Personally, I see nothing newsworthy here. Seems like Apple is using private entitlements the way they use private API: to implement something now that public entitlements that public variants can't accomplish, and maybe make them public in the future when polished enough.
iPad Camera Multitasking
111–120 of 160 posts
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#112I mean, the surprise here (to many I suppose) is that their belief that Apple is one huge company with documented procedures and all-their-shit-together is not always true.
Apple is just as much a company full of little people and groups as probably any company is. And despite some things seeming really polished, others are operating by the seat of their pants, with a just-released feature that they're working the bugs out of. A team of developers who have some library that they didn't fully document yet, or are supporting on an email basis.
Just like whatever open-source project or team you might know, if you raise some legitimate need, are not a crackpot weird user, are important in some other way, and know how to contact the right person, they can probably help you. It's just that it's big Apple, so there are some hurdles to doing that.
Is it odd to realize that if a big company / user group raises an issue, it's likely to get some legitimate attention versus a curious bystander just randomly asking what this API is, with no promise of why they need the info? Don't you treat meetings at work and random requests similarly, with some judgement of credibility of the asker in mind?
Just like a company is not probably "evil" and out trying to get you -- it's probably 1-2 people who are responsible for something and its fix. And whether the company enables that to happen tells you what the outcome will likely be. It even holds true for a place like the IRS.
More often than not, there is someone who knows your issue and who you can contact to figure it out. If you provide enough coherent information and understand that it's worth their time to help fix, and find the right channel.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#113This is what bothers me most about Apple devices and software. They probably have the "best" devices out there in terms of user experience. I use an iPhone and iPad every day because of it. But they keep very tight control over what software can be installed and run on it in order to safeguard their views on UX and security/privacy. This means for me as a developer that it's hard to write software and tools for my ow…
You can use CarPlay simulator for development without being enrolled into the program.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#114I wonder if Zoom can get in trouble for spilling the beans on this private entitlement.
No, it's public information if someone wants to find out. This is the full entitlement of Zoom https://pastebin.com/0qHP2v1F Now it would be interesting to automatically download all the popular app every update and find private entitlements.
Given that all App Store apps are encrypted with FairPlay DRM, and only accessible on a device filesystem that users cannot read, is it necessarily public? Like, I'm pretty sure you have to be jailbroken in order to even read that entitlements file.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#115I wondered for a while why only FaceTime can keep camera on while I'm switching apps. Not Google meet, Viber, Whatsapp, Signal. There are many un-fair things with Apple's apps and some valued ones. I believe eventually this will get back at Apple.
This was happening since 2008, the year of iOS SDK release. Apple's software had every capability, while third-party software was quite limited. But with every new SDK release more capabilities were made public. Camera multitasking may one day become public too.
Nothing to do with "fairness", simply a way of rolling out public APIs.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#116I'm used to giving the benefit of the doubt to Apple, but this one needs to be explained. Is this fodder for new discovery in the Epic lawsuit? Due to the nature of that case, can Apple be compelled to provide information on this and all other non-public entitlements along with and who they are granted to and why? Is it reasonable to presume that Zoom was under an NDA on this, and it was an employee mistake bringing…
It isn't. Apple can use private APIs and entitlements, while other apps can't. Those private APIs eventually become public or get replaced with something else entirely. So, this advantage is always temporary and can easily be explained by security or privacy.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
Camera app should ask too.
Why? Apple makes everything from the hardware up to the apps on the homescreen. Why do you trust the hardware, the kernel, and the OS, but not the "apps", when all are made by the same organization? They're the same as any other software on the device, they just have an icon associated with them.
Yeah, it's pretty pointless for first party apps to ask for permission, since Apple already have access to anything they want.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Their record isn't perfect, but there's plenty of evidence Apple cares about privacy. For example, Apple added E2E encryption of iMessages long before signal and whatsapp made E2E popular. They also E2E encrypt the location of AirTags - which they absolutely did not need to do. Or the recent opt-in iOS data sharing rules - much to Facebook's frustration. But companies, like governments, countries and people are not w…
E2E encryption and closed-source software don't mix imo. They claim that they encrypt iMessages and AirTag locations, but you don't have much in the way of actually verifying that everything is implemented the way they claim it is. And even if it is, their threat models are usually such that Apple is an unconditionally trusted party. Moreover, they hinder reverse engineering of iOS as much as they technically could.
+1 to this. If your threat model relies on a single centralized system, it's a bad model.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#119Not great timing for Apple, given the US government's sudden new interest in anti-trust and the plight of small business.
Private entitlements aren't news. They've been known for years.
Re: iPad Camera Multitasking
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
So it’s not fair. Why should it be though.
We might be missing out a lot of good apps. To get really good and innovative apps, a lot of developers need to be able to experiment with a features to develop good ideas and implement them.
Your hypothesis is missing an entire side of a two-sided coin.