Apple Retail Closely Monitoring Employee Usage of iOS 7, Forbids In-Store Demos for Customers

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ios_7_iconApple is carefully monitoring the way that its retail workers are using iOS 7, reports 9to5Mac. Both retail store managers and Apple's Human Resources team have been contacting employees that are found using iOS 7 to ensure that the beta software was installed through official Developer channels.

Apple's retail workers are only authorized to install iOS 7 if they are members of the iOS Developer Program or part of an internal testing project. Employees are not allowed to sign up for a developer account and share the iOS 7 beta with coworkers, as noted in a warning letter that Apple sent out to some retail employees.

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.

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.

Employees have also been forbidden from showing the iOS 7 beta to Apple Store customers. According to retail workers who spoke to 9to5Mac, Apple is "super strict" about all iOS 7 usage in store. "We could get fired for showing a customer iOS 7 on our phones because of the Apple Developer NDA agreement," said one employee.

Customers who bring in malfunctioning phones running iOS 7 will not be able to have them serviced in store either, as Apple has implemented guidelines preventing Geniuses from working on phones running the beta software.

Apple routinely uses its retail employees to test and improve software. Last year, Apple relied on its workers to help improve its Maps app, and this year, certain employees have been given access to OS X Mavericks for beta testing purposes.

iOS 7, which offers a radical design overhaul along with a number of performance enhancements, is currently only available to developers. The final version of the software is expected to be released this fall alongside the next generation iPhone.

Tag: Apple Store
Related Forum: iOS 7

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Top Rated Comments

wesk702 Avatar
wesk702
164 months ago
It can't be that big of a deal to show a customer a preview of things to come.

If it's buggy and can lead to negative impressions, you bet it can.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GSPice Avatar
GSPice
164 months ago
Totally understandable. Otherwise they'd probably have a jailbreak bar, too..
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
appleisking Avatar
appleisking
164 months ago
Its probably news to you, but there is such a thing as objectively bad design, and iOS 7 is reflective of such. Just because something is popular does not mean its quality.

If Ive redesigned the Coke cans, they'd look like this:

Image (http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1190020/original.jpg)

And you'd probably still praise it.

This is not the thread to go off on a rant about how bad ios7 design is. The article has nothing to do with that. Go explore the million threads on that topic and get into arguments there.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
funnyboy88 Avatar
funnyboy88
164 months ago
As a former Apple store employee, I perfectly understand Apple's stance here. iOS 7 is for developer testing. It is inappropriate to demo it as a product. It also creates an inconsistent customer experience as any demo would not be widely available. You'd end up running around the store looking for your one employee friend who has it on his phone. Then you find out he is on lunch break and the customer gets pissy that they can't see iOS 7 and will say, "Well then I guess Apple isn't interested in my business." Or "Another employee showed me iOS 7, why can't you?!" You have no idea how pissy customers can be.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mj1108 Avatar
mj1108
164 months ago
This seems heavy handed and silly.

What wrong with showing someone a little ios 7. Are they afraid it's so bad that people will run to android? Most people who would be interested in a sneak peek would be fully aware it is beta and will have glitches and may change before the final release.

I think it would bring more traffic to the stores and generate some excitement.
Part of the problem is, there are some people who don't know or realize what BETA is. If someone walks in off the street, sees iOS7 on a phone, tries it and finds parts of it buggy, etc...they could think iOS7 is a buggy piece of crap.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tubamajuba Avatar
Tubamajuba
164 months ago
Smart move. They don't want customers to see the elementary school Fisher Price iOS and go "ohhh, thats the new iOS? I'll, uhh, you can..hmmm....Oh is that a Microsoft Store?"

Are you serious?

This stuff wasn't even funny on June 10.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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