.apks are just .zips; semi-legally hacking software for orphaned hardware [video]

What a coincidence, I just got an email announcing that Breville intend to orphan my Joule sous vide stick: the existing app will stop working, the new app is only available the US and Canada and in parts of Europe.

Live in another country? You're s.o.l., it wasn't officially sold there. You need a new account as well, hope you like the TOS.

All of this for a device whose core functionality -- setting a target temperature, getting the current temperature and checking for error states -- is both trivial and has no inherent need for internet connectivity.

I suppose I should be grateful they're still supporting a device that's like 10 years old. Caveat emptor (I got it as a gift).

https://community.chefsteps.com/discussion/78615/joule-sous-...

Why would you say "semi-legally"? Nothing "semi" here. What is "semi-legal" is making hardware e-waste by deciding it is "no longer supported". It is "semi" legal because it is legal under the corrupt political systems in most of the world but is criminal against humanity and the planet we all call home. In that sense if you can prevent e-waste trough any means you are a hero.

I really liked the video. I didn't realize you could build programs for no longer supported hardware like this. I had a similar epifany with SVG, there was an image that I needed to keep editing and then one day I opened the SVG file and realized it's a very readable file and then just built a python script that would modify the SVG file.

Has anyone does this for VIZIO app that controls among other things their soundbars (circa 2019)

I moved to a different country and the app is not on google play store in the new geography.

Even when it is installed somehow it is absolutely unreliable in pairing or controlling the device.

Wish I had time to go on a quest and reverse engineer and build my own better controller.

Warning: Very rambly and somewhat incoherent video; tried to pay attention due to the topic being of interest, but very quickly gave up.

EULAs be damned, even the DMCA has exceptions for RE in the name of interoperability and repair.

The same is true for iPhone apps (.ipa files). You can just unzip them.

Makes sense for an apk to be a zip file. Apps were supposed to be written in Java and that has always shipped binaries in zip files (jar or war).

I've found that Claude Code works well at reversing java applications. Even if it is fully obfuscated claude can restore sensible names for everything and understand how it all works and answer questions about what it is doing.