Windows Phone 8 technically only allows apps to be installed from the marketplace.
However, Microsoft pretty much has left us with an avenue that would allow us to easily create our own custom 3rd party marketplaces.
With Windows Phone 8, Microsoft has introduced the "company app store" concept. This is originally intended to allow companies to easily distribute LOB applications to its employees.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/business/custom-hub?wa=wsignin1.0
Note how the whole system pretty much relies on a certificate. Anyone with the certificate can sideload applications signed with said certificate.
Now this gives me the idea, why can't the homebrew community purchase their own certificate, and use it to create a 3rd party homebrew marketplace?
the_tyrant said:
Windows Phone 8 technically only allows apps to be installed from the marketplace.
However, Microsoft pretty much has left us with an avenue that would allow us to easily create our own custom 3rd party marketplaces.
With Windows Phone 8, Microsoft has introduced the "company app store" concept. This is originally intended to allow companies to easily distribute LOB applications to its employees.
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/business/custom-hub?wa=wsignin1.0
Note how the whole system pretty much relies on a certificate. Anyone with the certificate can sideload applications signed with said certificate.
Now this gives me the idea, why can't the homebrew community purchase their own certificate, and use it to create a 3rd party homebrew marketplace?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's bump this up, shall we? (Since I'm not going to bother making my own thread, if nobody is going to reply to it)
Here's what I've learned through my evaluation of the company app system. The requirements are simple:
-Company Dev Center account
--Requires that you have a legally registered company (e.g. an LLC), which is verified by Symantec
--$99 plus whatever fees are associated with the LLC
-Symantec Signing certificate
--Requires the company dev center account
--$299
This is actually much less than I thought, as I was expecting this to be limited to the enterprise. Rather, anyone with chump change and some legal papers can get a certificate that allows anyone to sideload apps.
The legal papers is where it gets complicated, unfortunately. If it were just the money, I'd honestly consider a fundraiser to start a homebrew store. The certificate simply needs to be used to sign the enrollment tokens (which are just provxml documents with the cert in them), the enrollment token needs to be distributed to the masses, and then the cert is used to sign all the 'brew. It could be setup pretty easily with an online system for registering devs, uploading xaps, and having them signed, for example.
But the requirement that I have an actual company makes things really complicated; I'm not sure how much verification Symantec does, but I'm under the impression a security firm like expects legal registration, which is not something I personally have, nor something I particularly want (LLC taxes are pretty steep these days)
So, here's the question. Does anyone out there have a "company" dev center account, or has played with "company apps", and is willing to experiment to see if this system would be at all useful for homebrew?
Curious to see if there's any interest. In theory, a WP8 Cydia-like app could be developed very easily
this sounds very interesting, though I do not have a company...yet. Does it have to be an LLC? I am thinking of starting an IT/computer repair company here in my town as a side business, not 100% sure yet, but considering it.
Jaxbot, you sly fox .
That's a great idea.
A couple issues to consider...
Might want to read through the WP Store T&C carefully. While those may very well be the only requirements to get a company account, I wouldn't be surprised if there are much more in the terms to keep one. In other words, distributing your app to non-employees could get your company account banned/disabled/revoked. I haven't done the leg work on this so not sure.
The VeriSign cert you get will likely have requirements to be maintained by a single person or group. Publishing the private key would almost certainly (and quickly) get this revoked. So you would either need to someone to manually sign/publish all the apps or figure out an automated process. That should be possible but would likely take a good bit of work to get going.
My $.02.
Jaxbot, did you get a WP8 device and if so, what model did you get ? I know you were trying to get one.
What would be interesting is to see what type of apps you can deploy with this. Could something like this open a full unlock or Interop unlock becase the corporate account could get those type of pemissions to their devices ?
Is this tyed to the Active Directory in anyway, knowing Microsoft each user might need an account in the Active Directory to be able to use the "Company Dev center"? There could be a lot of limits depending how you can connect to the server that runs it.
Do they have a test version ? Maybe that can be used in this case, just to see if it works and could use a deeper investment to get this working. If you could get me a full unlock from this, I surely would pay up a little for it.
DavidinCT said:
What would be interesting is to see what type of apps you can deploy with this. Could something like this open a full unlock or Interop unlock becase the corporate account could get those type of pemissions to their devices ?
Is this tyed to the Active Directory in anyway, knowing Microsoft each user might need an account in the Active Directory to be able to use the "Company Dev center"? There could be a lot of limits depending how you can connect to the server that runs it.
Do they have a test version ? Maybe that can be used in this case, just to see if it works and could use a deeper investment to get this working. If you could get me a full unlock from this, I surely would pay up a little for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe there are a few things you can do with corp apps that can't be done with regular ones but there's not much. Definitely not full interop unlock (at least not directly).
No. It's not tied to AD at all.
I don't think there's a "test" version. The $400 it would cost is chump change for any legit company. Microsoft could waive the $99 fee for someone they're working with but you'll still need the $299 cert and Symantec/VeriSign isn't gonna give that to you for free.
I'm just an end-user, but YEAH! Dev-unlock: $99. Full unlock: priceless. Definitely would pay a bit.
piaqt said:
I'm just an end-user, but YEAH! Dev-unlock: $99. Full unlock: priceless. Definitely would pay a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This wouldn't be a full unlock. It would just allow devs to publish apps to an alternate marketplace and users that are not dev unlocked could easily download them.
RustyGrom said:
A couple issues to consider...
Might want to read through the WP Store T&C carefully. While those may very well be the only requirements to get a company account, I wouldn't be surprised if there are much more in the terms to keep one. In other words, distributing your app to non-employees could get your company account banned/disabled/revoked. I haven't done the leg work on this so not sure.
The VeriSign cert you get will likely have requirements to be maintained by a single person or group. Publishing the private key would almost certainly (and quickly) get this revoked. So you would either need to someone to manually sign/publish all the apps or figure out an automated process. That should be possible but would likely take a good bit of work to get going.
My $.02.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Correct. The ToS needs to be really well understood. Some people seem to imply that users outside the company are okay to enroll, but I'm not sure. However, I'm not really sure if the enrollment even touches MSFT's servers at all, and if T&C violations would cause a problem. Something that needs to be looked into. If it's a definite breach of T&C, I say it's not worth it. My $0.02
DavidinCT said:
Jaxbot, did you get a WP8 device and if so, what model did you get ? I know you were trying to get one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately no, all my research has been on the emulator. All my attempts to get my hands on a WP8 have proven fruitless so far.
What would be interesting is to see what type of apps you can deploy with this. Could something like this open a full unlock or Interop unlock becase the corporate account could get those type of pemissions to their devices ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, definitely not full unlock. Interop, I'm not sure. The apps are signed and installed, so I have no idea if ID_CAPs are limited. An app like Folders could definitely be deployed, though, with the new WP8 apis.
Is this tyed to the Active Directory in anyway, knowing Microsoft each user might need an account in the Active Directory to be able to use the "Company Dev center"? There could be a lot of limits depending how you can connect to the server that runs it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you can enroll within active directory, it says that in the instructions.
Do they have a test version ? Maybe that can be used in this case, just to see if it works and could use a deeper investment to get this working. If you could get me a full unlock from this, I surely would pay up a little for it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
RustyGrom said:
This wouldn't be a full unlock. It would just allow devs to publish apps to an alternate marketplace and users that are not dev unlocked could easily download them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he said. Basically, it would give us homebrew apps that fit into the limitations of the SDK, but not necessarily the limitations of the certification requirements. Folders, Themes, etc. could likely be built. Apps such as CacheClearer and Tweaks, probably not, but again, I have no experimental research on this yet.
This presentation from BUILD (http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-014) should answer most of your questions. The phone does 'phone home' to Microsoft to check the publishers and apps installed. Also, capabilities are limited to "same as standard marketplace apps" however the 'company store' app can install apps and manage apps that have been published through it.
RustyGrom said:
This presentation from BUILD (http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-014) should answer most of your questions. The phone does 'phone home' to Microsoft to check the publishers and apps installed. Also, capabilities are limited to "same as standard marketplace apps" however the 'company store' app can install apps and manage apps that have been published through it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
55 minutes, exciting Thanks for that, though, clarifies a lot. In that case, then, it sounds like the company store app won't really have much useful information for us, as it sounds almost more restricted than I had originally hoped. In that case, then, "company apps" is probably not a worthwhile route to peruse. My 2 cents.
Terms and conditions for a company account
a. Internal Distribution. Subject to the terms of this Addendum and the Application Provider Agreement,
you may make Enterprise Applications internally available to your Employees. Enterprise Applications
may not be made available to consumers, other companies or the general public, except for vendors or
companies that are under contract with you to develop or test any Enterprise Applications. You are
responsible for any unauthorized distribution of the Certificate Software and Enterprise Applications
outside of the terms and conditions of this Addendum.
b. No Alternative Marketplace. You will not use the Certificate Software to: (i) make paid Applications that
are offered in the general Windows Phone Store available to your Employees; and (ii) make available
Enterprise Applications in a manner that harms the Windows Phone Store as determined by Microsoft
Yeah, MSFT thought about that idea WAY ahead already.
Termination. If you breach the terms of this Addendum and/or the Application Provider Agreement, Microsoft
may (a) revoke the certificates provided by Certificate Software; and/or (b) terminate your Enterprise Account immediately.
If that happens, every app installed will fail to work a day later.
Well it was a good thought guys. A damn good thought..
Since WP8 supports MMC, can we side load any temporary OS to read or execute from anything from it!?
nitin88g said:
Since WP8 supports MMC, can we side load any temporary OS to read or execute from anything from it!?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MMC? And seriously, go start another thread! Do NOT thread hijack! I can't stand it, seriously
MMC - Multimedia Card.
I am a MCSE, I wounder if there is a verson to learn how use it. Maybe they have a traning version so I could learn how to get it working on domain. This would be nice if I can try this and get a interop unlock by setting it up on my own domain..
DavidinCT said:
I am a MCSE, I wounder if there is a verson to learn how use it. Maybe they have a traning version so I could learn how to get it working on domain. This would be nice if I can try this and get a interop unlock by setting it up on my own domain..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not possible. The apps you deploy will not get interop privileges.
Hi,
I would like to formally post this recommendation to avoid using the TapEdition Publishing system on tapedition . com for Android distribution. Please also note, I have no issue with their iOS product. But we all know, iOS is a different bird altogether.
Help in dealing with this would also be welcomed.
Let me explain.
I have a client who's publication receives an ERROR when people attempt to purchase the client's in-App products. This has resulted in an unnaturally high rate of uninstalls, low conversion rate to purchased content, and yet is above average for the category. The statistics show that there should be a higher level of conversion, or a lower rate of uninstalls.
Long story short, there is an error with the code when validating the purchase receipt. It is clearly isolated (via screenshots, LogCat, and Crash Reports) to the Purchase Validation code. The binary is older than the hills; there have since been changes and updates in the In-App Purchasing code provided by Google.
The client does limit their liability quite a bit; I'm not asking for a refund; just servicing of the app to fix this problem (which, by the way, is replicated throughout their entire Android app library).
Details will be shared via PM, thoughts and questions, I welcome.
Oh, did I also mention, TapEdition's application stores PURCHASED PDF content on the External Storage device, and LogCat publishes the Unique Token required to access the paid content, bypassing the store altogether?
My goodness...
Recently, one of my friends inadvertently installed an application called Du Speed Booster in his mobile phone while he used the mobile phone to browse the web.
In reproduction of his operation, I found that this application induced the customer to install it by intimidation type promotion method:
I have recorded a video to record the whole reproduction process:
Key points:
1. When accessing the web, the mobile phone will pop up a page prompting that virus infection has been detected in the mobile phone, the mobile phone needs for full scan;
2. After clicking the scan, the mobile phone accesses a page prompting scanning the mobile phone, after the completion, it is prompted that there are 11 viruses detected in the mobile phone;
3. After clicking the button "now remove the virus" in the page, the mobile phone will jump to the installation page of Du Speed Booster.
Du Speed Booster is an application subordinate to a Chinese company Baidu which is listed in NASDAQ:BIDU, their scampish type promotion behavior is very popular in China mainland, this kind of promotion way not only lowers the personal experience of mobile phone use, but also destroys the good ecological environment of Android system, So suggested Google to take measures to correct mistakes and nip the damage in the bud.
The behavior of the Baidu has obviously violated the most basic standard of behavior for a listed company, the manager of Google Play ,Google may take measures to remove Du Speed Booster off and warn Baidu in time.
At the same time, I also hope that the company can stop this kind of behavior and make apologies to users on this issue.
From a sincere Android user
This is due to promotion method, but not by Baidu.
I think you may have made something wrong with Baidu, Since Baidu would not do the promotion itself to make it been punished by Google.
As I know, it should be the website's owner, who is using illegal method to push Baidu‘s product.
Baidu has been announced to the promotion companies several time that, they should not use the similar method you metioned to promot their product.
Hi guys,
Long story short.
Bought a used Xiaomi phone. Was my first one. So I created a mi account using it.
Now, after I changed that device and replaced it with several other Xiaomi devices, I went to my mi.com account and discovered that the phone number related to that phone isn't mine. Probably the one of the previous user...
Want to change that phone number.
But this is a joke... at the end of the process, the mi.com website is asking me for : PASSPORT ID and # + upload a picture related to that account !
I did not do that... Google, Apple, my phone carrier, my insurance company, my bank, the tax collector... NO ONE ASKS FOR THAT ON A WEBSITE ! And Xiaomi does ?
What are they doing with that info ?
If I would be a pirate, I surely would try to break into mi.com to recover all that info that can probably be really useful for some illegal actions.
This is simply a joke.
I can't think of something else to explain that request...
Regards.
They will accept it even if you block out all the sensitive information except for your name and picture. I don't think that's so dangerous...
Block it out on paint and then screen shot it. That should be safe.
That is normal for big company support. Xiaomi not first company who ask personal info like this. Vkontakte, Blizzard, Facebook asked same info for deleting or recovering my account through support.
Id never trust a Chinese company with that sort of information
Please HELP get Redmagic 5G NFC GPay fix AND BL unlock FP fix: Takes 10m of time!
We have proven the easiest way to get development started on a new device is to NOTIFY the device manufacturer that there is a NEED for the company to fix issues. Thanks to XDA folks for 10 minutes of their time to email [email protected], we have gotten ZTE to release the full source code (that's an accomplishment, they haven't done this since the RM3, 2 phone versions ago, and it was Android 9 code). WE HAVE STRENGTH IN NUMBERS.
The first issue is Google Pay does NOT WORK with NA and Global ROMs. It reports 2 cards instead of 1 card when you go to a terminal, so you can NEVER make a payment!!! I BELIEVE THIS IS PROBLEM #1 TO ADDRESS FIRST
The second issue is THE BOOTLOADER UNLOCK METHOD BREAKS THE FINGERPRINT SENSOR. This is obviously highly undesirable for anyone who wants ROOT. *** WE HAVE DISCOVERED A BYPASS METHOD SO THIS IS LESS IMPORTANT ATM *** But it may stop working in the future, but is not required at the moment. See my XDA post: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nu...how-to-unlock-bootloader-redmagic-5g-t4081743
So how can we fix this issue? COMPLAIN!!! We got source code this way already (THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP GUYS WE DID IT! CONTACTING NUBIA VIA EMAIL AND UTILIZING GITHUB ISSUES REALLY WORKS! YOU CAN ALSO USE SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK etc.) WHICH WILL PROBABLE RESULT IN EVEN FASTER FIXES!
METHOD #1
EMAIL Nubia customer support at [email protected]
You can simply report the issue similar to this message in your email:
Subject: Google Pay does not work NFC on Global / NFC ROMs
Google Pay does not work with NFC which your Global and North American phones claim to support. It reports 2 cards at the terminal instead of 1 card so payment fails EVERY time. This is an issue across the world for everyone with Google Pay. WE NEED THIS FIXED AS IT IS A LISTED FEATURE OF THE PHONE THAT DOES NOT WORK.
XDA has a list of people reporting the same issue: https://forum.xda-developers.com/nubia-red-magic-5g/help/nfc-available-t4081831
Please fix as soon as possible.
Signed,
[YOUR NAME / Country / Phone Model]
*** NOTE - FOR THE TIME BEING, LESS IMPORTANT WITH THE BL BYPASS METHOD LINKED ABOVE (UNTIL THEY PATCH IT) ***
Separate email (they put tickets into bins of issues to address the most requested ones first)
Subject: Bootloader Unlock breaks the Fingerprint Sensor
The bootloader unlock on the Redmagic 5G disables the fingerprint sensor completely - the error message says to contact Nubia support. The device will not even allow a fingerprint to be added. The Android installation detects the sensor on the "back of the phone" i.e. missing the Goodix in-screen fingerprint location, so it can not be added. Later trying to add an FP results in an error:
Loss of fingerprint calibration data
Loss of fingerprint calibration data was detected.
Currently unable to complete fingerprint entry,
please contact Nubia after-sales support via
4007006600
Please fix as soon as possible.
Signed,
[YOUR NAME / Country / Phone Model]
METHOD #2:
https://github.com/ztemt/NX659J_Q_kernel/issues/2
Post something like I did here - GOOGLE PAY DOES NOT WORK. FIX NFC ON GLOBAL AND NA VARIANT ROMS ASAP.
Many customers are very upset an advertised feature of the phone does not work. We use GooglePay regularly and it does not work, this must be fixed as soon as possible. Or you have falsely advertised (expect many returned phones). The sooner the issue is fixed, the more happy customers you will have. And more sales of the phone for addressing your customer feedback and social media approvals will jump tremendously.
Thank you everyone who contacted [email protected] or posted to the original GitHub issue, now we just need them to follow through on these other items!
@mslezak THREAD CLOSED as duplicate of https://forum.xda-developers.com/nubia-red-magic-5g/how-to/please-help-redmagic-5g-source-fp-fix-t4087597
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