Windows Phone Marketplace can remotely revoke app licenses
By Chris Ziegler 
posted March 17th 2010 12:42PM
posted March 17th 2010 12:42PM
Speaking at a MIX10 session about Windows Phone 7 Series architecture this morning, Microsoft's Istvan Cseri mentioned that the Windows Phone Marketplace -- the one and only clearinghouse for apps in WP7S -- will be able to remotely revoke licenses. Since devices will only run properly-licensed apps, this effectively means the company will be able to shut down apps remotely -- a capability they'd probably invoke if a Marketplace app were to badly misbehave en masse, for example. To put it bluntly, Cseri says that apps simply aren't in control of their own life cycle; the user controls installation and removal while the Marketplace ensures that the license is valid.On a related note, we know that Microsoft has a series of not-yet-finalized "business, technical, and content" guidelines for accepting and rejecting apps submitted to the Marketplace, and we've got a particularly interesting case: apps are being "discouraged" from using the phone's Back button. They're being so strongly discouraged, in fact, that Todd Brix -- senior director of mobile platform services product management at the company -- told us that apps can and will be straight-up rejected for using Back for anything but dismissing dialog boxes. We won't know the full rulebook until Microsoft releases it in May -- but in the meantime, don't bother making anything too controversial with those free tools, eh?
Hopefully XDA developers will chew right through all of MS' "limitations".
@Jacob1
In this case, they shouldn't.
Why are they even branding this as a "Windows" product, is what confuses me. The association with previous versions of Windows Mobile is setting everyone's expectations too high. The Zune branding would be more appropriate, seeing as they're basically pissing over every Windows Mobile power user out there.
@Leindurstit
" basically pissing over every Windows Mobile power user out there"
All 10 of us? As WinMo's market share dies more and more every month you don't really expect them to cater to the small group of us power users of flash with new roms and waste time going through device registries?
Doesn't Android have a remote kill switch? What's the difference?
@vqro EXACTLY.
@vqro As do Apple and Palm as well.
besides horrible DRM, stingy license policy and procedure, highly over priced product?
Looks like my Omnia 2 is the last dance with WinMo.
I eschew limitations.
Microsoft has been doing a lot to piss me off about WP7S, lately.
However, a remote kill switch for apps is a necessary evil. If it means I can buy a program, say a good navigation program, for 2 weeks at a discounted rate instead of one full year... or one year instead of a lifetime, than I'd say it's great. Also, if some app starts stealing personal information, I want Microsoft to kill it as soon as they confirm the vulnerability.
Can I get an engadget site that excludes WP7 please!!!
OK Microsoft, less marketing and more production. You're losing sales every day you wait to get this into our hands.......because our hands might be filled with another tech already if you wait too long.
Wow! This just makes me want to go out and get a WP7S phone! No multi-tasking, no copy/paste, Apps ONLY from the App store AND last but not least? Why the ability for MS to remotely shutdown the apps licensing to YOUR phone making it unusable after YOU have paid for it! Why I can't think of anything else besides having Steve Balmer himself shove a broomstick up my ass to make this any more appealing!
@Darkseider If an app starts copying all your personal information, exploiting your data, or performing other malicious activity, you'll wish Microsoft had a kill switch.
People need to take a chill pill. The lack of true, balls-to-the-wall multi-tasking is certainly a disappointment, but if they design the OS in a way that multi-tasking is not as much of a necessity, it might be fine.
The lack of copy-paste is definitely a dumb move, though. It wasn't cool when the iPhone didn't have it, and it won't be cool in WP7S.
That being said, it's not a deal-breaker for the vast majority of their target market: The every-day consumer.
I'm mostly disappointed because I was hoping for WP7S to take a middle ground between the heavily-guarded walled garden of the iPhone and the anything-goes chaos of Android.
It seems they're more closely mimicking the iPhone's practice, and it's sad. There is a happy medium, but, at least from what we've heard, WP7S isn't it.
I'm an iPhone user, so I'm used to their walled garden and unyielding draconian rules. I'll still get a WP7S phone because as an Xbox Live and Zune Pass user, it's a no-brainer for me. Playing Xbox Live arcade games and having the ability to stream and download songs from the Zune Marketplace whenever I feel like it through 3G is a dream come true.
Then you have Netflix and the and the streamlined data-driven user interface elements (hubs), the ability of third party apps to plug into hubs, which allows you to access apps within the context of your activities. All those things will bring a ton of value to my smartphone experience, and that's why I'm getting one.
@fperennes Jailbreaking is great. You get all the functionality and backing of an apple app store with all it's great apps for free and do whatever you want with the iPhone. I'm looking forward to when 4.0 gets jailbreaked. I love the hacking community!!! JB'd iPhone FTW!!!
I was so excited for WP7...until a couple of days ago.
Now we find out there's no:
-multitasking
-copy/paste
-memory expansion
-etc etc
This is just an exact copy of the iphone platform with a different UI thrown on top. Microsoft will fail with this strategy, just as they did with Zune. (not knocking zune, it's a great device but doesn't sell for crap)
@toptekjon :
Multitasking: http://www.engadget.com/photos/windows-phone-7-development-docs-leaked/#2721838
Possible cut & paste: http://twitter.com/thurrott/statuses/10593003663
Why is everyone so quick to dismiss these things, because everyone is spreading rumors about it. Has MS officially, said "Oops, sorry, we're NOT going to have [insert feature] on WP7S"?
The Marketplace does rack my nerves a bit.
@fperennes
Agree with both of you. I'm not switching from my iphone if it's only going to get me the same BS rules about what I can do with my own hardware.
F*** MS and anyone else that trys to control what I do.
I'll stick with apples BS policies, at least I already know how to work around all of them.
This Windows Mobile 7 is looking more and more restrictive and 'big-brother' like Apple's iPhone OS (a reason why I left AT&T and the iPhone). Android is looking better and better every day.
as Mack Stone said... Microsoft undoes every decision they almost make by second guessing. And you know every product is released only after it has passed the 'match up to Google' and 'match up to Apple' tests to see how many features (or lack thereof) they have somewhat replicated...
its funny just last week i was wondering whether or not my resolve to get a Dell mini 5/Streak would hold after seeing WPS7 the first time. Now I think I'm at the point where I could care less about. I just refuse to be limited to one app at a time, and for someone to have the ability to rip things off of my phone if they so choose(though to be honest it is nice as a fail-safe to save everyone's phones...if used that way). Guess it's just the principle of the matter.
People used windows mobile to get away from bullshit like Apple, where everything is forced.
I guess this will just mean more android sales
At least with the iPhone, apps that have been pulled from the App Store (Delicious LIbrary), still work.
I hope they have a secondary OS for business users.
Mobile7 is more mass market crap.
@Dezoris It'll be called Windows Phone Classic (which will really be Windows Mobile 6.5.x).
Whoa man, The next Engadget podcast is gonna be a CLASSIC!!!
So... Apple just starts deleting apps from its market place to get rid of crappy apps and everyone roars. But Microsoft announces that they will have FULL control over all your apps, being able to disable them at their own choosing, and everyone is ok with it? I think this is exponentially worse than Apple deleting a bunch of crummy applications yet no one seems really mad. Microsoft claims its only for stopping a rogue App but obviously it isnt only limited to that.
On the first of April they will announce it was all a joke...
Honestly, the UI looked really interesting. And the silverlight/XNA combined development looked like it had a lot of power behind it. And even the phones which HAVE to come with a minimum spec'd 1GHz Arm processor, and high resolution screen is quite nice.
But no copy & past, no multitouch, no ability to add apps that aren't approved and in the marketplace store, and now this? This way too closed of a platform. No thanks. I'll go with either Android or webOS when I finally make the jump to a smartphone.
wow, the un-iPhone is just getting worse and worse. No multi-task, crappy app-store restrictions with no way to get other apps on, no release date in site, WiMo6.5 has been made swung out to dry...
What do the fanbois have left to cling to??
Richest Man In The World (or close to) sez:
Them goddamn pirates! They can't fuck with Lazaro!
Sorry, spelling. The reference was to "Paul Lazzaro."
I am soooooo glad I ditched WM in favor of Android. And I thought Windows Phone 7 would be better?!?! Silly me!
Remote killswitching would have been a deal-killer had locking the device to one marketplace not already been a deal-killer.
Anything I own should be able to sideload apps and other features. I'm a big boy and I can make my own fixes if an app turns out to go rogue or cause a security breach. Microsoft and Apple (to say nothing of Amazon) should accept that users like us exist, and let us do what we want to the devices we pay for. If you can't break it, you don't own it.
Maybe some sort of multi-level approach would work. Essentially, this would involve an official account level elevation requirement that would require the entry of a long string of characters just one time--but that one time would trigger an alert dialog asking, "This will allow superuser control over your phone, but could result in security problems or operating system instability. Are you SURE you want to continue?" This would let casual users just use the App Store or the Windows Marketplace or whatever, and let power users...power-use.