Why do I need an account to access Jolla Store? [answered]

Thanks for the answer. I am not quite sure I completely understand though. Your first paragraph seems to talk about selective updates and performance, but would't reusing the same account on multiple phones negate that?

Besides, you already have the phones' IMEIs to uniquely identify them. My first Jolla was a second-hand from the First One batch and I received Vaarainjärvi along with other First Ones, suggesting that updates' rollout is based on identifying the handset, not the account (which was created much, much later).

As for the repository metadata, that is something I would expect resolved with some kind of a cookie mechanism stored on each device (or the IMEI if it is server-based) as, yet again, reusing the same account by multiple handsets would throw a spanner in the works.

Connecting the repository with just the IMEI is not enough. Devices can be sold or lent, so you cannot assume that an IMEI is always connected to the same person.

Not to the person, to the device. That was the point. What is installed on the phone is the property of the phone, not its owner. At least in terms of performance in refreshing the repository metadata, one of the arguments @eric used in his answer.

But you have a point too. A phone can be reflashed, making the metadata database out of sync. Which again points in the direction of prefering a cookie mecahnism for that purpose.

I'm in full agreement with Pichlo on that point -- repository metadata needs to be associated with the _device_, not with a human being. The device can be modified without the knowledge of the owner!

And, if you're really worried about privacy, the N900's awfully, enormously, horrendously slow mechanism is really the only way to go -- if you send everything to the user, you don't need to know anything about the user. :) (I suspect that won't make most users happy, though...)

I don't understand where are you people (@pichlo, @Copernicus) getting the idea that apps (personal repositories in this case) should be tied to a device. If I sell my Jolla, the new owner would not want to see my apps. When I get the tablet, I do want to see the apps I installed on the phone, even though both have different IMEI. Once/if profiles are introduced (multiple user accounts on one device - people have been asking for that for a while), do you want to see the same apps on all account, because it is tied to an IMEI? I don't think so...

Thank, @Copernicus, but I would prefer an official statement from Jolla ;)

Besides, that answer sounds like, "because Apple and Google does it." I thought Jolla was supposed to be "unlike", whatever that means.

My local HMV and PC World also sell other people's intellectual property but do not require me to register an account.

??? Ok, I just tried to purchase an album from HMV's website. The first thing they asked for was my username and password. They certainly seem to be doing everything the same way as Google & Apple...

Do you mean a brick-and-mortar store? So far as I know, the Compact Disc was the last physical form of digital media that you could get without some form of explicit DRM attached to it. (And yeah, I do still purchase music in the form of CDs when I can get it. :) ) Pretty much everything else now attempts to restrict your usage of the IP to a device that contains the physical media you purchased...

Yes, I meant a brick-and-mortar store. But now you mention it, I have purchased quite a few things from online shops without having to create an account. Flight tickets are the most common example, but also other things (an inflatable canoe would be the most exotic example I guess). And yes, I have also purchased software from online stores that did not require an account. For example, Handango (RIP).

Some online shops offer the option to create an account as a convenience, to keep your personal details for your next visit. But they do not require it.

Jolla Store is not such a shop. For at least two reasons.

1. It has no support for paid content. All apps in the store are free. The support for paid apps has been requested a number of times but we have not even had an official confirmation that it has at least been considered. So all I can assume is that it has not.
2. The amount of data Jolla collects (i.e. userame and password) is useless to keep your personal data as a convenience for your next visit anyway. Which again brings up the question, what is it for?

The rest is off-topic, but since you touched upon it, I think you are confusing identification of you as a customer and restricting what you can do with the purchased intellectual property. A glaring example is MP3s purchased from Amazon. An account is required but the content comes without any DRM of any sort.

Well, hmm. I've gotta say, services (such as a seat on a flight) are by nature restricted to a specific individual; and physical objects (such as a canoe) are generally not copyable after purchase. As such, the purchase of a single instance of these items tends not to affect subsequent sales of the items. (I've looked up Handango; I can't seem to find a lot of info about it, other than folks stating that it pioneered the model later used by Apple's App Store and Google Play. So, I'm not sure what to think about that...)

And, I'll have to admit that I've never used Jolla's store. (Jolla doesn't sell anything in the US yet, anyway.) But, I would have to assume that, even if Jolla doesn't yet sell software, the fact that they call it a "store" would indicate that they have every intention of creating a service in the same vein as Apple, Google, Microsoft, and honestly pretty much every other app store in existence today. As such, I'm sure they're going to want to exercise every feature required by such stores, including associating an individual with a license to use a unit of intellectual property.

And yeah, I've gotta imagine that Amazon is always going to insist upon an account for all purchases, even DRM-less MP3s, to at least record that you've made a payment.

(And really, why are you forking over any money at all to Amazon for an MP3? You know you could just download it for free off the net somewhere. ;) )

@pichlo, paid app support got confirmed as urgent goal for store since over a year. No clue how you get your facts.... https://lists.sailfishos.org/pipermail/devel/2013-November/001035.html more recent here https://www.mail-archive.com/devel@lists.sailfishos.org/msg04020.html

It was also part of discussion in several community meetings. You can read the logs of those.