T-Mobile Bans Others' Apps On Their Phones

cshamis writes "T-Mobile has recently changed their policies and now tell their customers with appropriate data plans and with Java-Micro-App-capable T-Mobile phones: no third-party network applications. You can, of course, still use their incredibly clunky and crippled built-in WAP browsers, but GoogleMaps and OperaMini are left high and dry. Would anyone care to speculate if this move is likely to retain or repel customers?"

misleading headling

[Anonymous Coward]

I suppose it's not too surprising, but the headline is misleading. There is no mention of blocking 3rd party applications altogether, just those that need to access the network. I don't believe they are the first carrier to do this.

Re:Well crap

[Radon360]

Sprint does the same thing and you need to pay more to use your own phone to cover the cost of not using sprints own apps.

Strange. Sprint never charged me a red cent more for downloading and using Google Maps. I do have an unlimited "Sprint PCS vision" plan, though. If you don't have this, you'll pay a penny a kB no matter who's content you use.

Re:Infringements on our liberties?

[Tintivilus]

What's that? T-Mobile's data plan costs less?

Except it doesn't. I just switched from T-Mo to Cingular solely based on their data plans, so the pros and cons are pretty fresh in my memory. T-Mo is $29.99 monthly for GPRS/EDGE internet *AND* Wi-Fi (they're an inseperable bundle now), where Cingular is $19.99 for GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA internet. T-Mo's $5.99 T-MobileWeb or whatever is proxied crap; it doesn't even support HTTPS, so no online finance. Cingular's cheapo ($19.99) service comes with a Thou Shalt Not Tether clause that T-Mo omits from their $29.99 plan, but it's no worry for feature-phone data service.

Sprint has a nice loophole...

[Afecks]

I hope no one from Sprint is paying attention but using a PPC-6700 on a plan with unlimited data access but no extra "modem tethering" plan it's still possible to use your phone as a dial-up modem. This frees you up to use your laptop on the internet anywhere in their coverage area without an extra card or extra cost. Nothing beats a full size browser with Javascript. Verizon sells the same phone as the VX6700 but from what I hear they had a firmware update that "fixed" it.

I have T-Mobile and a Sidekick 3

[TrashGUY]

All the apps i got or made with my dev key work still too. Then again I believe the danger phone operate different since I have no exp with any other smart device.

Re:What in North America?

[jslater25]

I bought my GSM phone (Motorola v620) from eBay, then flashed and flexed it to my liking. I even modded it so my name appears on the outside LCD.

So many different companies offer unlocking, you shouldn't have any problem getting an unbranded phone or a phone unlocked.

Europe has phones that are much cooler then what's offered in the States.

Re:I'm certainly pissed

[AndrewNeo]

Well, if you're under contract, you can probably break it with this change.

Re:Sprint has a nice loophole...

[cascino]

That's possible on any Sprint PCS Vision phone, using the *777 (PPP) code and a USB adapter. It's THE reason why I'm still with Sprint.

Re:T-mobile acting sys-admin

[Reaperducer]

This looks a lot like blogspam. The only form of "proof" is just a link to some guy's blog. No official T-Mobile link to the policy. Not even a supposed quote from a customer service rep on the phone. And I just tried and had no problems using OperaMobile and five other third-party apps on my phone (M600i) with T-Mobile service.

The Slashdot posting should be rescinded. It's not accurate, not backed up by any proof, and appears to be just a ploy to get page views.

Re:Thanks

[amRadioHed]

Up until last week Google maps and Gmail both worked on my T-Mobile branded phone. Now they don't. No FUD, they really didn't just start blocking this stuff.

Re:I have T-Mobile and a Blackberry 7290...

[cortense]

I have a BlackBerry 7105t with T-Mobile (branded, and not unlocked or patched). I haven't been able to get OperaMini to work (ever), but GMail and GoogleMaps still work fine for me...

Re:T-mobile acting sys-admin

[jmc]

Agreed. I just tried Google Maps on my k790a, using the cheapo $5.99/month internet plan, and it's still running great. Same with the built-in NetFront browser, which I'm sure qualifies as a 3rd party app since it's an unlocked phone.

Not sure what the article's going on about, but it's apparently a non-issue for me. Which is a huge relief, as I just bought the phone and plan a few weeks ago.

Re:T-mobile acting sys-admin

[ygslash]

This looks a lot like blogspam. The only form of "proof" is just a link to some guy's blog. No official T-Mobile link to the policy. Not even a supposed quote from a customer service rep on the phone. And I just tried and had no problems using OperaMobile and five other third-party apps on my phone (M600i) with T-Mobile service.

Nope, it appears to be real. Here are some comments from the blog:

• I have gotten this confirmed by T-Mobile corporate. I have a tester SIM that has access to everything, and the applications are locked out in the new handsets I have been testing this week. You may have an older handset, before this insidious policy spread. I used to tout T-Mobile for their liberal policies on third party program installation, and I'm very disappointed in the change.

  This is a feature phone problem. No carrier, not even Verizon, dares forbid application installation on smartphones such as Blackberries, Windows Mobile phones, or Treos.

• The phone that drove me nuts was a Nokia 6133, and I think the point that it's subsidized is bizarre; letting people use Opera Mini would increase, not decrease, T-Mobile's revenues by encouraging people to sign up for data plans. T-Mobile is shooting themselves in the foot by crippling the development of the third party software industry, lowering demand for mobile data.

  As several posters have said, they make money on the data plans, not on the phones - so why prohibit applications that would get people to demand data plans?

  Subsidies also seem to be a smokescreen here. If you go to a T-Mobile store and buy a Nokia 6133 at full retail, mid-contract, Opera Mini is barred. If you go to a Nokia store and buy the same 6133, inserting the same T-Mobile SIM, you have no problem.

  And I need to repeat - this isn't about smartphones. I'm not talking about the SDA, the Blackberry, or whatever. I'm talking about feature phones, which could be dandy computing platforms if the carriers weren't so hostile.

• THIS IS TRUE REPORTING! I recently bought a Samsung Trace (T519) and installed google maps. It didn't work, and after about 12 nonstop hours of research I found out that their applications are all digitally signed (VeriSign) and will block out the permissions menu for the network access, thus resulting in the application not being able to connect itself to the internet. The ONLY SOULUTION to this problem is to buy the Firmware Flash cable, download the Flashing software from the phone manufactures website, (and the real tricky part) then find the ORIGINAL firmware to flash to the phone. Of course your going to have to manually set up your T-Zones (webaccess address and port) and a few others, but it will unlock ALL the features of the phone so you will be able to use the phone fully. It's a tricky process, and you need to make sure your not using a T-Mobile "Branded" firmware update. There are many independent phone gurus out there that edit firmware and release it themselves with all features unlocked. If you use a T-Mobile Branded firmware, you'll waste money and time to be exactly where you are right now.

  IE... Cingular's D807 and T-Mobile's T809. They are the same phone, same display, memory card slot, ect... However, T-Mobile's phone has limited features compared to Cingular's. The D807 has voice activation and a few other bells and whistles. This isn't the phone's hardware, it's the firmware.

  In short, get yourself the syncing software & cables and a fresh Firmware update and you will be able to run any app. Right now Cingular doesn't limit 3rd party software, so if you have to, use one of their Firmwares and then tweak your port settings and you'll be free and clear of the holdups of horrible T-Mobile.

Re:T-mobile acting sys-admin

[presidentbeef]

I have a T-Mobile Dash and I live in the LA area. Google Maps stopped working over the weekend, and, strangely enough, even Internet Explorer isn't working(?!) The only thing that does work is getting email.

The sweet thing about T-Mobile was having Google Maps and an Internet connection (nearly) all the time for just $5.99/month. Now I can't even browse the Internet? Lame. Super lame.

Some *much needed* INFO:

[Powercntrl]

First of all, yes, some T-Mobile branded phones had their firmware modified by T-Mobile to prevent third party applications from accessing T-Mobile's data network. This has been going on for awhile, and really isn't news.

What T-Mobile has done recently, is a slow regional rollout of port blocking. You see, T-Mobile offers a $5.99 WAP access add-on, and a far more expensive "full internet access" add-on. What is happening is that people who bought unlocked/unbranded phones without T-Mobile's silly restrictions are finding that T-Mobile's $5.99 WAP plan just won't work any more for 3rd party apps which need unrestricted access to the Internet. The restrictions stopped just being in T-Mobile's phones. Now, as Verizon is so fond of saying, "It's the network."

There's quite a few threads about this started over at HowardForums, and it is very real. If you think you're sitting pretty because it hasn't happened to you yet, you've been warned. The only way you're safe is if you're already on one of T-Mobile's "full internet" plans (Blackberry, Sidekick, Phone-as-Modem, etc.).

Re:It is true, check Howardforums...

[Reaperducer]

Howardforums contains two threads related to this. One is just another piece of blogspam with a link to the same blog as the Slashdot submission.

The other is a thread about how T-Zones is now giving people what they pay for. When you signed up with T-Zones you were told web and e-mail. T-Mobile let some other data through in some other markets. Now they're expanding their restrictions in what appears to be an attempt to make all markets the same.

So, T-Mobile enforcing the restrictions you agreed to when you signed up for T-Zones service is the same thing as T-Mobile disallowing third-party apps on cell phones? Not even close.

Sounds like you're mad because you finally got caught and you're trying to make this into something it isn't.

Re:It is true, check Howardforums...

[shawngarringer]

So T-Mobile finally requires you to route traffic through their proxy server on the cheaper plans...

Thats why your apps won't work. If you stick your SIM card in a PDA where you can program the proxy server info in to applications it will work fine. Its the same with iWireless. Pay $20 if you want full internet, or $10 if you want HTML/WAP through a proxy.

Re:T-mobile acting sys-admin

[schiefaw]

No, it's true. T-Mobile has locked down the java runtime stack to only allow network connections for apps that are "T-Mobile certified". I upgraded to a Nokia 6103 and could not get Java apps to access the network (I have the $19.99 unlimited plan). There is an option to control network access for Java apps, but it is grayed out.

I therefore had my old phone (Nokia 6600) flashed with the latest OS so the bluetooth stack would work with my Palm and I have reverted to my old phone. I was not real interested in the iPhone due to the restriction on adding additional software, but if all of the phones are going to be that way I may have to reevaluate the situation.

Re:T-mobile acting sys-admin

[saschasegan]

Are you in the US? In any case, if you're using a Sony Ericsson M600i, you wouldn't encounter this problem, as it isn't a T-Mobile US branded phone. This problem only applies to T-Mobile branded phones, sold through T-Mobile stores, in the US. In fact, the relatively liberal policies of T-Mobile Europe only make the restrictive policies of the US subsidiary more annoying. By the way, I posted the post. I'm the lead analyst for cell phones and PDAs at PC Magazine, and the post was a bit of original journalism that I got confirmed by my corporate contacts at T-Mobile. The fact that T-Mobile isn't shouting out loud about this policy only makes it more shady, but they don't deny it if asked point blank.

Re:It is true, check Howardforums...

[schiefaw]

Wrong. The restriction is part of the Java stack on the phone itself. I have the VPN data plan and still could not use 3rd party applications from my new phone. I reverted to my old phone without any change to my account and the apps work fine. If the issue had to do with "T-Zones is now giving people what they pay for" then the restriction would not be phone specific.

Re:They won't care

[MightyYar]

In TFA it says that the locking is done at the phone level, and indeed my v360 is still running 3rd party apps with no problems. T-Mobile does not appear to run any kind of visible proxy.

This is not new news - my wife's T-Mobile Nokia is locked-down, and this is a phone that she got last spring. I'm not sure why it took this long for people to notice.

I think that people in the US feel like they have to buy phones from the carrier for two reasons.

1. Sprint/Nextel and Verizon are not GSM phones - as far as I know you DO have to buy the phones from them.
2. The remaining GSM carriers, T-Mobile and AT&T, charge you the same rate whether they are subsidizing a phone for you or not... why not get the subsidized phone that you are paying for anyway? For $20 you can generally get it unlocked anyway.