Re: Shareware app - check if trial time is over
Re: Shareware app - check if trial time is over
- Subject: Re: Shareware app - check if trial time is over
- From: "I. Savant" <email@hidden>
- Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2006 20:37:53 -0400
Dirk:
While this has in fact been discussed many times on this list (and
recently referenced, too), I want to address your specific
considerations.
We're writing a shareware app that needs to check on launch if it's
30 day trial has expired, we want to use a drag-and-drop installer
and need non-administrators to be able to run it.
I've considered:
• storing it in the apps .plist in ~/Library/Preferences
This is the most Cocoa-friendly way but is definitely vulnerable
to an easy reset.
• storing it somewhere in the application bundle itself
This fails your non-administrator requirement. Applications should
be expected to be read-only to non-administrative users. Anything
less is a permissions error.
• redundantly storing the earliest date read from the first two in
all documents created with the app
An interesting idea but what of new docs? The user would have to
open a doc created earlier to even trip this limitation. Probably
about as effective as the prefs route.
The bad part is that the first two options are very easy to
circumvent.
Well, to be fair, the second one is only easy if you've got admin
access ... or are running the app from your own user folders, in
which case you're free to molest the app in any way you choose. :-)
Can anybody set me on the right track?
See www.cocoadev.com -- there're discussions about serial
numbers / registration / activation / etc. There's a wealth of info
and opinions on this topic. It all boils down to this: there's no
fool proof way and the most strict ways only anger some customers and
don't really stop a real pirate.
Hope this helps.
--
I.S.
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