Android App Licensing Mechanism Still Easy to Break

According to Android Police, Google’s new app licensing mechanism designed to protect developers against app piracy is still relatively easy to break. The site says that since the License Verification Library isn’t a core component of the Android operating system, “an app developer needs to package it with the app that uses it, making it an easier patch target, without requiring root access.” As such, running a few simple scripts may break the licensing code. The conclusion is such that “Google’s Licensing Service is still, in my opinion, the best option for copy protection; however, we really need to see a better solution, such as checking the apk for alterations or ways to confirm an application was installed through official means.”

News of how easy it is to crack and break license codes for Android Market titles may dissuade some developers from seriously looking at Android. This in turn may hurt consumers if the development community doesn’t grow due to concerns about piracy.

Filed in Cellphones..

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