DraStic for Android DRM-Free ?

[Klumpen]

Well, the question is simple:
Is there a way to buy DraStic without Google's Store?
I don't have an account there, never needed it and don't want it, but I'd like to use DraStic on a GPD Q9 since it has nearly ideal controls and screen placement for it. I'd even pay something extra.

 

[comradekingu]

I think there was at one point an extention for chromium where you could download play-apps without a google account.

That being said, I think there is tracking built into the apks nowadays. And then drastic may or may not do that itself.

 

[DaMummy]

Sure!
http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=DraStic

 

[Klumpen]

Sure!
http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=DraStic

Android Subforum, Android in the title.
Very funny, ha fucking ha.

I think there was at one point an extention for chromium where you could download play-apps without a google account.
That being said, I think there is tracking built into the apks nowadays. And then drastic may or may not do that itself.

Those only work with free programs. I too fear that drastic may have some kind of device-id DRM itself, but I have no idea. Maybe I would consider it anyway if I must, but I won't create an account in Google's store.
I just want to buy the emulator DRM free. Is there no alternative to pirating or buying DRMed? I don't do either.

 

[ingoreis]

A Legal Way is to write Exophase in this Forum a PM...because he is the Creator of DraStic

 

[Klumpen]

he is the Creator of DraStic

I know that, although there are other people involved too.
He already has a tendency to be a bit grumpy (usually for very good reasons) and I don't like to bother the VIPs here with PMs, especcially since he has hired someone for keeping the message flood away from him from what I gathered.

 

[levi]

Lordus also has an account here. I'm not sure if he is more customer facing on the drastic boards, but I know he did a fair chunk of work on the Android port.

 

[Mr_Loon]

Is there a way to buy DraStic without Google's Store?
I don't have an account there, never needed it and don't want it

+1 for asking on the official Drastic Forums, probably the best place to get an accurate response.

A potential work around would be to get a friend with a Play store account to buy Drastic, add their account to your device, install Drastic & do the license check with this account and then remove the account. From my understanding Drastic should work. Or if you wished to avoid potential piracy questions (the friend would be able to install Drastic on their device) you could make a temporary Google account yourself and only use it to buy and license Drastic.

Guess that all depends on how much / why you don't want a Google account.

 

[comradekingu]

I knew there was a reason i didnt get a reply on my pm.

Run linux binary on android via lildebi or similar?

 

[Exophase]

It won't run w/o Google Play, sorry..

Lordus knows how to build a version w/o the DRM/license check but we'd have to really trust you.

 

[Klumpen]

It won't run w/o Google Play, sorry..

Lordus knows how to build a version w/o the DRM/license check but we'd have to really trust you.

Is piracy so common for Android programs?
I have no idea how I could prove my trustworthyness, so is there a chance that it will become DRM free sometime in the future when the initial sales waves are through anyway for example?

I've only used my tab with F-Droid and the DRM-free games from the Humble Mobile Bundles until now and it was enough for my purposes but DraStic on GPD Q9 would be really sweet.

 

[Exophase]

It's not just that piracy is common, it's that there's so much free (mostly ad-supported) stuff on Android that people don't really know what they're downloading. If they get all their APKs off of some random site they won't even realize that it's supposed to be a paid app. It also makes it a lot easier for someone to superficially modify the app and put it on Google Play and it won't be immediately obvious that it's really our emulator.

This means that some people who would be willing to pay for it won't because they have no idea it's for sale, and that the volume of people looking for help using it will increase because it'll include people that don't know they're pirating it.

The license check enables anti-tamper measures so it's easier to know when someone's using a cracked version and it signals that to people on a repository. So for example there are cracked DraStic APKs on Aptoide but the comments sections are filled with people complaining about them crashing. That helps boost the message that it's not a free app. It's far from perfect but it's at least something.

With games it's kind of common knowledge that they're supposed to cost money and it's going to be really obvious if someone tries to pass it off as their own thing. So the people who pirate it are much more likely to be limited to those who were determined to do so deliberately.

There wasn't ever really an initially sales wave, just a very gradual slowing down of sales, with some bumps when we update versions.. so honestly we don't really want to turn away from what we're doing there any time soon. Sure eventually things will dry out, or it could be removed from Google Play for whatever reason, or Google Play could stop working altogether.. I don't intend to just let it be gone forever if something like that happens. But for right now I don't see us removing the license stuff any time soon.. This is obviously a self-serving decision, making it DRM-free would be better for users (as would making it free altogether, and open source at that), but the people who are interested it buying it only w/o DRM are a relative minority.

The Pyra version will be unencumbered/free (as in beer) so that's about the best I can say to wait for for now. Sorry

 

[rygD]

The Pyra version will be unencumbered/free so that's about the best I can say to wait for for now. Sorry

That is awesome. Yes, it sucks for people that prefer another device, although I feel this is already pretty generous and risky (what if the Pyra sells much better than we expect?). I will probably end up donating some money if I end up using it on my Pyra.

Thanks for sharing this info and for the Pandora and Pyra versions.

 

[Exophase]

That is awesome. Yes, it sucks for people that prefer another device, although I feel this is already pretty generous and risky (what if the Pyra sells much better than we expect?). I will probably end up donating some money if I end up using it on my Pyra.

Thanks for sharing this info and for the Pandora and Pyra versions.

Pyra doing much better than expected would be a great change in fortune for ED and his investors. I think I'd be okay with taking that in exchange for somewhat lower future sales of my emulator.

If you ask for a donation address don't be surprised if I give you someone else's Thanks though! Not to hype too much, but Lordus has shown some interest in doing work on the Pyra version too.

 

[PowerGod]

Pyra will never sells more than a bunch of android devices, I have lost faith in humanity by now ...but I'll love to be wrong

Thanks @Exophase

 

[WizardStan]

don't be surprised if I give you someone else's

Give them mine, I won't complain

 

[Wally]

I would be happy to pay for DraStic.. considering all the hard-work you guys put into it!

Nintendo is driving me batty by not offering very many DS versions of things on the 3DS store but instead offering them on the Wii U .