Signing Smartphone Apps With A Privileged Certificate

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2004/11/02/251298.aspx' target='_blank'>http://blogs.msdn.com/windowsmobile/archive/2004/11/02/251298.aspx</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The security infrastructure on Smartphone requires that an application be "trusted" in order to write to certain files, write to certain registry keys, or use certain APIs. How you get "trust" is determined by the OEM or operator selling the device. For some devices, all apps are trusted. For others, you get trust after the user agrees to a prompt. For a large number of devices, however, to be trusted your application must be digitally signed with a "privileged" certificate that the device trusts. Until recently, this meant going to each mobile operator and convincing them to sign your app (not exactly an easy task). Well, now we have something better: the Mobile2Market Privileged Certificate program. The goal of this is to enable ISVs to get their app signed with a single privileged certificate that all devices trust."</i><br /><br />This is great news for any developer that has been struggling to have their application signed and released across multiple OEM's. Check out Robert's post on the Windows Mobile Team blog for more info.

[nirav28]

this blows monkeychunks!!

What about developers who write apps for personal use or as a hobby? I belong to that category. I've been writing PPC apps using .Net CF for the last 6 months purely for my personal needs. I do not plan to market them or profit from them.

Now i'm considering getting a smartphone device and convert some of my network enabled apps over to that platform. You're saying that my code has to be certified???.. :bad-words:

This smells like Verizon's Brew platform. Couple of years ago, i dumped verizon and moved over to Tmobile, because of the restrictions they had for BREW. Atleast Tmobile supports J2ME/MIDP and you can install it anyway you like on your own GSM phone or market it. You write it, you deliver it and you support it. Simple as that.

[Mike Temporale]

Hold on a second. I don't think you fully understand this.

First, Not all phones require applications to be certified. This varies based on the make, model, and carrier of the phone. For the most part, phones that are locked, can be unlocked by the carrier or by a 3rd party for a small fee.

Second, If you want to develop and deploy applications, you can still do so without any certificate worries. This is only a concern if you want to deploy your application to a locked phone. However, if your phone is unlocked, then this is of no concern to you.

and Third, this has not Verizon, or Microsoft's fault. This is a standard feature that carriers have required or asked for long before Windows Mobile for Smartphones came to be. It's up to the carrier to decided how locked down the phone will be.

so, No worries. Just get yourself an unlocked phone, and you can do all the dev work you want. 8)