Apple Cracks Down on Employee Usage and Demoing of iOS 7

Apple is cracking down on iOS 7 usage and demoing by its retail employees, reports 9to5Mac.

Store managers and Human Resource representatives have been contacting employees found to be using the iOS 7 beta to make sure they obtained it via the developer center and not a third-party website. The concern appears to be that Apple employees are purchasing developer accounts and distributing iOS 7 beta to their colleagues.

A letter to employees reads:


Am I allowed to load and use iOS beta software on my devices? Not unless you are a member of the iOS Developer Program, or have been explicitly authorized by management to participate in the development or testing of internal Apple applications as part of an official Apple project.

It also reminds employees that they cannot distribute the beta.

You may not load iOS beta software onto any other person’s iOS device. Employees are not authorized to receive iOS beta software from any third parties, even if those third parties are iOS Developer Program members.

Finally, another aspect of the crackdown is that employees are absolutely forbidden from demonstrating iOS 7 beta on their iPhones to customers. Management believes this will confuse customers. However, employees can discuss iOS 7 with customers, point them to the website, and note that it will ship this fall.


“We could get fired for showing a customer iOS 7 on our phones because of the Apple Developer NDA agreement,” said one employee.

Genius Bar employees have also been told not to service customer phones running iOS 7 beta, presumably that applies to non-developers only. So if you are taking your phone in for service, downgrade first.

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