App Catalog 'kill switch' live in webOS 1.2 13
Tue, 29 Sep 2009 10:26 am EDT 
Remember that incomplete kill switch we stumbled across in the leaked webOS 1.2? Well, Palm finished it and reserves the right to implement it if they see fit. As mypre.com noted after reviewing the App Catalog’s End-User Terms & Conditions:
“Palm reserves the right, at its sole discretion and at any time, to add, remove, disable access to, block, or modify the App Catalog, and to add, remove, disable access to, block, or modify remotely any Applications previously downloaded to your device from the App Catalog.”
It is worth noting that every manufacturer has built such a kill switch into their software stores, be it Apple leading the way with the App Store to Microsoft confirming that their own Windows Mobile application store will have a kill switch. Since they are serving as the distributors of the product and thusly liable for the product they distribute, they’ve all concluded that it is safest to have a remote removal method available to pull broken or malicious apps.
Palm only specifies the right to remove/disable “Applications previously downloaded to your device from the App Catalog.” From what we can tell, your homebrew apps and patches are safe.
Thanks to Stargate for the tip!
13 Comments
I still maintain that this is absolutely no confirmation whatsoever. It's possible that there's a kill switch live in 1.2, but just because it's mentioned in the terms and conditions doesn't mean the capability has been finished in the actual code yet.
This confirms that they plan on it maybe, not that it's actually currently possible for them.
We'll have to wait until someone delves into the code and finds it or until Palm uses it for real confirmation, as far as I'm concerned.
I think it almost has to be live, before paid apps get out there. Otherwise, you can buy an expensive app and dispute charges, without Palm having the option of removing it.
Somehow the downloadable PC software industry has managed to survive for about 20 years without such a kill-switch; I think Palm could manage as well.
I look forward to confirmation of its existence and subsequent disabling.
raindog, I disagree. What do you think antivirus software is? It is a kill switch. I trust that Palm would only use this kill switch in such a manner and would not make a decision to kill and application lightly.
I am a consultant and the company that I am currently at does not allow any installation of software on machines except what they push to your machine, they do not allow you to download any files from the internet, and they can remove remotely any application they want from your machine. Some may look at this and think it is very heavy handed, and it is, but it is their investment to protect.
Antivirus software is seldom provided by the OS vendor, and your post is the first time I've seen someone suggest that Palm would only use their kill switch to remove malware. The most highly-publicized use of such a kill switch to date was Amazon removing legally purchased and non-malware-infected copies of "1984" from their customers' Kindles.
Most companies have policies disallowing the installation of non-approved software on the PCs they own. My clients do too. Thing is, neither Palm nor Sprint owns my Pre. I do.
Your comparison to the PC software industry, with their innumeralbe distribution methods, is irrelevant. If, instead, we could only buy software from Staples, they would be smart to include some kind of similar kill switch.
Your comparison to a hypothetical Staples-only store is irrelevant because we can install software on the Pre from a variety of sources; Palm merely makes it most convenient for you to use the App Catalog much as Microsoft pushes you to use Internet Exploder, Bing et al.
Regardless, I think that if there's any logic in the argument "this market is more controlled and therefore it needs to become even more controlled", it's flawed.
boy.. some ppl just have to argue don't they.. there's a kill switch.. its necessary.. deal with it
The PC software industry has survived with all sorts of ubiquitous malware and viruses - on our PCs. Are you telling me that you will tolerate the same amount of unreliableness on your smartphone?
So a rogue developer gets an app in the Catalog with time-released easter egg that randomly inserts their favorite political message. Is Palm going to allow each user to find out for himself or would they want to kill the app remotely?
Take a look a the ridiculous tweaking that is being discussed on this forum. The average smartphone user simply is not going to tolerate regular crashes, loss of data, temporary brick status for very long before they either get a different or just go back to what they had before that worked.
Odd thing occured to me, say you knew something was going to get killed, that you like. Using internalz homebrew would it not be possible to move the program from the app store folder to the homebrew (preware apps) folder? Can someone with access to the appstore try to move an app store app to that folder and see if it still works (
There's no separate folder for homebrew or App Catalog apps.
There's two folders. Built-in applications (with the exception of the PDFviewer for some strange reason) go to /usr/palm/applications/ and can't be deleted. App Catalog programs, Preware programs, webOS Quick Install programs, everything else goes to /var/usr/palm/applications/.
"From what we can tell, your homebrew apps and patches are safe."
That is pure speculation. There is a single package management system and if Palm wants to, they could issue a package removal on any package they want. Not saying the would, only that they could.... As far as the system goes, there is absolutely no difference between an "App Catalog" application and a "Homebrew" application.
That said, I imagine it would be extremely easy to disable such a remote kill switch with a rather simple patch.
what will happen if you press allow?