Beejive's official response on Android licensing

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

I got in touch with the folks at Beejive today, and asked two very specific questions --


1. A lot of our readers are asking, is there an official policy on transferring a Beejive license from a BlackBerry or Apple device to an Android device, or is everyone required to purchase a new license?

2. With the BlackBerry, your Beejive license is tied to your PIN. In Android, we have noticed that your Beejive license is tied to a unique device ID number. What is the policy on transferring license from one Android device to another, and if a user wipes his device and loads custom firmware on it, will his device ID change and/or will he need to purchase a new license?

And their official answers:

1. Licenses are not transferable across devices. So users will have to get new licenses. We will be selling licenses through Android Market only, so Google will maintain all the account and licensing information, just like how Apple maintains the info for our iPhone app.

2. Android licenses are not locked to devices but to a google account. So the app is usable on any number of devices tied to the same account. This is the same as our iPhone app licensing, where the app is usable on any number of devices tied to the same iTunes account.

#2 is a welcome relief, and a testament -- someone who stands to make a big pile of money and has some obviously talented programmers and developers trusts Google's license service enough to use it exclusively.

And while #1 is a bummer, it's to be expected. I just wanted to give you all the heads up from the source.

 

[denness544]

Thanks! Just what the answer I was looking for (in #2).

 

[ClassaN0va]

they can keep it.

 

[TwoSlo]

they can keep it.

agreed

 

[sniffs]

If it has OCS integration, I'm in.. otherwise I'll hold off on an eventual(maybe never) release OCS client.

 

[The Incredibles]

So basically a "User License" is useless.