Best anti-crack solution?

[cavalcadegames]

I am looking at this developer's product

http://www.drobnik.com/touch/anticrack/

Can anyone share their 1st hand experience with this one? is this effective?

[LostToken]

I would be interested to know if anyone has experience with this as well. My app is very quickly cracked every update.

[Tipop]

I can tell you this: All it will do is slow down the crackers, not stop them.

Right now all someone has to do is run a simple script which makes a downloaded app "cracked". That works for the vast majority of apps available at the App Store. Numerous apps use tricks like Anticrack in the link above, but all it does is delay the inevitable. The crackers see that the script didn't work, so they go into the program and look for "self aware" code (which is what Anticrack is) and manually remove it. Then they upload the modified app to the hacker websites and bittorrent.

Software piracy has been around as long as there have been commercial programs. It's just something you have to accept as a developer. Just remember that the majority of iPhone/iTouch users do not jailbreak, and even among those who *do* jailbreak, not all of them are pirates.

My suggestion: Use self-aware code if you like, but don't make it cripple the app if it detects that it's been cracked. Just write it so that if it is cracked, it puts a little reminder on the loading screen, asking the user to purchase the app. Don't make it intrusive (otherwise the cracker will just remove your nag screen). It shouldn't interfere with the game in any way. At least some people will decide to go ahead and buy it.

[dewy666]

i found this on ipodtouchfans forum maybe in your app you could include a search for this file
http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210203

[Tipop]

i found this on ipodtouchfans forum maybe in your app you could include a search for this file...
That would only tell you if the device is jailbroken, not that it had been pirated. My phone is jailbroken, but I still buy games.

[SomeRandomGuy18]

💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 can't crack any games with numerals or oddball characters in them like %, or @, so that would be a cheap solution. Although they could still manually crack it, but there is not many people that can do that method.

[SomeRandomGuy18]

I am looking at this developer's product

http://www.drobnik.com/touch/anticrack/

Can anyone share their 1st hand experience with this one? is this effective?
Oh also I checked some of his apps on 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 and they are already cracked so I doubt his method is very good.

[worldcup1100]

Oh also I checked some of his apps on 💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 and they are already cracked so I doubt his method is very good.

Greeeat! I pirate contributing to a thread dedicated to stop his actions. :mad:

[nooobynick]

Greeeat! I pirate contributing to a thread dedicated to stop his actions. :mad:

who said he was a pirate, anybody could have checked that site without downloading anything. O look, I just went on the site, am I now a pirate that should be hunted down? I hate it when people jump to conclusions :mad:

[jchampl]

💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩💩 can't crack any games with numerals or oddball characters in them like %, or @, so that would be a cheap solution. Although they could still manually crack it, but there is not many people that can do that method.

actually there are a lot. it's a very easy practice to learn. i am not encouraging anyone to start, but the fact that you are willing or asking about paying someone for their protection which may delay your application from being cracked by a few hours, is a total rip off. it has become a cat and mouse game, everytime some kind of "new" protection comes out, they have a fix for it. real racing and toki tori had an amazing protection on them, better than what you can buy from a person, and they were eventually cracked. apple needs to step up and find a better way to curb their drm protection because the way it is now is a joke.

[jchampl]

Greeeat! I pirate contributing to a thread dedicated to stop his actions. :mad:

not cool. :rolleyes: don't ass-u-me.

[cavalcadegames]

why do we not have an effective anti piracy measure?

i wish a company can step and provide something effective, pretty soon the iphone games market will be ravaged by pirates just like the PSP.

[VeganTnT]

From beta testing I haven't seen a single game capable of stopping a crack. IF they want it bad enough then they will get it.

The problem is that once they strip the drm the file is able to be edited. So with the proper knowledge they can circumvent any code you add.

I have heard of one effect that disables online modes, seems to work magnificently, and is almost impossible to stop. The drawback is that it's usefulness is based on your game connecting to your servers

[drunknbass]

you realize his whole system is 1 function that returns a 0 or 1 on the crack status.. you do realize that is about as easy to bypass as not even having it at all.

and the sad fact is any public infos to stop crackers will also hand them your technique and theyll know how to sniff it out and bypass it..

so either get familiar with how it works and think of a good solution and keep it to yourself, or dont bother ;)

[monteboyd]

The better your copy-protection, the more inspired crackers will be to crack it. Most people who make an effort to download your cracked game are not likely to buy it anyway.

I do, however, like the idea of detecting a crack and then simply inserting unobtrusive ads to buy the game. The key thing is it has to be subtle enough that a cracker won't be driven to cracking to get rid of the ads.

[gillygize]

Or impair some of the functionality of your app if it is cracked so that it becomes the demo version that Apple won't let us distribute...

[yourofl10]

My suggestion: Use self-aware code if you like, but don't make it cripple the app if it detects that it's been cracked. Just write it so that if it is cracked, it puts a little reminder on the loading screen, asking the user to purchase the app. Don't make it intrusive (otherwise the cracker will just remove your nag screen). It shouldn't interfere with the game in any way. At least some people will decide to go ahead and buy it.


You have something wrong there. Why would I spend $9.99 on the App Store (for example like Rolando2) to buy a app when I can have it for free with some little ad that doesnt bother me? The best way is to make it disable the app if it is craked. The person who has the cracked app would delete but if he wanted so bad he would have to buy it. Cause if you have a craked app for free and not have to buy the app on the App Store for $9.99 why would you spend the money when you have the $9.99 app for free? Yea, it supports the dev but it's best to completely cripple the app so it can't run.

[cavalcadegames]

the point is not to stop the crackers but to delay them long enough to let your app any cannot-wait-for-the-cracked-version buyers. CaWaCraVers.

[Murdoch]

just dont smoke crack. thats my anti-crack.

Make the game an online only game like my brute, that works too.

[makeout]

Personally I believe working on piracy protection features is a waste of time and money. If you're going to put some protection in, put the most basic thing you can find just to prevent script kiddies from hacking your game. But in the end if your game is worth it, someone will figure a way to crack it.

If you want to cripple the game, make it obvious that the game is crippled due to the pirated copy of the game. You don't want users to think your game is defective on their device.

[Trevariousj]

Look up why brothers in arms doesnt work on jailbrokEn phones.

[yourofl10]

If you want to cripple the game, make it obvious that the game is crippled due to the pirated copy of the game. You don't want users to think your game is defective on their device.

Well, you could but a warning sign saying this app has been crippled so the person with the cracked app doesn't say "This app didn't work with my device"

[Tipop]

Or impair some of the functionality of your app if it is cracked so that it becomes the demo version that Apple won't let us distribute...
No. If you impair the functionality in any way, the cracker will just remove your self-aware code before he uploads it for others. The point of just making it an unobtrusive ad is that the cracker will most likely leave it alone, since it doesn't hinder the game.

You have something wrong there. Why would I spend $9.99 on the App Store (for example like Rolando2) to buy a app when I can have it for free with some little ad that doesnt bother me?
The kind of person who feels the way you describe isn't going to buy the game anyway. The point of putting the ad in is to encourage the casual pirate to go ahead and pay for it. Something like "Enjoying the game? Please pay for it. The money I make from game development puts food on my family's table." - followed by the App Store link, just to make it easy.

The best way is to make it disable the app if it is craked.
That has been tried, and it simply doesn't work. It just delays the crack for a few hours - a couple of days at most. Crackers can remove any self-aware code you put in your app.

[yourofl10]

The kind of person who feels the way you describe isn't going to buy the game anyway. The point of putting the ad in is to encourage the casual pirate to go ahead and pay for it. Something like "Enjoying the game? Please pay for it. The money I make from game development puts food on my family's table." - followed by the App Store link, just to make it easy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
That has been tried, and it simply doesn't work. It just delays the crack for a few hours - a couple of days at most. Crackers can remove any self-aware code you put in your app.

Do the first paragraph (at the top) :

But the pirate still won't buy it cause he got it for free that's the point.


To the 2nd paragraph (at the bottom) :

Yea, but it delays it for a the time being I rather it do that then nothing.

[rdklein]

what helps a little in general is frequently updating the program, it needs to be cracked over and over, and shift the anti crack code a little bit, so its not easy to automate it. But in general its very hopeless to do anything agains piracy. We observed this over years (Poc amiga was pirated at that time, and over and over again and killed our business last in turkey with 10000 downloads linked to my youtube video though the game was in german (deluxe 2008 edition) but there was no copyprot and this because the distributor wanted it free of such -- I assume this made it worse, as a protection can reduce it a little but)
- so I almost gave up doing something. The iPhone/iPod, protects a little bit better as a jail break is necessary and not all are using this. But even the OS is cracked, and I assume Apple put more power into this to protect than we can as developer.
A good way is to have some kind of registration with benefits, but this only helps with verified registration data. All takes time which is rare and better spent in updating the applications for features.

[Kaspergreenday]

Personnaly i think that the fight is lost, UNTIL Apple makes a move.

[kmacleod]

Don't pay for an anti-piracy service, they don't work.

If your app or game is online-only, there may be something you can do, but for all of the offline apps out there, here are a few simple solutions that are good for the consumer and will generate more sales.


Update often and provide features that people won't want to wait for a crack to appear in order get.
Provide an ad-supported or content-limited lite version, so people don't download a cracked version to use as a trial (that they never end up paying for)
Launch the app cheap, then raise the price later, to get a lot of initial sales and discourage people from bothering to look for a cracked version

[99c_gamer]

you could make it not work on jailbroken devices

[kmacleod]

you could make it not work on jailbroken devices

Why? I used to jailbreak my iPhone, and I've never downloaded a single pirated iPhone app in my life.

[99c_gamer]

Why? I used to jailbreak my iPhone, and I've never downloaded a single pirated iPhone app in my life.

youre probably in the minority though. I dont support jailbreaking because it's an enabler for piracy.

[Sparks]

youre probably in the minority though. I dont support jailbreaking because it's an enabler for piracy.
How do you check if its Jailbroken?

[foppajoe]

you should ask the dev of beatrider. His cracked version is just the lite version.

[dewy666]

Look up why brothers in arms doesnt work on jailbrokEn phones.

it works on my jailbroken ipod

has anyone tried releasing loads of little updates that add features it may be hard but then pirates will get tired of updating their cracked app?

[s0mah]

just dont smoke crack. thats my anti-crack.

Make the game an online only game like my brute, that works too.

Last time that I bothered to notice, there was a work around for My Brute. Online apps aren't incredibly safe against piracy anyways. See the Beejive crack if you need proof.

[Zandog]

I posted this in the developers private forum quite awhile back. We have a Non Disclosure Agreement, but since this is my post, I'll share it.After watching a few of the popular cracked app websites "successful downloads" numbers of Payback, the realization hit me on why some developers, who's projects seem to be completed, are not submitted for release yet. I asked one who I knew had a sure hit for an app and his answer was sobering at the least.

(09:35:20) zandog: Glad to see everything got squared away, pre-release marketing can be dicey. Just curious on whats holding you back from a release date.

(09:37:32)*****: Right now our app is gold, but until I feel that we can maximize it's revenue potential, we're going to keep in on standby. The market is relatively new, more Apple devices are being sold than ever and Apple, if not a third party company needs to come up with a more proprietary and secure way to encrypt our plist, software, etc. We've read into a few potential leads for securing, but nothing that wouldn't take a short amount of time for a good coder to crack. It's really in Apple's court to change that way files are hosted over the platforms firmware. I don't see Apple allowing or purchasing a third party system for securing their platform regardless.

(09:39:02*****: This goes back to the old PC piracy theory. There may never be a firm solution to stopping piracy because its bad business for the hardware makers. Ask Intel, Nvidia and the like behind closed doors if they'd like to assure that app software purchases are legit. They would surely tell you money would be lost in the overall market of gaming and the industry would take a hit and have to rethink pc gaming. How will Apple make money on their hardware if the developers are really able to secure the content? Part of the reason the iPlatform does so well is because people know they can load it up at little to no cost, even with the low prices set now. People who think that piracy is a small percentage of the market are naive. Anyways.. I think it's worth the wait to see how things pan out this year.

(09:42:33)zandog: Ya, but money is to be made now. Android is coming out and people will be going that direction as well.

(09:43:28) *****: We'll talk about that in late 2009 I'm off to bed, keep me posted on the advertising.
Judging by my unofficial numbers based on successfully completed downloads across the cracked app sites I monitor for our own apps, Apex Designs is stand to potentially lose $300,000+ in just its first day of release. How I factored in this was the retail price, minus Apples cut, times 60,000 downloads as of 9:45pm PST. My numbers may not take into account other factors, but also don't take into account the other 100 ways the iPhone games are available to leechers at no cost to them. Nature of the beast? Do you agree with this developers assessment? What is not being said? Give me your feedback. The response to this thread was mixed and I can tell you that not all developers agree on who is responsible and what should be done to combat piracy. It's one of those issues that will continue until the hardware itsself can regulate how software is validated and maintained and plainly, it's out of the developers control. I will tell you that one of the biggest issues is not so much the games being leeched, it's the title that maintains an online database for those games that suffer the hardest. The developer must keep a network running that's bogged down by cracked apps more than legitimate users. Not only is the developer not getting paid for the fruits of his labor, money is coming out of his pocket to keep what is a lot of the time, minority honest user base.

[Yagami_Light]

youre probably in the minority though. I dont support jailbreaking because it's an enabler for piracy.

That isn't true. Everyone I know with an iPhone and iPod touch have jailbroken devices. Not a single one of them (except for me, but the only app that I ever got through those methods was NetShare, after it was removed) even knows how to pirate an app.

You shouldn't be a supporter of computers either. They make piracy easy too. Look at how easy it is to download movies and games illegally. Heck, the iPhone has unlimited access to YouTube, which is filled with illegal content.

[Yagami_Light]

you should ask the dev of beatrider. His cracked version is just the lite version.

That gave me a great idea!

1. Upload cracked lite version of your app on as many sites as possible, calling it the full version
2. ???
3. Profit!

[Shokz]

I like step two the best :cool:

[cavalcadegames]

Judging by my unofficial numbers based on successfully completed downloads across the cracked app sites I monitor for our own apps, Apex Designs is stand to potentially lose $300,000+ in just its first day of release. How I factored in this was the retail price, minus Apples cut, times 60,000 downloads as of 9:45pm PST

i'd say $300,000 * 0.03 (regular conversion rate for sharewares) = actual people who wouldve bought the app. There is a lot of other cracked apps for them to bother changing their habit for just one app no matter how fricking awesome the dev think theirs is.

yes, jailbreaking != pirates but i would say that

jailbreakers = more technical know-how = more chances they know how to get cracked apps = more likely to get cracked apps

if i can put a stat on it (straight from my a$$) id say 50% - 80% of jailbreakers used cracked apps regularly.

[iReview]

That gave me a great idea!

1. Upload cracked lite version of your app on as many sites as possible, calling it the full version
2. ???
3. Profit!
Well..
Some people (Not me, I don't crack apps) use it to see if they want the game (obviously not many), and then if people see it's the lite but think its the full they might spread word that it isnt that good....

PS: Laugh at me, but I laughed when I read the thread title "Best Anti-Crack Solution?"

EDIT: Idea :)
Ok when you download the app that requires to be paid, it is free, but when you open it, it just has a picture and a buy now option and basicly, it just downloads over that file, directly from iTunes :)

[strawdog]

you could make it not work on jailbroken devices
ROFL and while you are at it the code should be 100% bug free (when first written) and 100% un-pirateable.

Well..
Some people (Not me, I don't crack apps) use it to see if they want the game (obviously not many), and then if people see it's the lite but think its the full they might spread word that it isnt that good....
The people claiming they use piracy to see if a game is good are almost all just saying that to justify it, just as they are when they claim games are too expensive. - when developers put out demos and drop their prices it makes no difference to the level of piracy. These people steal - why would anyone trust what they say?

Also you are worrying that if you try to stop people pirating your game they will say bad things about it? I think you may have your priorities a little askew there ;)

[s0mah]

The people claiming they use piracy to see if a game is good are almost all just saying that to justify it, just as they are when they claim games are too expensive. - when developers put out demos and drop their prices it makes no difference to the level of piracy. These people steal - why would anyone trust what they say?


suggest to see:

as⋅sume
  /əˈsum/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [uh-soom] Show IPA verb (used with object), -sumed, -sum⋅ing.

1. to take for granted or without proof; suppose; postulate; posit: to assume that everyone wants peace.
2. to take upon oneself; undertake: to assume an obligation.
3. to take over the duties or responsibilities of: to assume the office of treasurer.
4. to take on (a particular character, quality, mode of life, etc.); adopt: He assumed the style of an aggressive go-getter.
5. to take on; be invested or endowed with: The situation assumed a threatening character.
6. to pretend to have or be; feign: to assume a humble manner.
7. to appropriate or arrogate; seize; usurp: to assume a right to oneself; to assume control.
8. to take upon oneself (the debts or obligations of another).
9. Archaic. to take into relation or association; adopt.
–verb (used without object)
10. to take something for granted; presume.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME (< AF assumer) < L assūmere to take to, adopt, equiv. to as- as- + sūmere to take up; see consume

and also:

ig⋅no⋅rant
  /ˈɪgnərənt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [ig-ner-uhnt] Show IPA
Use ignorant in a Sentence
–adjective
1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: an ignorant man.
2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: ignorant of quantum physics.
3. uninformed; unaware.
4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training: an ignorant statement.
Origin:
1325–75; ME ignora(u)nt < L ignōrant- (s. of ignōrāns), prp. of ignōrāre to ignore; see -ant

[Yagami_Light]

The people claiming they use piracy to see if a game is good are almost all just saying that to justify it, just as they are when they claim games are too expensive. - when developers put out demos and drop their prices it makes no difference to the level of piracy. These people steal - why would anyone trust what they say?


Not true. I pirate games for my PSP a lot just to try them out. Most games on that system don't have demos (unlike the App Store), and they tend to be pretty expensive too (unlike the App Store). It does get tempting to just download and play games without paying, but I have rules set up for myself:

1. Only download games without demos.
2. You beat it, you buy it. I've got a bunch of games that I pirated, beat, and had to purchase a copy. I've actually got four unopened games in my closet, still with the plastic wrapper on them (it is a LOT faster playing games off of your memory stick rather than the disk, so I never even bothered opening them).
3. Import games are fine, unless they get brought to the U.S.

[Isilel]

Also you are worrying that if you try to stop people pirating your game they will say bad things about it?

As he(?) should. Not only can pirates generate a bad word of mouth, but at least on PC this stuff tended to bug out on some legitimate customers too. I'd be wary of alienating one's buyers and prospective buyers!

[BeyondtheTech]

First and foremost, the bundle should be encrypted. Ever look at a Qualcomm BREW 2.0 game binary? The whole thing is encoded end-to-end. Change one byte and the whole thing won't even decrypt or decompress.

An APP/IPA file is nothing more than a renamed ZIP, just as with all their other files. Take note, Apple, it's not just the developers losing out big time, but you as well.

[ddn]

I'm really surpised Apples encryption scheme is so loose. It's not like this is a new problem, consoles and other smart phones have strong encryption already. Esp puzzling since Apple acutally makes their hardware, why they don't include hardware encryption into the scheme, which would make it virtually impossible to pirate. Oh well.

-ddn

[dorino]

I'm really surpised Apples encryption scheme is so loose. It's not like this is a new problem, consoles and other smart phones have strong encryption already. Esp puzzling since Apple acutally makes their hardware, why they don't include hardware encryption into the scheme, which would make it virtually impossible to pirate. Oh well.

-ddn

Not that they could. I don't know of a single platform immune to piracy... Apple or not.

[ddn]

I agree you can't stop piracy totally, but piracy is a non-factor for platforms like the ps3 and xbox 360. They use strong hardware encryption on all the data and executable code, so bypassing those would require modding the hardware itself vs just changing the software like how it works on the iPhone.

-ddn

[dorino]

... With the iPhone already released 3 times I see little hope of any hardware advancements

[Shokz]

I agree you can't stop piracy totally, but piracy is a non-factor for platforms like the ps3 and xbox 360. They use strong hardware encryption on all the data and executable code, so bypassing those would require modding the hardware itself vs just changing the software like how it works on the iPhone.

-ddn

Technically, with the 360 all you have to do is flash a firmware to the DVD drive...

[ddn]

That comes with some risk and requires modifiying the DVD drive in some fashion, for most would be pirates that would be too large a barrier vs jailbreaking your iPhone to run decrypted executables (low risk).

-ddn

[Shokz]

I get where you're coming from, but it's still not terribly arduous (then again, the PC, PSP, DS and Wii are all fairly easy at the end of the day...).

The only platform that hasn't been "hacked" to play pirated games is the PS3... maybe Apple could try get some tips off Sony :cool:

[dorino]

They have! Both platforms are polluted with tons of crap games and finding anything good is hard as hell... It's quite similar, really.

[mofard]

I am looking at this developer's product

http://www.drobnik.com/touch/anticrack/

Can anyone share their 1st hand experience with this one? is this effective?

There is no anticrack solution

[SomeRandomGuy18]

Look up why brothers in arms doesnt work on jailbrokEn phones.
BS. Works on my phone. And YES, I bought it.

EDIT: Yes, my phone is jailbroken.

[gnadenlos]

you could make it not work on jailbroken devices
There is absolutely no benefit in doing this. Instead of losing some customers on jailbroken devices to pirated copies, you lose all customers with jailbroken devices. Do you really think someone will remove the jaibreak just because of your little game(s)? Furthermore I doubt that it is impossible to remove your check, if someone really bothers to crack your game.

[carlo]

Until there is a Hardware security available on the iphone, everything software could be patched/altered or whatever.... so you can just delay the crack but soon or later it will come.

[ddn]

Take a lesson from the PC games, DRM or anti-piracy technology only prevents the game from being cracked for 2-3 weeks. After that it's on the torrent sites fully playable. The only scheme which have shown to reduce losses to piracy is strong online verification. It's no suprise MMOs are the most profitable, since they have almost no pirarcy handicap (and they charge monthly fees :D)

It should be possible to develop a scheme using the online verification protocol provided by the in-app purchase API to check if the user is a valid one (that's if they are online). Even then that is still hackable (hook the API etc..).

-ddn

[Adams Immersive]

A couple additional points:

* Supporting Jailbroken devices is a can of worms even aside from piracy: those modifications can take up RAM and make your game crash. Now your app is getting bad reviews from Jailbreakers even when the game runs fine on a normal device. (I don't necessarily suggest blocking Jailbreak users, but I'd consider adding a disclaimer to the text that the game may be less stable on a Jailbroken phone.)

* Delaying piracy, even by half a day, is useful. It affects your early sales, and thus your climb up the popularity chart (if you're lucky). Even if I can't stop piracy, I still hope to delay it when I release my game.

[le'deuche123]

I would say DARE, or just never trying it. Otherwise your hooked and your life will spiral down the drain.