Trick to Crack Mac App Store to Download Paid App (Angry Birds) for Free

Apple may be ambitious on Mac App Store to hope that it can be what iTunes App Store for iOS platform for Mac OS X desktop and laptop platform. However, the aim may have severely hit with the emergence of crack for apps downloaded from the Mac App Store, which allows pirated or counterfeited software to bypass DRM check and installed.

To trick of the crack for Mac App Store downlaoded application software or games is by taking advantage of improper software code validation. Theoretically, all apps on Mac App Store, whether it’s commercial paid software or free downloads, should check for a valid receipt that matches its bundle ID as validation. The DRM ensures that only authorized computers can install the software. However, some apps seem like does not follow the Apple developer’s guidelines for validating the Mac App Store receipts, allowing the apps to be bootleg with a simple hack that uses receipts from free downloads.

The Mac App Store crack hack was posted on PasteBin (had since been removed). The hack is easy, involving copying the package contents of free apps to replace the same contents on paid apps. The hack works at least on the popular game, Angry Birds (at least until the loophole is closed or Apple fine-tunes the validation process).

1. Upgrade to Mac OS X Snow Leopard update v10.6.6 to gain access to Mac App Store.
2. Sign into the new App Store (in Mac’s dock).
3. Download the free Twitter app.
4. Go to Applications folder, locate and right click on Twitter and then select Show Package Contents. Navigate to Contents folder and copy _CodeSignature, _MASReceipt and CodeResources.

   

5. Download the .dmg file of a paid app (you have to figure out the direct download links to the app’s DMG file on your own).

   For example, DMG from Angry Birds: Angry Birds.app.dmg

6. Run the .dmg file.
7. Drag the app into Applications folder.
8. Right click on the app and select Show Package Contents. Navigate to Contents folder and delete _CodeSignature, _MASReceipt and CodeResources.
9. Paste in the files that been copied from the Twitter.app.

Note that the hack above does not work for every paid apps, especially apps that validate receipt’s bundle ID against the app original bundle ID to restrict app copying. So the crack is not a permanent solution as the issue likely to be patched and fixed by Apple in future update.

Nonetheless, Dissident from Hackulous, a hacking group famed for cracking iOS iTunes App Store, has claimed that they’re able to crack the entire Mac App Store, by installing a software called Kickback. The Kickback will only be released on or after February 2011 to allow more “crappy apps” to surface in order to justify hacking.

Disclaimer: This article is for educational and informational purposes only.