This is fascinating. In ‘It’s a Core Location Blacklist,’ John Gruber of Daring Fireball provides some crisp analysis on the recent chatter that Apple has a backdoor 'kill switch' to shut down apps running within the iPhone 2.0 Universe if it deems it fit to do so.
Says Gruber:
"So there may well be some sort of kill switch that Apple can deploy to remotely disable an app that’s already installed. But this list is not it.
Apple has no reason to hide such a configuration in a sneaky place. If it’s “tucked away in a configuration file deep inside” the Core Location framework, doesn’t it seem more likely that this list has something to do with, say, Core Location? Even the URL of the file in question hints at this:
https://iphone-services.apple.com/clbl/unauthorizedApps
An informed source at Apple confirmed to me that the “clbl” in the URL stands for “Core Location Blacklist”, and that it does just that. It is not a blacklist for disabling apps completely, but rather specifically for preventing any listed apps from accessing Core Location — an API which, for obvious privacy reasons, is covered by very strict rules in the iPhone SDK guidelines."
Personally, what Gruber is putting forth makes total sense. I would build upon his logic and throw two thoughts out there. One is that if it’s going to realize its potential for commerce and enterprise adoption, the iPhone Universe needs to be a safe and secure place. It just does. You don’t want your phone, your data and/or your wallet exposed to be readily hacked.
Thus, kill switches (total application shutdown) and core location blocks make perfect sense. Think of it as the cable descrambler box. Apple is implementing a service layer that requires a special key to access certain core functions. These are either functions internal to the device and/or those that connect to network functions.
It’s their form of Border Control, and as I believe that governance is part of the equation, I say hurrah!
Related Links:
- iPhone 2.0 - What it Means to be Mobile: a detailed summary of my experience to date with the iPhone 2.0 platform.
- iPhone SDK - Mobile Reasons for Optimism: why the iPhone Universe is a big deal.
- iPhone 2.0 - Swinging for the Fences: an analysis of the WWDC Keynote by Steve Jobs.