self-signing

Hi,

> Is there any advantage or reason of self-signing an application which
> is
> CAPABILITY NONE?

Unsigned applications cannot be installed on the device, so an
application must be either signed or self-signed.

Regards
Max

> Unsigned applications cannot be installed on the device

I just installed some test applications on an M600 (UIQ3) phone _without_
any kind of signing. So, the original question above is still open.

May be other Symbian 9.1 phones behave otherwise (in which case I'm
interested about the concrete differences).

Repeat: I'm talking about apps with _no_ capabilities.

Try the same on a S60 device ...

zol wrote:[color=green]
>> Unsigned applications cannot be installed on the device
>
> I just installed some test applications on an M600 (UIQ3) phone _without_
> any kind of signing. So, the original question above is still open.
>
> May be other Symbian 9.1 phones behave otherwise (in which case I'm
> interested about the concrete differences).
>
> Repeat: I'm talking about apps with _no_ capabilities.
>
>[/color]

> Try the same on a S60 device ...

Okay, so this seems to be an UI and/or manufacturer-dependent behavior. Can
someone from Symbian please confirm this.

Another topic: I guess similar differences exist between the platforms
regarding user-grantable capabilities. For example, I experienced that a
_non-signed_ test application, having the NetworkServices capability listed
in the .mmp file, during installation on the M600 (UIQ3 phone) asks whether
the capability is granted, and if the answer is yes, then the app is
installed and runs fine and can use the function bound to the mentioned
capability. Where can I find platform-dependent lists of user-grantable
capabilities?

Thanks for clearing up!

Symbian OS v9 allows unsigned applications to be installed (providing they
require only user-grantable or no capabilities). The choice as to whether
an unsigned app can be installed on to a phone is determined by the
manufacturer and/or the network operator.

The current list of user-grantable capabilities (again, these can be altered
by the manufacturer and/or the network operator) is:
LocalServices
NetworkServices
Location
UserEnvironment
ReadUserData
WriteUserData
I'm not sure about platform-dependent lists - from previous postings in this
thread, it sounds like Nokia doesn't allow any unsigned apps to be installed
(even if they require no capabilities) but SonyEricsson allows both unsigned
apps and user-grantable capabilities.

Mark
Symbian Developer Network

Mark Shackman wrote:
> Symbian OS v9 allows unsigned applications to be installed (providing they
> require only user-grantable or no capabilities). The choice as to whether
> an unsigned app can be installed on to a phone is determined by the
> manufacturer and/or the network operator.
>
> The current list of user-grantable capabilities (again, these can be altered
> by the manufacturer and/or the network operator) is:
> LocalServices
> NetworkServices
> Location
> UserEnvironment
> ReadUserData
> WriteUserData
> I'm not sure about platform-dependent lists - from previous postings in this
> thread, it sounds like Nokia doesn't allow any unsigned apps to be installed
> (even if they require no capabilities) but SonyEricsson allows both unsigned
> apps and user-grantable capabilities.
>
> Mark
> Symbian Developer Network
>
>
>

thanks for explaining this. As an add-on: On S60 3rd Edition the user
can decide whether to allow unsigned application. The Application
Manager (on The E61 phone at least) has a setting to allow installation
of "all" or only "Signed" application. Its default is "Signed Only"

Sebastian

Sebastian Voges wrote:[color=green]
>> ...
> thanks for explaining this. As an add-on: On S60 3rd Edition the user
> can decide whether to allow unsigned application. The Application
> Manager (on The E61 phone at least) has a setting to allow installation
> of "all" or only "Signed" application. Its default is "Signed Only"
>
>
> Sebastian[/color]

Well, you're right about one thing: S60 3rd Edition devices do have this
configuration option: install "All" versus "Signed only".
However:
- the "Signed" term here should be read as "Symbian Signed" which means
that at best you can install applications that are signed with a
self-generated certificate
- the default setting is "All" on Nokia's "multimedia computer" phones
(N Series) and "Signed only" on Enterprise phones (E Series)

If there is something to gain of of this self-certification is debatable
but having to apply a signature is certainly not a burden even if you
are doing it using command line tools (should not be needed since the
IDEs can handle that for you). So sign it, sign everything ... 😊