[SOLVED] Dongles and iOS?

Question (asked for info, not to stir up controversy):

Can an outside software developer, developing an app for the iPad,
include as one of the capabilities of that app a "dongle" scheme which
requires a dongle, purchased from or supplied by the developer, to be
plugged into one of the ports on the iPad in order to run the app, or to
access certain data or information related to the app?

That is, is this capability included or possible at present within the
technical capabilities allowed to developers by Apple?

If the capability is there, what restrictions does Apple place on its
use?

Another question (asked more to stimulate thinking, and maybe even
controversy):

Might the entire iOS ecosystem -- the entire array of Apple hardware
gadgets and Apple software -- be regarded as (among other things) one
massive interconnected, generalized dongle? -- with Apple having total
control over all actions and operations of this "iDongle"?

AES wrote:
> Question (asked for info, not to stir up controversy):
>
> Can an outside software developer, developing an app for the iPad,
> include as one of the capabilities of that app a "dongle" scheme which
> requires a dongle, purchased from or supplied by the developer, to be
> plugged into one of the ports on the iPad in order to run the app, or
> to access certain data or information related to the app?
>
> That is, is this capability included or possible at present within the
> technical capabilities allowed to developers by Apple?
>
> If the capability is there, what restrictions does Apple place on its
> use?
>
> Another question (asked more to stimulate thinking, and maybe even
> controversy):
>
> Might the entire iOS ecosystem -- the entire array of Apple hardware
> gadgets and Apple software -- be regarded as (among other things) one
> massive interconnected, generalized dongle? -- with Apple having total
> control over all actions and operations of this "iDongle"?

No.
On all counts.
iDevices don't support USB hosting - so your WAN dongle's straight out of
the window.

In article
<siegman->, AES
<> wrote:

> Can an outside software developer, developing an app for the iPad,
> include as one of the capabilities of that app a "dongle" scheme which
> requires a dongle, purchased from or supplied by the developer, to be
> plugged into one of the ports on the iPad in order to run the app, or to
> access certain data or information related to the app?

sure. there's an api for the dock connector port and there are several
products that use it. one is an obd reader that plugs into a car to
read engine parameters. another is a blood sugar meter (glucometer).
there are plenty of others. a third party development system was shown
at macworld expo last month.

> That is, is this capability included or possible at present within the
> technical capabilities allowed to developers by Apple?

yes, added in 3.0 firmware, nearly 2 years ago.

> If the capability is there, what restrictions does Apple place on its
> use?

anything that plugs into the port has to be tested so it's electrically
compatible and doesn't damage the device (there has been cheap crap
that does blow out devices, usually chargers). apple also tests the
dock connector product with unreleased devices before saying it's fully
compatible.

of course, you're free to build your own for personal use and not
submit it for testing, as you can with any app.

> Another question (asked more to stimulate thinking, and maybe even
> controversy):
>
> Might the entire iOS ecosystem -- the entire array of Apple hardware
> gadgets and Apple software -- be regarded as (among other things) one
> massive interconnected, generalized dongle? -- with Apple having total
> control over all actions and operations of this "iDongle"?

ios requires an idevice so in that sense it's a dongle, but it's a
bizarre way of looking at things. android requires an android phone, so
that's a dongle too, just made by a bunch of different companies.

In article <>, I See
<> wrote:

> AES wrote:
> > Question (asked for info, not to stir up controversy):
> >
> > Can an outside software developer, developing an app for the iPad,
> > include as one of the capabilities of that app a "dongle" scheme which
> > requires a dongle, purchased from or supplied by the developer, to be
> > plugged into one of the ports on the iPad in order to run the app, or
> > to access certain data or information related to the app?
> >
> > That is, is this capability included or possible at present within the
> > technical capabilities allowed to developers by Apple?
> >
> > If the capability is there, what restrictions does Apple place on its
> > use?
> >
> > Another question (asked more to stimulate thinking, and maybe even
> > controversy):
> >
> > Might the entire iOS ecosystem -- the entire array of Apple hardware
> > gadgets and Apple software -- be regarded as (among other things) one
> > massive interconnected, generalized dongle? -- with Apple having total
> > control over all actions and operations of this "iDongle"?
>
> No.
> On all counts.
> iDevices don't support USB hosting - so your WAN dongle's straight out of
> the window.

wrong.

In article
<siegman->,
AES <> wrote:

> Question (asked for info, not to stir up controversy):
>
> Can an outside software developer, developing an app for the iPad,
> include as one of the capabilities of that app a "dongle" scheme which
> requires a dongle, purchased from or supplied by the developer, to be
> plugged into one of the ports on the iPad in order to run the app, or to
> access certain data or information related to the app?

Certainly-- just look at Square (https://squareup.com/). The app's not
really useful without their card reader, which plugs into the headphone
jack. They do it because it's a necessary part of how the app works, but
in principle a developer could require something for whatever reason
they want. Griffin's latest iTrip only works if you've bought the
necessary external hardware, too:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itrip

> That is, is this capability included or possible at present within the
> technical capabilities allowed to developers by Apple?
>
> If the capability is there, what restrictions does Apple place on its
> use?

If a developer wanted to communicate via the 30-pin connector on the
bottom of the phone, the device would have to go through Apple's
external hardware accessory program. That requires approval from Apple
for whatever the device does.

For Square-style headphone connections there's no explicit hardware
approval, but the requirement for the external device might affect
whether the app would be approved.
>
> Another question (asked more to stimulate thinking, and maybe even
> controversy):
>
> Might the entire iOS ecosystem -- the entire array of Apple hardware
> gadgets and Apple software -- be regarded as (among other things) one
> massive interconnected, generalized dongle? -- with Apple having total
> control over all actions and operations of this "iDongle"?

Only if you consider that needing to buy a computer in order to run
software designed for that computer means the computer is a dongle of
some kind. You can't run Pages unless you buy a Mac, does that make the
Mac a dongle for the Pages app?

--
Tom "Tom" Harrington
Independent Mac OS X developer since 2002
http://www.atomicbird.com/

In article <tph-7F63CA.10110609022011@localhost>,
Tom Harrington <> wrote:

> In article
> <siegman->,
> AES <> wrote:
>
> > Question (asked for info, not to stir up controversy):

Thanks for answers -- though I'm afraid I don't agree
with all of them.

> > Can an outside software developer, developing an app for the iPad,
> > include as one of the capabilities of that app a "dongle" scheme which
> > requires a dongle, purchased from or supplied by the developer, to be
> > plugged into one of the ports on the iPad in order to run the app, or to
> > access certain data or information related to the app?
>
> Certainly-- just look at Square (https://squareup.com/). The app's not
> really useful without their card reader, which plugs into the headphone
> jack. They do it because it's a necessary part of how the app works, but
> in principle a developer could require something for whatever reason
> they want. Griffin's latest iTrip only works if you've bought the
> necessary external hardware, too:
> http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/itrip

Looks very neat -- but I don't think it falls within the
usual interpretation of a dongle, which is basically
just to provide permission for some other function to
operate, not to do anything else useful itself. This
gadget has a useful purpose that it performs itself
(and which probably serves some potential Apple
needs as well).

> > That is, is this capability included or possible at present within the
> > technical capabilities allowed to developers by Apple?
> >
> > If the capability is there, what restrictions does Apple place on its
> > use?
>
> If a developer wanted to communicate via the 30-pin connector on the
> bottom of the phone, the device would have to go through Apple's
> external hardware accessory program. That requires approval from Apple
> for whatever the device does.
>
> For Square-style headphone connections there's no explicit hardware
> approval, but the requirement for the external device might affect
> whether the app would be approved.
> >
> > Another question (asked more to stimulate thinking, and maybe even
> > controversy):
> >
> > Might the entire iOS ecosystem -- the entire array of Apple hardware
> > gadgets and Apple software -- be regarded as (among other things) one
> > massive interconnected, generalized dongle? -- with Apple having total
> > control over all actions and operations of this "iDongle"?
>
> Only if you consider that needing to buy a computer in order to run
> software designed for that computer means the computer is a dongle of
> some kind. You can't run Pages unless you buy a Mac, does that make the
> Mac a dongle for the Pages app?

I think you got it backwards here. If I have a Mac with the Pages app
and files generated by Pages and saved in Pages format, and someone else
writes to write and sell (or give away) a SuperPages OS X app, I can
acquire that app, load it on my Mac, and run it to process those same
files with it, *** without asking any permission from Apple***. My
understanding, at least, is that this can not be done on any of the iOS
devices without asking Apple.

Tom Harrington <> wrote:
>
> Only if you consider that needing to buy a computer in order to run
> software designed for that computer means the computer is a dongle of
> some kind. You can't run Pages unless you buy a Mac, does that make the
> Mac a dongle for the Pages app?

Well, considering all my complaints about the inferiority of Pages in the
first place, that isn't totally wrong. . . 8-)



--
Erilar, biblioholic medievalist with iPad

In article
<siegman->, AES
<> wrote:

> Looks very neat -- but I don't think it falls within the
> usual interpretation of a dongle, which is basically
> just to provide permission for some other function to
> operate, not to do anything else useful itself. This
> gadget has a useful purpose that it performs itself
> (and which probably serves some potential Apple
> needs as well).

why would you need a dongle for permission to run an app? apps are tied
to a specific apple id and a collection of devices associated with that
id.

> > Only if you consider that needing to buy a computer in order to run
> > software designed for that computer means the computer is a dongle of
> > some kind. You can't run Pages unless you buy a Mac, does that make the
> > Mac a dongle for the Pages app?
>
> I think you got it backwards here. If I have a Mac with the Pages app
> and files generated by Pages and saved in Pages format, and someone else
> writes to write and sell (or give away) a SuperPages OS X app, I can
> acquire that app, load it on my Mac, and run it to process those same
> files with it, *** without asking any permission from Apple***. My
> understanding, at least, is that this can not be done on any of the iOS
> devices without asking Apple.

why not? the only issue for that is reverse engineering the file
format, which if you can do it for the mac without any legal issues,
you should be able to do it for an ios device as well.

On 09/02/2011 15:08, AES wrote:
> Might the entire iOS ecosystem -- the entire array of Apple hardware
> gadgets and Apple software -- be regarded as (among other things) one
> massive interconnected, generalized dongle? -- with Apple having total
> control over all actions and operations of this "iDongle"?

Yes. They have you by the dongle.

--
Adrian C

In message <090220111440024503%> nospam
<> was claimed to have wrote:

>In article
><siegman->, AES
><> wrote:
>
>> Looks very neat -- but I don't think it falls within the
>> usual interpretation of a dongle, which is basically
>> just to provide permission for some other function to
>> operate, not to do anything else useful itself. This
>> gadget has a useful purpose that it performs itself
>> (and which probably serves some potential Apple
>> needs as well).
>
>why would you need a dongle for permission to run an app? apps are tied
>to a specific apple id and a collection of devices associated with that
>id.

That might be the point. Right now, apps can be freely shared among as
many devices as you want to associate with one account, and apps cannot
be "lost" or misplaced or damaged.

Maybe he wants to bring back the days of "I lost the installation disk,
better buy a new license" by way of a dongle?