Apps Application Security

[wertyu]

Guys,

I really need some assistance. I have a small app which I hope to release very soon. It will be sold at a minimal price as its not worth much more. However Im wondering if I should be obfuscating my code or using other techniques to counter hackers?
Also should I be registering this somehow to protect my Intellectual Property? I wouldnt want somebody just cloning my app.

Any advice/tips?

Thanks

 

[KlaymenDK]

Distributing the application (in APK format) won't give 'hackers' direct access to your source code, although reverse engineering is possible and could reveal many of the methods you used.

Theoretically speaking, obfuscating your code won't make much of a difference to the binary unless you obfuscate your methods, and that will probably punish you more than anyone else.

As for protecting your IP; everything you create is already covered by copyright unless you choose a more open license. Just stating that explicitly should keep some of the riff-raff away. You can provide your work with more legal armouring, but that may be more costly than your work itself.

 

[wertyu]

Distributing the application (in APK format) won't give 'hackers' direct access to your source code, although reverse engineering is possible and could reveal many of the methods you used.

Theoretically speaking, obfuscating your code won't make much of a difference to the binary unless you obfuscate your methods, and that will probably punish you more than anyone else.

As for protecting your IP; everything you create is already covered by copyright unless you choose a more open license. Just stating that explicitly should keep some of the riff-raff away. You can provide your work with more legal armouring, but that may be more costly than your work itself.

Thanks that really helps. Is obfuscation a painful process on Android? I've never done it before.

 

[KlaymenDK]

Code obfuscation per definition yields a painful result, and is quite laborious. However, some regard the act itself a form of entertainment. The difficulty and result vary a bit with language used, but it's certainly possible to do in Java (which is what Android is, roughly speaking).

The real pain is that it becomes "write-only code", that is, impossible to maintain.

In short: Just don't. Please.

 

[wertyu]

Ok thanks again