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After some snooping into the core of an iPhone 3G, a hacker has reported finding a blacklist of sorts that could allow Apple to remove malicious or unauthorized applications from iPhones.
Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the books iPhone Open Application Development and iPhone Forensics Manual, found a URL buried in Apple's firmware that links to a file dubbed "unauthorizedApps" where malicious or simply bad apps might go once they disappear from the App Store.
"This suggests that the iPhone calls home once in a while to find out what applications it should turn off," Zdziarski wrote in a Web posting. "At the moment, no apps have been blacklisted, but by all appearances this had been added to disable applications that the user has already downloaded and paid for, if Apple so chooses to shut them down."
Making the List
A particular iPhone app that received huge attention was created by coder Armin Heinrich. He posted an app called "I Am Rich" to Apple's App Store and tagged it with a $1,000 price tag. The app, which displays a red ruby to indicate to others that you can afford it, has not had a great response and has been described by observers as stupid.
As of Wednesday, Heinrich's app was not available for sale in the U.S., according to a pop-up message. Since then it has mysteriously disappeared, leaving users wondering if "I Am Rich" made its way to the blacklist or if Heinrich himself pulled the plug.
Other apps that have disappeared include BoxOffice (renamed to Now Playing) and NullRiver's NetShare. BoxOffice gave users movie show times, movie descriptions, and images from RottenTomatoes.com, while NetShare allowed people to use a wireless device to tap into an iPhone's Wi-Fi connection. NetShare broke AT&T's service agreement for connectivity.
Developers of both apps have said they never received any...

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