RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
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Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#2If RIM gave them no indication of why their keys and access have been revoked, that'd be understandably weird.
However, RIM previously took them out of App World because of privacy and battery life concerns. These are two of the most basic concerns of mobile app users.
If that's why they were permanently yanked from App World this time, RIM is acting in everyone's interest.
Regardless of how viral your company and it's products have become lately, your users should come first.
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#3If RIM gave them no indication of why their keys and access have been revoked, that'd be understandably weird. However, RIM previously took them out of App World because of privacy and battery life concerns. These are two of the most basic concerns of mobile app users. If that's why they were permanently yanked from App World this time, RIM is acting in everyone's interest. Regardless of how viral your company and it…
Disagree.
1) Kik claims to have already submitted a new version of the app that addressed these concerns.
2) The app was already approved and into the store. How is his responsible behavior?
3) How does further disabling Kik’s ability to distribute new versions of the app (by revoking signing keys) help?
4) How does crippling the UX (by disabling push) of the existing install base help anyone? That isn’t, as you say, putting users first! (And I don’t buy that this would improve batter life — this is the whole idea of push, it’s better than long or frequent polling!)
I’d bet this is almost entirely because they see Kik as a competitor to BBM (which it is).
Edited in reply: Removing from the app store is one thing (done ~2 weeks ago). Breaking existing installs for no real good reason is pretty indefensible, IMO.
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#4The Kik fairy tale never made sense. One of the guys behind the company was a PM at RIM, if I remember correctly. The entire UI of the app is a direct rip of BlackBerry Messenger. It was only a matter of time -- I wonder when RIM will sue them.
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#5The Kik fairy tale never made sense. One of the guys behind the company was a PM at RIM, if I remember correctly. The entire UI of the app is a direct rip of BlackBerry Messenger. It was only a matter of time -- I wonder when RIM will sue them.
Sue them for what? Are trade secrets involved? Are the bitmaps directly lifted from RIM property? Because there is no copyright protection for the general idea of an interface!
Edit: Patent ≠ copyright, but nonetheless a patent suit would be interesting, damned weak, and unlikely to be resolved for years (IANAL)
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#6The Kik fairy tale never made sense. One of the guys behind the company was a PM at RIM, if I remember correctly. The entire UI of the app is a direct rip of BlackBerry Messenger. It was only a matter of time -- I wonder when RIM will sue them.
He was an intern.
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#7If RIM gave them no indication of why their keys and access have been revoked, that'd be understandably weird. However, RIM previously took them out of App World because of privacy and battery life concerns. These are two of the most basic concerns of mobile app users. If that's why they were permanently yanked from App World this time, RIM is acting in everyone's interest. Regardless of how viral your company and it…
Disagree. 1) Kik claims to have already submitted a new version of the app that addressed these concerns. 2) The app was already approved and into the store. How is his responsible behavior? 3) How does further disabling Kik’s ability to distribute new versions of the app (by revoking signing keys) help? 4) How does crippling the UX (by disabling push) of the existing install base help anyone? That isn’t, as you say,…
1) Kik claimed. RIM may not have agreed.
2) Maybe it was flagged after it was originally approved.
3) I agree. I'm not sure how submitting a BB app works - I assumed the key was at app-level, not company-level, but I've never submitted a BB app before.
4) This is probably related to the battery life issue.
Don't get me wrong - If they kicked it out for being "too similar to BBM", that's a dick move. But if Kik didn't patch their app to sufficiently fix the battery and privacy issues, it makes sense that RIM wouldn't want to officially distribute it.
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#8This is just painfully stupid. Finally an app on Blackberry actually garners some attention, and RIM kicks it off the market.
For anyone who has ever bitched about Apple being draconian, this is just another example of what the mobile app world was like before the App Store. It really wasn't all unicorns and rainbows and happy developers skipping through the meadow. It was locked down and cost absurd amounts of money to break into.
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#9The ironic part is that Kik is a Canadian company also in Waterloo.
Re: RIM kicks Kik off Blackberries: Revokes keys, disables push
#10That's strange, while that's a normal breakfast task for Apple, RIM's really not the company to do things like that, even if the app affected battery life and what not. Pretty sure there are some dirty things going on behind the scenes, maybe someone else can provide more insight.