“Popular video playback application MplayerX is no longer being updated on the Mac App Store,” Electronista reports. “Citing Apple’s sandboxing rules, the developer is claiming that the step is coming only after ‘arguing with Apple over three months’ trying to make the newest version of the application function under the new Apple guidelines.”
“MplayerX features affected by the sandboxing rules include the automatic loading of subtitles for videos and the ability to play the next episode of a TV show in a folder,” Electronista reports. “Many applications will never be able to be sold on the Mac App Store due to close integration with the kernel of the OS violating the sandboxing requirement, such as most of the Rogue Amoeba line of audio enhancements, with the exception of audio-capture tool Piezo.”
Electronista reports, “The MplayerX developer isn’t alone in abandoning the Mac App Store. Codebase version control app SourceTree’s developers announced that after March 1 that they would not be updating the application because of Apple’s addition of the sandboxing requirement… Apple has implemented a more extensive system-wide security feature in conjunction with sandboxing, called Gatekeeper in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. By default, Gatekeeper only allows applications downloaded from the Mac App Store, and apps that are digitally signed with an Apple Developer ID… At this time, and for the foreseeable future, despite no credible, persistent malware threat to OS X, all new applications and updates on the Mac App Store are expected to comply with the sandboxing requirement.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This is a problem because, over time, the number of Mac users who know to go outside the Mac App Store for apps will dwindle to the point of not being able to support developers whose apps offer to do things the Mac App Store does not allow. It’s a conundrum for which we see no easy fix.
Related articles:
Apple: Mac App Store apps must implement sandboxing by March – November 4, 2011
OS X Mountain Lion’s Gatekeeper slams the door on Mac trojans – February 16, 2012
oh well
Windows 8 seems to be horrid so far and my MBP that i bought last year may now be my last Apple computer
In ten years when the latest MBP is able to hover to the kitchen and return with a beer you will rue the day you said the above.
i already have a wife and kids for that
your kids will grow up & your wife will split.
Nerd Beautiful, that’s the BEST comment I’ve read on here since I can remember!! I’m gonna start saving right now…
RE the article, I don’t see what the big problem is. The Mac App Store won’t ever be the be-all and end-all. When looking for an app solution, I imagine most people always search the *web* first – not the Store.
Windows 8 is so horrid that you are dropping Mac to get it?
i have 2 lenovo’s and a MBP at home. the MBP is my personal computer, the other 2 are work. i installed 8 on a virtual instance i use to work remotely and so far it’s annoying.
Win7 in BootCamp is quick and hardly annoying on any MBPro from 2010 onward, especially with a SSD.
now if i can only convince my employer to blow $2500 on a laptop instead of $500
with 2 iphones and an ipad 2 at home i really don’t use the MBP that much. i bought it as a gift for my wife
Exagerate much? Ther is no laptop at 500 that comes close to the one for 2500.
That’s the truth, show me a Laptop with “ALL” the features and design of the MacBook for 500.00$.
Looks like alent1234 has been living in Never Never Land and he/she is being called out in 4-3-2-1.
Next.
that’s true but there is no way to justify the purchase of a $2500 laptop to run some server admin tools.
In other news, the sky appears to be falling.
What a daft comment.
Firstly, the article claims ‘many’ are abandoning the App Store but mentions only two.
Next, sandboxing is an essential component of Apple’s security efforts. As OS X truly becomes mainstream it is not unreasonable to expect this, and only a masochist would downgrade to W8 rather than be able to buy a couple of apps in the App Store.
I primarily use Macupdate to hunt for fresh app goodness. In fact, the App Store is the last place I look as searching is as bad as iOS.
almost forgot, steam is coming out with real software next month. not just games.
looks like the mac app store will be about as popular as ping and ibooks
Let’s see, limited Aplications offer by the Steam Family that has only gamers at this point, no clue on the applications being offered.
Then we have the Well established Mac App Store with more then 200 Million credit cards on file and growing daily, not to forget the massive iTunes offerings.
alent1234, you just love jumping the Shark, how many more outrageous exaggerations are you going to keep making.
So far your at 6 and counting Son.
Looks like we have us a live Troll, not a very smart one either.
Perhaps a solution might be for such developers to band together and create a site to promote/advertise/inform prospective Mac customers about the availability of such apps. A little bit of low level advertising in the Mac magazines and on a few sites like this one might be enough. In the meantime, the Mac App store is a relatively new development. Most of us still know how to go to developer sites and download/update software.
As usual people are panicking w/o call. On the Mac user do have choice to which level of security they want Gatekeeper to operate at. One can still download from outside of the Mac App store.
Right, the article mentions “by default”. It might have helped if the author pointed out that independent programmers will have to recommend to users that they modify their GateKeeper preferences to allow their programs to be loaded.
A dev of a popular app has an issue with ML’s sandboxing restrictions. It’s a valid concern that impacts adoption of the Mac app store (and possibly user experience across all appstore-approved programs). MDN even thinks so.
Airing concerns is not panic.
And whats stopping the developers who don’t want to be on the app store from getting an Apple Developer ID? You can get one for free. I’m a student programer and I have an Apple Developer ID, anyone can get one. It makes it easy to track some one creating malware (or at least make their program easily block able) since your ID would be linked to the program.
Getting an Apple Dev ID is not the issue. Unless a program is cryptographically *signed* by Apple or some other recognized app authority, though, you can’t prove that the app you downloaded from a website was actually released by the developer whose ID is somehow attached to it.
Think of it like email: I can end an email with your name, make it seem like I sent it from your email address (not hard to do at all). This will fool 90% of people if it’s not obvious spam or phishing. To actually prove with 99.9% probability that it came from you, you need a signed encryption key and certificate recognized by both your and the recipient’s system as valid.
The app store might not work exactly like that but that’s the rough idea behind signed apps.
OK I admit I’m not a dev, so I wasn’t aware an app can be signed without it going through the app store.
In order to do this though, does your app *have* to come as part of an installer, like this page suggests?
Thats not that hard for a developer to do. Thats pretty much what I meant. If you know enough to program something, you know enough to make an installer and get your program signed.
The default security is to allow only programs from the app store and those with a security key. It’s really not that big a barrier. Also to install a program that meets neither of these requirements, the user just has to right click the app and select “open”. It tells you this every time you try to run a non app store or unsigned app.
good thing we still have macupdate. versiontracker is still around too, but it hasn’t been the same since cnet took over.
I think developers need to put instructions on how to turn off Gatekeeper on their download pages. It’s about 3 mouse clicks, so just about anyone with half a brain should be able to do it if given instructions!
Developers can just sign their apps and distribute them outside the store. The default setting allows this without any work around.
Thats not needed. Any time you try to run an unsigned app. The system tells you how to run it anyway. You just right click the app and select open. You don’t have to change your security settings each time you want to run an app that’s not signed.
Really though, getting your app a security certificate is not the hard for the developer to do and would save the user any hassle or confusion.
Possibly the main issue will come from exposure. More and more users will just go to the App store and that’s it. That said, as with iOS apps I think developers should be wary of relying on people finding them in the app store. The more apps there are the harder it is to stand out. The web is still a powerful way to get exposure (in a variety of forms) and once found people shouldn’t have too much problem installing apps. It’s not as if Macs came with instructions on how to install apps before the app store.
Developers, here’s the deal, you make an app that does something that I want to do and I’ll buy, regardless of where you sell. If you’re not selling on the Mac App Store, then provide me a website link to throw my money. Thanks!
Sandboxing is an essential feature needed to take OSX to the next level of security. With the millions of new users being added to the platform that just want the stuff to work they need more protection.
For those who are more savvy it is easy to load apps. I did it myself within 2 days of installing ML. Programs like MPlayer can be distributed just like they used to before the App Store came along.
There aren’t many ways around this, without sandboxing potentially nasty apps could sneak in quite easily and the resulting bad press would do far more damage to the App Store and Apple itself than a few apps not being available.
I can see some of the media confusing it with the iOS store and suggesting that both were insecure.
The features in question for MPlayerX seem quite minor compared to what the application really does, so why doesn’t its developer make a more limited app store version and pointing people to the more featured one outside?
“At this time, and for the foreseeable future, despite no credible, persistent malware threat to OS X, all new applications and updates on the Mac App Store are expected to comply with the sandboxing requirement.”
So the computer security community regularly claims “security through obscurity” and claims OS X is “much, much more insecure than Windows and other OSes” and your response is there is no current, persistent malware threat? Did you really just buy into the “I’m going to bury my head in the sand.” approach?
Macs get hit with a trojan and the world hears about it almost instantly. Apple implements several steps to lock down OS X in Lion and Mountain Lion and you complain? So you’d rather NOT have a more secure OS so you can be a lazy programmer?
Security is one of the few instances where Apple is really trying to make OS X better, and you complain, whine and take your ball and go home?
Good riddance.
you obviously have no idea. its been well documented that the new rules will gimp a lot of legitimate applications because it will not allow them to access resources they had access to before
Steam is about to become the premier Mac Applications store
If the new rules only affect applications on the Mac App store, just don’t submit to the Mac App store… Easy
The answer is for Apple to admit they have made a mistake and adjust the policies accordingly. The Walled Garden should not be a prison.
The dumbing-down of Mac apps with these absurd requirements is a HUGE mistake. We have the Fisher-Price iToys for the moron masses that don’t know how to use a computer. Those of us with real computing needs, however, need more sophisticated software with real functionality and power behind them. I’m sorry, but when an absolutely fantastic app like SourceTree can’t pass Apple’s ridiculous requirements, something is truly wrong and it concerns me greatly… And PISSES me off. I use a lot of these software “forbidden fruits” to earn an effin’ living! I’ve used Macs since 1992 and have always loved Apple because they cared about me as a professional. But it’s becoming VERY clear that Apple does not give 2 shots about their base any more… (Mac Pro, anyone?) Apple has forgotten who brought them back from the brink 15 years ago. SJ did not do it alone.
“We have the Fisher-Price iToys for the moron masses that don’t know how to use a computer. ”
When I have heard that before? Oh yeah, back when the original Bondi Blue iMac was being sold. And relentlessly for every year since then, up to and including this one.
“Those of us with real computing needs”
Will have no problem installing apps from outside the App Store.
You want to argue that Apple’s implementation of sandboxing is overkill? Or that it’s lame? Sure. You want to argue that it’s the deathnell of Apple? Nope.
Looks like Bodega’s chance to thrive after all:
http://appbodega.com/
It as been a while now since Apple annouced their plans for Sandboxing in ML. Why is it that these developers waited until the last minute to voice their displeasure. Could sandboxing be affecting or posing a risk to their concealed extraction of user data for unauthorized or illegal usage?
Whenever any developer displays opposition or resistance to Apple’s sandboxing security feature all Mac users should take heed and ask themselfs this questions: why are these developers opposing an important security feature that is meant to protect them?
IF MAC USERS CARE ABOUT THE SECURITY OF THEIR DATA DO NOT PURCHASE ANY APPS FROM DEVELOPERS THAT ARE:
(1) NOT ON THE MAC APP STORE.
(2) DOES NOT DEVELOP APPS THAT ARE
SANDBOXING AWARE.
(3) ARE NOT SIGNED APPLE DEVELOPER
PARTNERS.
WOW. The sky is falling!
Dude. understand that some of us do not need our hands held and our noses wiped by Apple just because we choose their computers. I’ve been an Apple Tech for years and I don’t need the help. But for the masses, they will only get what Apple says is cool and thats a very limiting factor.
Even id you don’t see the issue here, don’t pretend it doesn’t exist.
They explained very well in the article why MplayerX doesn’t want to abide by the sandbox limitations – it would make it impossible to do key features that make their video player easy to use: loading subtitles automatically, and loading the next video in the same directory automatically. I agree with them – scrambling through the file system for this stuff is annoying, especially since it can done automatically. Good developers refuse to make compromises that diminish the user experience.
MplayerX could conceivably just drop these features, but they are apparently unwilling to diminish their user experience to comply with a restriction they don’t agree with.
It’s not as easy as deciding to comply with Apple’s sandboxing rules. Many apps have to be re-written to work on 10.8, and that takes a lot of time and effort that may not result in sales due to few new features being able to be added, or even some features being removed to comply with the rules.
If developing were easy, we would all be making little apps and selling them on the App Store. A good app takes time, skill, and vision to properly produce. Depending on the app’s complexity, a few months may not be anywhere near enough time.
“At this time, and for the foreseeable future, despite no credible, persistent malware threat to OS X”
So we’re supposed to wait until OS X becomes a freeway for malware like Windows before Apple does something to limit malware installation?
I don’t know what all of the technical details are of developing an app or changing how a current app works under OS X 10.8, but the developers have to watch themselves here too: As MDN stated, more and more Mac users (particularly those who are not terribly computer-savvy) will look only to the App Store for apps and not elsewhere.
The gatekeeper is the very thing apple use to make fun of in windows vista in the apple pc commercials.
We don’t need apple telling us where we can and can’t install apps from. This is a clear case of apple wanting to control things.