Status of Airlock
As you may have noticed, Airlock releases have stalled over the past months, along with emails and support questions going unanswered. I wanted to take this chance to explain what's been going on, and where Airlock is headed.
First off, my name's David and I'm the sole developer of Airlock. This project has been my baby for the last two years, during which time I've spent countless hours obsessing over every detail of the project's code, user interface and website. Up until several months ago, I did my best to improve the quality of Airlock, but eventually became drained of my motivation due to Bluetooth issues that I felt powerless to fix.
The fact is that Bluetooth 2.1 and its implementation on Macs isn't designed for proximity detection, and a good deal of the Airlock codebase is written to workaround that. Unfortunately, such workarounds can only go so far; to truly fix some of the issues experienced with Airlock, updates to the Bluetooth frameworks and firmware are necessary.
I'm optimistic that Apple will release a Bluetooth update eventually, but after taking the last few months off to recharge, I'm continuing where I left off. My primary goals at the moment are investigating new Bluetooth workarounds to improve Airlock's reliability, fixing other non-Bluetooth-related bugs, and lastly adding new features.
To everyone who has requested support or sent me an email over the past months: I sincerely apologize for my lack of regard. You can expect a response within the next few days.
Finally, if anyone at Apple happens to be reading, it would mean the world to this small-time developer to have bugs #7455732 and #8255287 fixed.
Thanks for your understanding, and I look forward to releasing new and improved versions of Airlock.
David
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32 Posted by JHN on 17 Mar, 2011 04:55 PM
Abandoned project!!
There is clearly no development. What makes me so mad is the "heart strings" story he told us all up at the top to ask for support and patience. After so many people gave him great words of encouragement, he has ignored them all.
33 Posted by Kian on 23 Mar, 2011 06:32 PM
This is all lies. I read the original post and I felt so bad. I felt his pain and I symphatisez with him, until I bought a new Mac and tried to install AirLock on that computer, but my Activation Code doesn't work. I emailed them 3-4 times over a month period, but no one got back to me. If you can't get through the buggy Apple bluetooth stack because Apple is not accommodating what's your excuse for not geting back to my emails regarding installation on my Mac? It was working before. All I need is a working activation code or my money.
This is terrible. This could have been one of the best software programs I've ever bought, but the experience has been terrible. I've never had to deal with such agony and terrible customer service ever before.
34 Posted by Pishab on 01 Apr, 2011 07:14 PM
God's speed John Glenn!
35 Posted by spj on 01 Apr, 2011 07:22 PM
FYI: The expression is "Godspeed ..." (i.e., it's not possessive). Sorry; it's the editor in me. :-)
36 Posted by Eric Gideon on 01 Apr, 2011 07:28 PM
Yes, but imagine if you could travel at God's Speed! So fast.
Also, unsubscribe for this Tender install is totally broken. My
account apparently doesn't exist.
37 Posted by guest on 07 Apr, 2011 02:15 PM
too bad... luckily I know how to reverse engineer and I was able to bypass the demo, considering I paid for a legit copy, it was the only way to get it to work.
38 Posted by Kian on 07 Apr, 2011 02:18 PM
Could you share that with us? I paid for the app, but now my activation code doesn't work.
39 Posted by Hector on 14 Apr, 2011 08:40 PM
Is there any support for Mac OS X 10.7 Lion?
40 Posted by Gabriel Visser on 19 Apr, 2011 08:57 AM
I'm wondering the same thing regarding OS 10.7 Lion.
41 Posted by sirio on 05 May, 2011 10:40 PM
C'é un sacco di gente che ha pagato questo software, io ho sbagliato perché non ho guardato prima i commenti e le valutazioni e non ho visto che non funziona con iphone 4 ma é tuo dovere interrompere le vendite di un software che non funziona! Saranno anche solo pochi soldi ma tu li incassi però!!!
42 Posted by nigel.metheringham on 28 Jun, 2011 01:46 PM
It looks like the product/company has been abandoned.
License keys (even ones that have already been issued) can no longer be used as they use an online lookup, and the server no longer responds.
The SSL certificate on The MHA webstore has expired.
There has been no further communication from dave for many months.
There is TokenLock on the App Store which provides a subset of what AirLock was doing - not tested it yet.
43 Posted by Steve Waddell on 28 Jun, 2011 01:47 PM
Best Regards,
Steve Waddell
44 Posted by Chris on 01 Jul, 2011 12:48 AM
If he has abandoned the project and disabled the license key authentication, he should remove the ability for people to purchase the application. I just purchased a copy, and am now unable to use it.
I understand if he is burnt out, it happens. I understand if he is frustrated with apple's reluctance to address his concerns, that too happens. But allowing customers to purchase a product that can not be used is dangerous. If he is not careful, at the very least his paypal account will be disabled. Worst case, he finds himself the subject of legal action.
Steps to take:
1: Remove purchase link
2: Add alert to main page of site apologizing to people who have paid and been denied goods/service.
3: Release an update that removes the authentication requirement (or issue mass-refunds)
4: Move on
I suggest doing this quickly... every day that the homepage goes without update is another day that customers will be lured into purchasing a product they will be unable to use.
45 Posted by Chris on 01 Jul, 2011 12:54 AM
For those of you who have just purchased the product, and are unable to use it, here are the steps for filing a claim with paypal to get a refund of your money. Normally I would suggest contacting the seller, but in this case, he is unresponsive.
Paypal email address of seller:
***@themha.com
https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_...
46 Posted by Chris on 01 Jul, 2011 12:57 AM
Website stripped the email address. It is: support (at) themha (dot) com
Once you click the link to Paypal "Buyer Protection" click the "Open a dispute" link.
47 Posted by fritz on 01 Jul, 2011 10:07 PM
What a douche.
48 Posted by Eric Gideon on 01 Jul, 2011 10:08 PM
On Jul 1, 2011, at 15:07, fritz
<***@tenderapp.com>
wrote:
49 Posted by Mike on 21 Jul, 2011 07:22 PM
So i guess there won't be any support soon for Lion :( What a shame, i really liked this app. Anyone know a workaround to make this thing work again in Lion?
50 Posted by Adam Kendall on 22 Jul, 2011 01:11 AM
David,
I enjoyed your program and thought it was worth the money, really great idea, and I can't wait to use it on Lion when you get the kinks worked out. Just thought I'd offer you some words of encouragement as a fellow indie dev. I'm struggling just to get my first iOS app out the door, but getting online and looking around at other devs such as yourself is motivation for me. Let's both get back on track and prove to the world what hard working individuals can do! By the way, buy my game when it comes out, it's called "Pollinate." Sorry for the plug at the end there, I can't help myself :D
-Adam
51 Posted by Guy on 22 Jul, 2011 01:16 AM
Check out Token Lock in the app store - not as pretty as AirLock but it seems to work well.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tokenlock/id402433482?mt=12&ls=1
Guy
52 Posted by Neil on 08 Aug, 2011 04:36 PM
In support of the developer of Airlock, Id like to say that it is far and away one of the best apps I've ever had. Anyone who knows anything about security systems knows that you always have to have a trade off between security and convenience. The brilliant thing about Airlock is that it removed that trade off for me. I could have my Mac nicely secured whenever I was away from it and I never had to do anything apart from install Airlock, set it up and forget about it. That is true genius. The app's interface is excellent and, for me, it just worked. Now I'm upgrading to Lion and I think it's a great shame that I won't be able to continue using Airlock.
As a developed myself, I can understand what a nightmare it must have been to try to make this app work for everyone despite the fact that Bluetooth on Macs can be very buggy. I would be very happy if development were to continue on this app. Even if it meant accepting that it would't work seamlessly for everyone. I'd be prepared to pay more, if it meant continued development with a money back clause for anyone who can't get it to work properly.
Sadly, it seems that Token Lock is no longer available on the Mac App Store. Looks like I'll have to go back to the trade off between security and convenience (ie: I will have to type in my password every time I wake my Mac).
53 Posted by K on 08 Aug, 2011 04:41 PM
It's not about whether it's frustrating or not. It's about not having any communications and not removing the "Buy Now" feature off the website, so more people don't pay. It seems like he has chosen to fully abandon the project except for the payment collection portion of it. That pisses people off.
The program, when it worked even when it was working half-assly, was great! The lack of any communication from Dave is frustrating. Is he dead?
54 Posted by Neil on 08 Aug, 2011 04:44 PM
"Is he dead?"
Let's hope not. Probably just having a nervous breakdown!
55 Posted by mamjed on 25 Oct, 2011 02:17 PM
Hey, now that apple is rolling out bluetooth 4.0 on iphone 4s and the new laptops, will this project be revived?
56 Posted by Allan on 30 Oct, 2011 05:50 PM
If Bluetooth 2.1 is the problem, why isn't there a new version out yet. The newer macs are using Bluetooth 4.0 or "Smart Bluetooth".
57 Posted by keymaster on 02 Nov, 2011 08:25 PM
@ David. Why dont you give www.kickstarter.com a try to raise money for the next release ? Go look for it.... I will backer you ! Good luck
58 Posted by August Young on 08 Nov, 2011 10:34 PM
Take my money and run.... I should have dated you lol
59 Posted by Gabriel Cervo on 08 Nov, 2011 10:39 PM
Ahn?
:)
G
60 Posted by Owen Andrews on 27 Nov, 2011 06:22 AM
Any chance of source code release?
Id love to bring this project back to life!
61 Posted by lololol on 08 Feb, 2012 02:44 PM
@Owen Andrews: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo