On August 6, 2008, Apple blog iPhone Atlas released word that an iPhone Application kill switch is included on the latest version of the iPhone and iPod Touch OS. The kill switch was discovered by Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the book iPhone Open Application Development. He found the list in the CoreLocation configuration file. According to Zdziarski, "This suggests that the iPhone calls home once in a while to find out what applications it should turn off." Although apps such as I Am Rich and Netshare have been removed from iTunes and the iPhone App Store, they have not been added to the kill switch list. Currently, no applications are included on the list.
Fast Facts:
- Found: August 6, 2008
- Potentially effects: iPod Touch and iPhone applications
- List currently empty
Apple Confirmation
Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed the existence of the kill switch on August 11, 2008. Jobs explains that, "Hopefully we never have to pull that lever, but we would be irresponsible not to have a lever like that to pull." If a situation were to occur involving malware or spyware, the kill switch would be activated to remove such software before it could cause problems. No comment was issued about removing applications from phones that, while not malicious, were removed from the iPhone App Store.
