March 9th, 2009
Android Dev Phone 1 now supports paid apps, other v1.1 changes
Our pal Dan Morrill announced today that the 1.1 release of Android is now available for the Android Dev Phone 1 (ADP1). This is essentially the same as the RC33 release that came out a few weeks ago for the T-Mobile G1. ADP1 is the unlocked developer-only phone you can buy directly from Google. It comes out of the box with root access and a development bootloader that supports fastboot, meaning you can flash new system images to your heart’s content, without resorting to a “Jailbreak” hack.
The new release supports paid applications, but only if they haven’t been copy protected. Dan writes:
Many developers are concerned about the unauthorized redistribution of their applications, so they make use of the copy-protection feature (known as “forward locking”) which prevents applications from being copied off devices. However, developer phones like the ADP1 allow for unrestricted access to the device’s contents, making it impossible to enforce copy protection. As a result, the Market application on such devices is not able to access copy protected apps, whether they are free or paid. If you choose to add copy protection when you upload your application to the Android Market, then you won’t be able to test it on the ADP1’s Android Market client. Your application will always be accessible to users who have standard configurations though, and if your application (whether it is free or paid) is not copy-protected it will appear on all devices, including developer configurations.
Android’s copy protection is extremely weak anyway, so if you’re a developer there is not much point in using it.
If you have an ADP1, this update is highly recommended. If you don’t… well then nevermind.
Ed Burnette is a professional developer and author of several articles and books about computing including Hello, Android: Introducing Google's Mobile Development Platform, 2nd Edition. For disclosure of Ed's industry affiliations, click here or to view his full profile click here.
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| 03/14/09
