Comments on: Android In-App Purchases Breached By Ringz

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 00:20:38 +0000

Good on you for admitting you made a mistake, Rob. Not every tech news blogger would be so honest.

By: Steven Ghalub

Steven Ghalub — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:47:55 +0000

Like it says on the image, this is a work-around, and who gives a hoot, noone wrote about this befor. As an android developer (check out SheepShack for Android, coming out in 2 weeks.woot!) this would be usefl for unloking new levels and stuff.

Still not as cool as in-app purchasing on the iphone, but the best i’ve seen so far.

has anybody ACTUALY tried ringz?

By: AndroidAnswers

AndroidAnswers — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:39:08 +0000

Rob does this all the time. researching before posting would go a long way.

By: Robert Chou

Robert Chou — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:05:21 +0000

Eh… apps like Walkie Talkie has had add-on sound packs since march of 2009.

By: j

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:15:24 +0000

Looks like a valid workaround for a missing feature. It seems to go through the Market anyway, so everyone should be happy.

By: pjv

pjv — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:14:14 +0000

What kind of rubbish news is this? Many apps already do this. If a piece is missing (this can also be a paid extension), they just launch an intent to the piece on the Market, where the user installs it, and it ends up as new functionality with which the original app can interact.

By: ari-free

ari-free — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:01:25 +0000

this is good. Now we can have something like Second Life for android. maybe even with a touch of Augmented reality? hmmm

By: Gprdpn F

Gprdpn F — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:36:17 +0000

There have already been apps that do this, as well. Look at Weather Widgets, for example. It gives you the option to download a forecast plugin, which (AFAIK) is a paid app. Clicking on the link from inside the app brings you to the market, which then lets you buy and download, which then loads automatically inside Weather Widgets.

The REAL story here should have been that the only reason this is possible is that Google doesn’t sandbox each app independently. This is a super clean way to do this, without forcing the devs to build in their own in-game store fronts. This kind of thing wouldn’t be possible on the iPhone, since apps can’t interact in any meaningful way.

By: Johnny Awkward

Johnny Awkward — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:26:18 +0000

Also… when I posted my previous comments they were comments 2 and 3. Now they’re 5 and 7. How did people manage to post comments before mine after I’d posted them? Are you using the browser’s time stamp or something?

By: Justa Notherguy

Justa Notherguy — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:25:39 +0000

Three quick thoughts:

(1) Bravo to the guys at Urbian. Innovate, adapt, overcome!

(2) This kind of spark is _exactly_ what the Android program needs. Look back over the first year (or so) of iPhone apps and you’ll similar dev-exploits, amidst the ever-present whining. Sure, ‘the man’ – Apple, Google or whomever – won’t be thrilled, but this kind of anarchic energy is what impels the whole ecosystem forward.

(3) Mtn. View could grab (get back?) serious goodwill points by handling this situation with something like aplomb. Ok, that’s not what they do best, but wow – this could be a truly magic moment. I hope they don’t screw it up by acting like – ack! – engineers. Hey, kids, try to remember that you’re geeks, first. :)

By: Seth

Seth — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:23:40 +0000

I don’t see the problem. It looks like their level pack, just does a search in the market by the application package “org.urbian.android.games.ringz”. I bet each individual level is it’s own application, but all that application does is install itself to the main app.

I don’t think it’s bypassing the market at all, the second screenshot in their workaround looks like the market to me.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:22:00 +0000

I agree. Nothing bad or sinister here, it’s just clean, simple and the way it should be done IMO.

By: Johnny Awkward

Johnny Awkward — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:21:15 +0000

Oh, and Rob – can you tell us why you believe that Google don’t get to take their cut in this case?

By: Mythin

Mythin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:19:48 +0000

It looks to me like it uses the marketplace for the purchase / install, not like it bypasses it.

By: Johnny Awkward

Johnny Awkward — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:19:33 +0000

@Jeff J: You’re quite right. This isn’t bypassing the market at all. This is a non-story.