[Kyek]

Introducing Grabulous!
A quickie app from Kyek

What is Grabulous?
A member of the iPhone scene (let's call him GreedyGuy) took it upon himself to start charging for access to the cracked apps that our community has cracked. We can't stand for that. If you're forced to spend money to use a service, you should be spending it on the actual apps you get -- not making some greedy pirate rich. And so, I've written Grabulous. Grabulous will allow you to instantly download nearly ANY iPhone/iPod touch app for absolutely free, on command, from GreedyGuy's servers. This release will either give you everything you want for absolutely free (again, please buy apps you choose to keep from the real app store) OR it will crash GreedyGuy's servers so he can't make any more money off of other people's work. Both options are cool with us.

What does it look like?
Grabulous is a COMMAND-LINE APPLICATION. It does NOT have a GUI. It does NOT have an icon for you to tap on. If you are, by nature, really really bad with computers or technology, this might not be for you. But read on for a step-by-step guide that even the most inexperienced folk should be able to follow.

It was working just fine before -- but now it won't!
The guy who owns the actual mega4i server is blocking IPs of people he thinks is using this app. IF your download hangs, it's because he's blocked you. Try a different IP address if you can. But anyway:
What GreedyGuy is doing is all kinds of illegal. If Grabulous stops working, it's probably because his servers got shut down. At the time of this writing, both of his servers are in the US-- and that is a ridiculously dumb move. Please also note that, currently, you will only be able to download 100-150 apps with Grabulous before it stops working. This is because, eventually, GreedyGuy's automated system will block your IP. But if you can go to another location or change your IP address, you'll be back in business!

Click here for the step-by-step guide on how to use Grabulous!

Step 1: Download Grabulous from the Hackulo.us Cydia repo.
If you don't have that repo (or you don't know what I'm talking about) just follow this guide. Once you have the repo, you can find Grabulous by searching for it, by tapping the Hackulous source, or looking in the Hackulous category.

Step 2: Get a Terminal
If you know how to ssh into your device's command line from your computer, then you're already set. If you have no idea what in the world I just said, you'll want to download "MobileTerminal" from Cydia.

Step 3: Find an app you want!
Open iTunes and go to the App Store. Pick out anything you'd like -- most of what's available through Grabulous is what was available on Appulous before it went down. Itching to try Payback? Soul Trapper? Some other enormous app that's hard to get through the download services Appulous links to? Now's your chance!

Step 4: Get the iTunes ID for that app
All you have to do is right-click the app's icon and choose "Copy iTunes Store URL". Then paste it into a text editor or even your browser's address bar. It'll look something like this:

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=292616556&mt=8

see the long number at the end, after the "id=" and before the "&mt"? It's here:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=292616556&mt=8

That's the iTunes ID for your app!

Step 5: Tell Grabulous to Grab it!
Tap on Terminal on your device to open MobileTerminal. Those of you more-experienced folk can SSH in if you prefer. But here's ALL you need to type:

grabulous 292616556

Just replace the iTunes ID that I used with the one you got in the last step! Grabulous will get to work tapping into GreedyGuy's server, downloading the app you specified (if he has it! You might get an error saying he doesn't -- that's ok, just try another app!), and cracking GreedyGuy's encryption.

Step 6: Install it!
Grabulous does not install the IPA for you. Instead, open up Installous and tap the new file to install the app. I did this on purpose -- since Installous has the ability to allow apps to sync back into iTunes, it's always better to install apps through it.

Step 7: Enjoy! And download more!
It might not have the nice browsable interface that Appulous had (and will have again soon!), but it's a good hold-over until we get our new servers. I hope you like it!

Latest version: 1.0.6
Apparently, the reason mega4i had such an easy time of blocking users before was because they started filtering by the new useragent introduced in their last update. This version of Grabulous requests files with the new, updated mega4i useragent string, making it FAR harder to block us.

IF 1.0.6 DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU:
This probably means your IP address has ALREADY BEEN BLOCKED on one or both of the mega4i servers. There's no way for me to update Grabulous to remove that block, since it is on their end. The only way to get around this is to use a different internet connection, or get a new IP address on your home connection. With many internet service providers, getting a new IP address is as easy as unplugging your modem, waiting 30 seconds, then plugging it back in.


FAQ
I hate command line stuff. Why didn't you just make a real program?
I'm a lot of things, but an ObjC programmer is not one of them. I don't yet have the ability to turn this into a full GUI program. This is the best I can do on short notice.

Can't you just crack GreedyGuy's actual program?
There is no way to crack the binary itself due to the way he handles security on his server. As Fusen points out in this thread, it may be possible for individuals to run man-in-the-middle servers to make the app work for themselves, but that's not a distributable solution. So far, this is the best we've got.

Now that you've made this, can someone make a GUI frontend for it?
Yes and I'd be happy to work with anyone willing, however it would probably be for nothing. There's no way this guy's servers will last that long.

Why does everyone hate GreedyGuy so much?
All the details are here: http://hackulo.us/fo...showtopic=18425

I heard GreedyGuy's program can do __________. Why can't Installous?
I did not program Installous. Puy0 and uncon did. Any questions about Installous should be directed to Puy0 in the Installous Talk forum. Also note that GreedyGuy is using uncon's code from Installous -- free code, written by one of our own, that GreedyGuy is making money off of.

I'm from a tech news blog and I'm going to report this story. Also, I'll probably make fun of you and not state all the facts, because that worked out really well when I falsely reported about Crackulous being a for-sale app that was pirated or conveniently forgot to mention that members of Hackulous helped the author of "Whack 'em All" (of "A Conversation with an iPhone Pirate" fame) to protect and monetize his application.
Hi, reporters. We've had a sordid past with you. You all tend to post single-sided and incredibly biased articles (not that I'm pointing fingers, Ms. Sadun), and as this question clearly points out, you often favor blatantly false and otherwise incomplete reporting when the alternative doesn't give your articles the same belittling tones. And so, before it happens again, allow me to quote myself from this thread:

Kyek, on Mar 27 2009, 12:05 AM, said:

I recognize I'm not a model developer for making Appulous in the first place. Piracy would happen anyway, of course, but my website making it easier and more efficient for the pirates instead of just the try-before-you-buy crowd isn't something I'm proud of. However, stooping to the level of charging people for access is a sordid line that I would sooner pull the plug on my site than cross. If people are going to be spending money, they need to spend it on the apps they've chosen to keep. Those developers deserve it far more.

Futhermore, I'd suggest reading my post here. And if you're reeling because I'm taking donations on Appulous right now, I'd remind you that they're completely optional, will in no way be used for anything other than the website, and there's a disclaimer about paying for apps here.


Credits
Thanks to ReillyC4PDA for pulling the initial IP address out of the binary and for bouncing ideas back and forth with me during development. Thanks to uncon, too -- his Installer script was great reference material, because my shell scripting was getting darn rusty. Thanks to Reyna for helping me nab the elusive "user_not_found" bug in IRC, and extra-holy-crap thanks to Keddyfish for sitting in front of his computer for way too long tonight, helping me quash the IP-banning and bad-filename bugs. This release wouldn't have been made otherwise!

[P0150N0U5 F15)-(]

w00t! Excellent work Kyek!

[midsleic]

Just getting 'command not found'

[ReillyC4PDA]

great work!

here is a link to a list of all the apps they offer: http://www.mega4i.com/list.php

and keep in mind that they don't have patched apps.

This post has been edited by ReillyC4PDA: 27 March 2009 - 03:38 AM

[FaceHead]

ReillyC4PDA, on Mar 27 2009, 04:37 AM, said:

great work!

here is a link to a list of all the apps they offer: http://www.mega4i.com/list.php

and keep in mind that they don't have patched apps.

wow that's quite a lot of apps for that site!

This post has been edited by FaceHead: 27 March 2009 - 03:43 AM

[most_uniQue]

yay! Let's kick down everyone who comes up with a better app than we are capable to do

[elr0y7]

Niiiiice, dl'ing now.

[Kyek]

most_uniQue, on Mar 27 2009, 07:43 AM, said:

yay! Let's kick down everyone who comes up with a better app than we are capable to do

Dude, you can't honestly side with someone who's trying to sell applications that aren't his to sell. Or even, sell his OWN application that isn't his to sell, since half of it is uncon's code. I'll fully concede that his app itself is quite nice, but standing up for someone trying to sell other people's work? Uncool man.

midsleic, on Mar 27 2009, 07:33 AM, said:

Just getting 'command not found'

Were there any errors when you installed it in Cydia? No one's had any problems in testing.

[Memserv]

AMAZING! But I wonder how long before that greedy guy fixes whatever method grabulous is using.

Works great though, in WINSCP, when it is downloading, it freezes the program so I can't tell if the program's crashed or what. Tested with small files and works. Bigger files I gave up on.

[P0150N0U5 F15)-(]

I'm hanging on registering new account. Well done though!

[noamsmadja]

i have a suggestion for improvment

i signed up to the forums just to say it since i love u all so much!

my suggestion is:

after being on an app page on AppStore and quiting, the next time i open the app it opens in the same app page. may be you great ppl could make grabulous to read from the appstore files what is the last browsed app and download it.

eventually what should be done is:
BROWSE in APPSTORE for an app. and quit
OPEN TERMINAL and type like 'grabulous store'.

than grabulous will do the finding for that app id number and download it may be it could even be implemented into instalous (if the devlopers happen to see this post)

thanks any ways

[P0150N0U5 F15)-(]

Don't forget that Grabulous is very short term. TBH, it is a usefull replacement for the downed appulous atm.

[ReillyC4PDA]

Memserv, on Mar 27 2009, 12:55 PM, said:

AMAZING! But I wonder how long before that greedy guy fixes whatever method grabulous is using.

Works great though, in WINSCP, when it is downloading, it freezes the program so I can't tell if the program's crashed or what. Tested with small files and works. Bigger files I gave up on.

they will need to change their app (the commands grabulous is using is in plain text in the binary), change password for encryption (also in plain text) and re-encrypt their releases... before they can do that their server will probably crash

This post has been edited by ReillyC4PDA: 27 March 2009 - 04:07 AM

[Kyek]

I just posted a (very) small update to Grabulous. There was a bug if you used Grabulous when being ssh'ed into your phone as root, and then used MobileTerminal as 'mobile'. Not sure how many people would have run into that, but.. I just did. So, fixed.

[venusanann]

I think the website is down,can someone else check it.I'm not sure what that page means....I may be wrong

http://mega4i.net/

Edit:- Working again now.......f***er

This post has been edited by venusanann: 27 March 2009 - 05:28 AM

[DyingToLive]

I'm getting a Size Mismatch when I'm trying to download Grabulous.

[elr0y7]

venusanann, on Mar 27 2009, 05:12 AM, said:

I think the website is down,can someone else check it.I'm not sure what that page means....I may be wrong

http://mega4i.net/

mega41.com is still up, unfortunately, sort of.

[most_uniQue]

venusanann, on Mar 27 2009, 02:12 PM, said:

I think the website is down,can someone else check it.I'm not sure what that page means....I may be wrong

http://mega4i.net/

It's http://mega4i.com/

[tericottapie]

I'm getting a "size mismatch" error whenever i try to install this.

And i've noticed that when i click install and it goes to the little screen that tells you the size of the file it's actually changing each time.

Anyone know what might be causing this?

[nevermore17102]

I, also am getting a size mismatch.