John August

Apps

Try to open this PDF

Apps, Geek Alert

I’ve gotten several password-protected scripts recently, and I’ve wondered whether it’s any more than security theater.

So I [asked on Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust/statuses/461262646398840832):

Several people replied that the most recent update to Adobe Acrobat was pretty solid.

Looking around on the web, I’ve seen a similar [range](http://pcsupport.about.com/od/toolsofthetrade/tp/pdf-password-remover.htm) of [opinions](http://lifehacker.com/231955/how-to-crack-password-protected-pdfs) on how effective various encryption engines really are. But that’s with any theoretical document protected by any theoretical engine.

I’m curious how easy it is to crack the encryption on one simple document using a pretty standard engine. So I made two files, one “easy” and one “tough.”

**Update! The easy PDF was cracked in less than a minute using a brute-force command-line tool for Windows. It was a four-digit number: 1806**

Here’s the easy file: [encryption_test](http://ja-vincent.s3.amazonaws.com/encryption_test%20-%20CONFIDENTIAL.pdf)

Here’s the tough file: [harder_encryption](http://ja-vincent.s3.amazonaws.com/harder_encryption%20-%20CONFIDENTIAL.pdf)

Some tips:

– Each of these is just one page of plain text.
– Each has instructions for where and what to email if you manage to get the PDF unlocked.
– I don’t know the passwords. Both were generated randomly. So there’s no point trying to guess. (It’s not “umbrage.”)
– The easy file has a shorter password.

Mostly, I’m curious whether there are any practical ways to get past these kinds of locks. I’ve avoided locked PDFs under the assumption that they’re useless, but maybe I’m wrong.

So if you’re able to open either document, I’d love to know how you did it.

Subscribing to app developers

Apps, Follow Up

Cameron Bonde wants the App Store to take a page from YouTube and Twitter, allowing users to [subscribe to app developers](http://camsvirtualrealityreality.blogspot.com.au/2011/10/how-to-fix-appstore-and-android-market.html?m=1):

> Subscriptions could show up the same way updates do now and in the same list. Much like ‘updates’ and ‘installed’ apps are separated now, just add ‘your subscriptions’ (i.e. you get a notification about a new app, or simply be able to display all new subs like YouTube does now).

This is a non-trivial amount of work, because it would require Apple to keep track of a new set of relationships betweens customers and developers.

But the upside might be worth it:

> Rarely-released quality apps from indie devs won’t get forgotten in the 6 months it takes to make another one.

> Getting new apps from devs you already approve of will lower the crap ratio.

> The dev will know how much of a following they have and be more reluctant to release crap due to the risk of unsubscribing. Encouraging QUALITY over quantity.

> Other people will know the general quality of a dev from the ratio of subs vs blocks which should be publicly visible.

> The block-to-sub ratio could be used by Google/Apple to semi-automatically detect devs who should be kicked off the market.

Bonde’s post is from 2011, but it’s a better idea than many I’ve seen.

Would customers even bother subscribing? Would app developers pester them to subscribe the same way they nag for App Store reviews? Any system can be gamed. I’m sure this would be as well.

Still, I think some sort of following/subscription model would help connect users with developers. For good reason, Apple doesn’t want developers to have email addresses. But without an ongoing relationship, there’s no long-term accountability or reputation.

Making the App Store better

Apps, Bronson, FDX Reader, Highland, Weekend Read

Roughly this time last year, I wrote about how the App Store encourages [topping the charts and racing to the bottom](http://johnaugust.com/2013/topping-the-charts-and-racing-to-the-bottom), and how that hurts both developers and users.

David Smith has compiled a list of recommendations for [making the App Store experience better](http://david-smith.org/blog/2014/04/16/towards-a-better-app-store/). I especially agree with several of his suggestions:

> 1: Apps should be required to pass approval on an ongoing basis.

I’d go further and say that if an app has had no activity for a set number of months, it automatically gets de-listed. I suspect more than half of the apps in the store are effectively zombies, abandoned by their creators. These apps’ only function is to clutter up search results.

> 6: Make the process of applying for a refund clear and straightforward.

> Right now you go to reportaproblem.apple.com and then fill in a form. I’d love to see this integrated into the App Store app itself. Perhaps even into the Purchased Apps area.

Roughly 10% of our support emails are from people who really should just get a refund because they bought an app without really understanding what it did. We have a boilerplate email that walks them through the process of applying for a refund, but there’s no reason it needs to be so complicated.

I think prices for some apps could easily and appropriately rise if customers understood they could get their money back if unsatisfied.

> 11: Make the rating scale a rolling, weighted average rather than just current version, at least soon after updates.

We update our apps very frequently, sometimes twice a month. Each time we do, our ratings drop back to zero, effectively punishing us for improving the app.

A rolling, weighted average would better reflect not only how satisfied users are with the current version, but with the product overall.

In the iOS App Store, our products are [Weekend Read](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8) and [FDX Reader](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fdx-reader/id437362569?mt=8). FDX Reader is old — it hasn’t been updated in a year — but we’re keeping it around until the iPad version of Weekend Read.

By my criteria, should FDX Reader be dropped from the store? I don’t know. It still sells, and we haven’t gotten a support email for it in months, so users are apparently satisfied with it. But if we got a warning email from Apple saying it needed to be updated or face de-listing, we’d pay attention. More than anything, that’s what a regular review process would achieve: making developers take another look at their old apps.

For iOS, we also have the [Scriptnotes](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scriptnotes/id739117984?mt=8) app, but it’s made by [Wizzard Media](https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/wizzard-media/id318848960?mt=8). We release it under the Quote-Unquote label only so we can track downloads.

In the Mac App Store, our products are [Highland](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/highland/id499329572?mt=12) and [Bronson Watermarker](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bronson-watermarker/id481867513?mt=12). If you look at the current Bronson reviews, there’s a one-star review from a customer who couldn’t figure out the app. He didn’t write us for support; he didn’t check any online documentation. He’s exactly the kind of user who should have been able to click a button and get a refund.

I hope at this year’s WWDC, we’ll see Apple taking some of Smith’s suggestions to make the App Store experience better.

Weekend Read knows what page you’re on

Apps, Weekend Read

screenshotJust in time for the weekend, we have an update for Weekend Read. It’s [free in the App Store](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/weekend-read/id502725173?mt=8).

Version 1.0.4 adds a page count in the footer of the reader view, so you’ll always know where you are in the script. Both Rian Johnson and Aline Brosh McKenna asked for this, and I do as I’m told.

Actually, the page counter is really helpful. I don’t know why we didn’t do it in the first place. Obvious in hindsight, and so forth.

Weekend Read 1.0.4 also improves parsing of some FDX and PDF scripts. If you have a file that didn’t work right in an earlier version, delete it and reload it. There’s a good chance it’ll work. ((To keep things snappy, Weekend Read does the bulk of its processing magic as it’s first importing the script. When we change out the parsing engine, it doesn’t retroactively go back and try to reinterpret file already in your library.))

Finally, Weekend Read now properly hides Fountain notes [[in brackets like this]].

We have a lot more in the works for Weekend Read, but we didn’t want to hold back these small-but-useful improvements.

logoIf you’re looking for something great to read this weekend, we have six episodes of Party Down available as our Featured Show, along with an introduction by showrunner John Enbom. Trivia: The Valhalla catering company, introduced in the gay wedding episode at the end of season one, was inspired by the ridiculously good-looking cater-waiters at my wedding.