid for the phone. I don't doubt that Apple is willing to charge people for phone firmware updates, but you'd think the expiration would be after the projected release date or, like Windows, set for X months after install.

Re:In Apple's defense

[His Shadow (689816)]

Jesus. Drama Queen much? A piece of beta software exploded. It will be fixed in days if not hours. It's probably fixed by the time you posted your whiny rant. So dry your tears, Princess, and turn down the hyperbole a little.

Re:In Apple's defense

[frdmfghtr (603968)]

I believe you are correct...iPhone SDK beta 3 has just been released [appleinsider.com](scroll down a bit to see it).

Re:In Apple's defense

[Cornflake917 (515940)]

You got away with a +5 insightful after calling Mac users stupid on Slashdot...

You, sir, are a genius.

Re:In Apple's defense

[DECS (891519)]

No, Mac users expect their stuff to work flawlessly, never have any bugs, never wear out (plastic crack, batteries die, etc) and maintain its value.

It's other users who have zero expectations. Windows users expect things not to work, expect to spend hours futzing around, expect to replace parts frequently, and are blown away whenever anything works.

That's why they disdainfully look down upon Mac users as "needing to be cool." I have never talked to any Mac users who were enraptured with being cool (and I've worked with lots of Mac users as a IT consultant for lots of small Mac shops). They like design, functionality, simplicity, and other things, but being cool is only an old saw dragged out by Windows Enthusiasts to account for their embarrassment in dealing with crap.

I have an idea!

[anss123 (985305)]

Let's complain about BETA software!

Re:I have an idea!

[th1nk (575552)]

Let's read stories we're not interested in and complain about them!

Re:I have an idea!

[truthsearch (249536)]

Here's an even better idea. Let's complain about developers who use beta software for their primary mobile phone!

Re:Testing?

[truthsearch (249536)]

Corporations who do serious mobile phone development do not have their developers use personal phones for development and testing. They purchase separate phones for them.

Independent developers can order a separate line with a cheap phone and have their calls redirected. Then if their development platform breaks they still have a usable phone. It's the cost of being a beta tester.

Re:I have an idea!

[n8_f (85799)]

Now I feel so stupid.

You should. If you installed the betas of 10.5 or ZFS on your primary machine and then lost data, it's your own fault. Apple explicitly told you not to do that and it is simple commonsense to follow that advice. I haven't been accepted to the iPhone Developer Program yet, so I'm stuck on the simulator, but according to TUAW [tuaw.com] Apple gave the same advice for the iPhone OS betas: "Important note: Once you install the pre-release iPhone OS on your device, such device may only be used for development and testing purposes until the final (GM) version of the iPhone OS is released. In addition, you will need to install new versions of the software from time to time throughout the beta period. Failure to install the most current version will, after a period of time, put your device in a de-activated state. Updating to the most current version will re-activate your device so that you may continue testing."

After all, it's not as if it's reasonable to expect a machine to do everyday tasks AND be used as software development platform at the same time.

It is perfectly reasonable and so are Apple's requirements. If you can't afford a separate device AND can't deal with the inconveniences of running beta software on your primary device, then simply wait for the software to be publicly released in a non-beta form. Then you can develop on your primary device AND ignore Apple's advice to not run beta software on devices on which you can't afford to have bugs.

Apple thinks it own an iPhone... resulting in features... like mandatory SDK expiration dates

Hmm, I wonder why Apple would want mandatory SDK expiration dates for their beta firmwares? Maybe because they are beta firmwares and they want developers to be developing against the latest version? Additionally, the beta firmwares aren't fully tested and could have exploits or other details Apple would prefer not to leave lying around.

The developers did nothing but buy hardware from an unethical company.

...and install beta software that they were explicitly told could do all of the things it has done and worse. You are obviously a troll, but because this idiocy seems so rampant, I thought I'd debunk it anyway.

"Brick"

[by Anonymous Coward]

It is not a brick. It's a perfectly functional device with a software problem. That is not "bricked".

Re:"Brick"

[Sentry21 (8183)]

I bricked my Macbook the other day, it sucked. I had to move the cursor so the screen woke up, then type in my password. Damnit Apple, why do you keep bricking this thing every five minutes? *rage*

Re:"Brick"

[OrangeTide (124937)]

It's only bricked if you cannot get it to work again without cracking it up and digging into some special programming connector or replacing some chips. That is, the device can serve no other purpose than to be a brick without highly technical intervention. The fact that you can update the software back to the non-expired non-beta version seems to be completely overlooked.

Re:"Brick"

[by Anonymous Coward]

The device functions enough that you can restore the original firmware, you know, the firmware that is stable and fully supported and not recommended for development use only.

Re:"Brick"

[BitZtream (692029)]

Ah, but theres the problem, you can't just restore the original firmware using iTunes as the baseband has been updated by the 2.0 firmware.

iTunes will choke at the end of the restore process if you try to 'restore' to 1.1.4 (the latest public version). When it chokes, it leaves your phone in restore mode, unusable.

It is however, not bricked.

The solution is relatively simple. You restore to 1.1.4 and let the process fail, which will leave you with an error 1015 at the end of the process.

At that point you use one of the jailbreak apps to put your phone back in normal mode, which will allow the old software to work with the new baseband. I found this out the hard way myself this morning, but after being rather upset, a little googling for the 'pink screen of death' pointed me at the solution which is:

1. 1. Put the phone into restore mode by holding the power button and the home button down until the phone shuts down.
2. 2. Release the power button and wait for it to boot into restore mode
3. 3. Plug the phone in and iTunes will tell you it needs to be restored, restore to the latest software iTunes will give you (1.1.4).
4. 4. The restore will fail with Error 1015. The software was however restored, just not the baseband, and iTunes leaves the phone in DFU mode wanting to restore completely.
5. 5. Use one of the jailbreak apps to set your phone back to normal. I used ZiPhone, worked fine first try.
6. 6. Restart iTunes and restore your backup.

Working phone, new baseband, but it works all the same. Am I pissed off? YES. The first thing I thought was that it expired (which Apple warns you about during the development setup process on several occasions), so I went and checked for new firmware to find that I was indeed using the latest build. Since this is my primary phone its partially my fault, but Apple certainly screwed the pooch by letting this happen when they put in such anal measures to make sure people update the software.

If it wasn't for the fact that my company wants to port one of our products to the iPhone, at this point I would be done with iPhone development due to this mistake, there is no excuse for a company the size of Apple allowing this to happen.

Seems easy to fix on Apple's side

[CannonballHead (842625)]

Couldn't they just re-release the exact same beta OS but fix the expiration date? They must know about this by now, and it doesn't seem like it'd even take that long. Maybe they are having a day off or something.

I know this will be the theme for the whole slashdot story, but I have to say that if MS did this, I think there'd be public burnings, see-I-told-you-so's, etc.

You forgot to mention

[anotherone (132088)]

You forgot to mention that Apple SPECIFICALLY told you NOT to put it on your phone because it was unstable- and you hacked the lockouts and did it anyway. You also didn't mention that you could simply do a restore in iTunes and get a working firmware in about 2 minutes.

But, I guess that getting on the front page of slashdot is more important.

Re:You forgot to mention

[cowscows (103644)]

Wah wah wah! Apple released this fancy new phone but there's no SDK and nobody can develop apps for it, this sucks, Apple sucks, everyone sucks!

*Apple releases beta SDK*

Wah wah wah! Apple released an inital version of an SDK for their fancy new phone and it isn't perfect and doesn't do everything we ever wanted, this sucks, Apple sucks!

All some people do is complain. Even when someone listens to what you're asking for, and tries to meet your needs. Even when they're just starting out and testing the waters in an area that is very complex. Apple released what they had because obnoxious people wouldn't shut up about how much Apple sucked for not releasing anything.

It'll get better. Half-finished software is the price the world pays for being whiny and impatient.

Re:You forgot to mention

[rockmuelle (575982)]

"Right, so we'll just use the emulator forever, shall we?"

Kinda like those of us still waiting for access to the beta program? We have no choice but to continue to use the emulator forever, even if we did go out and buy devices specifically for development.

Seriously, it's annoying enough that Apple limited the beta to a lottery, but it's even worse to hear the lucky few complain that they're unable to continue development because the beta software broke their phone.

The whole point of a beta program is to test software and procedures on users willing to put up potentially buggy software to get valuable feedback prior to a real release. Things like this should be expected. If you don't want to be a good participant in a beta program, don't sign up for one (and release space for those of us who are fine beta testing things and made proper preparations for the inevitable bugs that will turn up).

-Chris

You've been Steved!

[Animats (122034)]

Consider the open source alternative, OpenMoko [openmoko.com] No worries about some sudden "change in corporate direction" screwing you over.

Re:You've been Steved!

[Microlith (54737)]

Yes, OpenMoko, the opensource alternative that is unavailable and doesn't even work.

Oh it boots, but you can't make a phone call from in the UI. And while the command line dialer does work, no audio does. So you can call someone but not speak to or hear them.

While I have every hope for OpenMoko, don't go flinging them as some open-source solution when it doesn't even do what it's supposed to.

Re:You've been Steved!

[Phroggy (441)]

Consider the open source alternative, OpenMoko [openmoko.com] No worries about some sudden "change in corporate direction" screwing you over.

No worries about some sudden "phone call" either. :-D

Bricked?

[Kindgott (165758)]

Is anyone else getting tired of the sensationalist misuse of the term "bricked" around here?

Unless it's nigh unrecoverable, your hardware isn't bricked.

Re:Bricked?

[Hatta (162192)]

This begs the question, if everyone uses the phrase incorrectly is it still incorrect?

Not Bricked

[addikt10 (461932)]

"Bricked" is unrecoverable.
"Bricked" is permanent.
"Bricked" is having absolutely no way, ever, of interacting with the object in a manner that is inconsistent with interacting with a brick.

This, on the other hand, will be fixed by tomorrow.

Now you know what Radio operators...

[anss123 (985305)]

Now you know what Radio operators feels like when we geeks talk about "bandwidth". Perhaps it's karma ;)

So it's a werebrick.

[Ungrounded Lightning (62228)]

"Bricked" is permanent. ... This, on the other hand, will be fixed by tomorrow.

So it's a werebrick.

Uh....no.....

[iMouse (963104)]

Beta testers were notified by e-mail of the software expiration that night. A new copy was available immediately from the AppleSeed site.

My phone is fine and probably a lot of other beta testers who have a clue have a working phone as well.

Maybe people who beta test software should have a good understanding that it is a BETA test and Apple highly recommended that the BETA software not be installed on personal or business-related phones that need to have 100% accessibility and reliability.

How many beta testers in this program understand how to use a web browser to go grab the new release? If you're gonna be a n00b about it, don't sign up to be a tester.

Um, what are people smoking?

[jerkychew (80913)]

I don't get it - My "friend's" iphone expired at midnight but guess what, there was an email from the Apple beta program in my "friend's" email telling my "friend" to update their iPhone. Update, start using the phone again.

This is just a sensationalist article using the Dvorak Method (TM) to get more hits.

Maybe this is a misdirected AskSlashdot

[indros13 (531405)]

Folks, don't tell him the phone isn't bricked, it just encourages him. Instead of going to a forum and asking "hey, what happened to my iPhone with this devkit installed?" he comes to Slashdot and hyperventilates about a bricked phone. And whaddya know, several people already gave him a solution (rollback firmware through iTunes - hey, great idea!) I propose we no longer act as Apple Technical Support for the Un-Bricked.

Google has killed beta

[Telvin_3d (855514)]

Part of the shock that some people are feeling comes from the fact that 'beta' doesn't carry the same weight it used to. While others have jumped on the bandwagon, Google has been the big one for devaluing the term. Beta is supposed to mean a potentially unstable build released for testing and feedback purposes. It is labelled beta precisely because it might have some show stopping bugs lurking inside.

However, many people are now used to Google's beta software, which means a functional, polished release that happens to be missing some of the blue sky features that are planned. Oh, and it might get a UI redesign at some point.

The two uses are very different and anyone expecting one should be quite shocked to find the other.

New SDK Is Up

[vertigoCiel (1070374)]

The Unofficial Apple Weblog reports that the new SDK is available [tuaw.com], which should rescue any iPhones or iPod Touches from the Pink Screen of Death.

It's surprising to see Apple drop the ball like this. You should probably post a new SDK before the old ones expire and prevent developers from working. This is an amateur mistake.