What is Sandboxing? It is as simple as it sounds

On Friday of last week, June 1st, Apple’s twice-extended-but-for-real-now deadline requiring developers to “sandbox” their applications passed.  It was a day that was coming but developers still had (have) reservations about the new requirements from Cupertino.  For consumers however, it was a deadline that likely passed without so much as a nod of acknowledgement.

And that is exactly how Apple wants it to happen.

By definition, Sandboxing is when a application is coded in such a way that can only access specific data and features of the OS that the app is granted access to on your system.  In other words, it cannot go and access anything and everything on your system – data or resources.  The idea of course is to keep every app self contained which leads to better security and better malware prevention.  And make no mistake, Apple is serious about sandboxing.  Even their own apps have to be sandboxed.

Sandboxing and the Mac App Store really go hand-in-hand.  Apple wants you and me to download every app for our Macs from the App Store to assure a better buying experience but also to provide a better security experience.  For developers, the App Store – for Mac and for iOS – is where you want your apps to be if you want them downloaded (required actually for iOS) so developers will have little choice if they want their apps to be in the App Store.  Sandbox it or it will not be approved.  Keep in mind that sandboxing is not required for apps that are not in the App Store and for Mac owners, you can still download apps directly from the developer without having to go through the store.

Tied to that, we as end users should not see any noticeable change in how an app functions on our Macs once it is sandboxed.  If the app wants to gain access to a part of your Mac system that it isn’t allowed to do so, the developer will either have to change that feature or disable it all together.  So if there is any user noticeable impact, it could be that one of your favorite apps functions slightly different than it did before it was sandboxed.

From Apple’s perspective, sandboxing allows them to control the user experience to cut down on the incidents of malware.  This isn’t Apple being draconian but rather being protective.  We all remember the Flashback Trojan from earlier this year and it is this drive towards sandboxing apps that Apple wants to prevent such an event from happening again.  Is it completely water-tight?  No.  Given enough determination and the fact that as a Mac owner I can download apps from outside the Mac App Store still, the chances of malware happening will continue.  This is where the upcoming Gatekeeper functionality in OS X Mountain Lion will come into play.  Gatekeeper can be configured in such a way that prevents apps not from the App Store from being installed.  If the app is not certified – and I’m willing to bet that sandboxing will be required for certification of an app – it will not be installed on your Mac depending on how Gatekeeper is configured.

Ultimately sandboxing apps is a good idea and will likely prevent support and malware issues for Apple and users in the future.  The question will be if developers willingly conform to make sure their apps are in the Mac App Store or by-pass it and sell their applications directly.  Both have pluses and minuses but it is clear, like many things, if you want to play in Apple’s playground, you have to play by their rules.

Share this:ShareEmailRedditShareDiggStumbleUpon App Store Apple Developer Lion Mac Mountain Lion OS X Sandboxing TwitterDiggFacebookDeliciousStumbleUpon

This entry was posted by Clinton on June 5, 2012 at 6:01 am, and is filed under App Development. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0.You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

Comments (0) Related Posts

View the Original article