A Long Time Infringing App Has Been Removed From the Mac App Store

In October, 2013 we released ShutterCount, the world’s first Canon EOS shutter count reader app for the Mac. Six months later another app appeared on the Mac App Store, whose appearance, messages and web site showed eerie resemblance to ours. While keeping an eye on EOS Inspector, we continued to innovate further, bringing exciting new features to our customers.

Stemming from two years of research, ShutterCount scored another first in June, 2017 with the ability to work with new Canon cameras having a radically new counter mechanism.

A year later we were shocked to find that version 2 of EOS Inspector (subsequently renamed to ShutterCheck), which Konstantin Pavlikhin began selling at the time, went far beyond visual similarity and was in fact – as it has been established by evidence-based independent copyright expert opinion – based on key intellectual property illegally obtained from our app.

We strongly believe in competition, but do not tolerate intellectual property theft. We are determined to pursue our rights even if legal processes take a long time – just like in this case.

On November 16, 2020 Apple received the evidence-based independent copyright expert opinion referred to above that states that the infringement indeed takes place:

“This conduct (of Mr. Pavlikhin) – with regard to the unlawful acts of use – infringes the legitimate interests of the Hungarian software’s author and does not meet the requirements of fair conduct.”

Since Mr. Pavlikhin demonstrated no interest in stopping this purposeful infringement, Apple pulled his app from the Mac App Store on December 9, 2020.

We applaud this decision, as it shows Apple’s respect for original innovations of hard-working creative people.

ShutterCount 4.7 Released

The latest update to my ShutterCount app became available on the App Store earlier this week.

Newer Canon cameras, such as the EOS R and 1D X Mark III, feature a fully electronic shutter. Since it’s fully electronic, using it doesn’t count as “real, proper” shutter actuation. But as the cameras report the number of images taken with it, we thought letting you know that number would be a fun little addition to the app.

Mechanical and electronic shutter actuation counters on the Distribution Chart

The Distribuiotn Chart is the only place where the electronic counter is displayed, all other tabs use just the mechanical counter that actually contributes to shutter wear. As a consequence, you need either the Pro edition or the Live View pack for this feature to work. Cameras that provide this info are the 1D X Mark III, R, and “partially” the R5.

Partially, because there’s one more bug in the R5 firmware… Customers started reporting problems with the R5’s counter not being properly updated. We begun investigating these issues, and then suddenly the counter of my own R5 dropped from 3000 back to 1000.

Further analysis discovered that the camera fails to properly update or even corrupt the counter value. So now the app displays a warning if this is detected, and instead of the mechanical only counter, the value we display will include electronic actuations.

Handling the shutter counter bug found in the EOS R5 firmware

Yes, it may show a bigger number, but much better than having nothing at all. We sincerely hope that Canon will address this in a future firmware update.

Speaking of camera firmware bugs, we’ve added an interesting new feature that allows you to display the raw copyright information as appears in the camera’s memory. I was surprised to discover that Canon EOS firmware fails to properly handle this personal data, leading to potential leaks. Read my former post for full explanation.

Besides displaying raw copyright information, you now have a tool to properly, securely wipe owner name, author name, copyright and (if the camera supports it) IPTC information before selling a camera, for example. Both of these features are available from the Camera menu on a Mac and on the Camera Settings screen (available from the More tab) on iOS. Both require either the Pro edition or the Plus Pack, and can be used while a camera is connected.

I would like to note that in iOS 14.2 Apple finally fixed the non-operation USB connection bug introduced with iOS 14.0, so you can use this convenient connection method again.

Version 4.7 is also optimized for macOS Big Sur and runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs. The update is available on the respective App Store for your Mac, iPhone or iPad.

iOS 14 Compatibility and Device Support Updates

During the last week we had issued updates to all our apps. These cover compatibility fixes with iOS 14 as well as new iPad and camera support. All apps will work on the new iPad Air, for example.

Bad news first: due to the fact that USB camera control is still completely broken in iOS 14.0.1, we advise Kuuvik Capture and ShutterCount users to defer updating from iOS 13 until Apple fixes the issue. People using only Wi-Fi connections to their cameras are not affected. We’ve added a message when a non-operating USB connection is detected, so you can see whether Apple’s bug affects you.

Update (November 6): The just-released iOS 14.2 finally fixes this bug.

Now the good stuff…

Both Artist’s Viewfinder and Technical Camera was updated with added functionality to be able to use the volume down button as a shutter release, and support the ultra wide camera in this year’s iPad Pro models. Artist’s Viewfinder’s camera database was also expanded with 23 new models.

ShutterCount as well as Kuuvik Capture 5 received a new progress indicator on iOS, displayed when connections take longer than a second. Connections may take a long time if you have numerous images on the memory card, and thus it is a good practice to have an empty card in the camera when using these apps on iPhone or iPad. We’ve also improved Wi-Fi pairing problem detection in all variants and platform versions.

Camera-wise, Canon’s 850D/Rebel T8i is now supported in both apps, and ShutterCount is also certified to work with Nikon’s D780 and Z5. Speaking of cameras, Kuuvik Capture 5 finally gets EOS R5 support!

Since the R5 firmware is still a bug farm, be prepared for some serious limitations. For example, multi-point live view is not available and the snail-fast Wi-Fi is not supported. We are continuously monitoring new firmware versions to see whether these issues are fixed. Honestly, we were waiting for v1.2.0 promised to be released in early September, but since it haven’t materialized yet, we’ve decided to release the app with these limitations.

If you noticed a theme that large companies, such as Apple and Canon, release manure-quality software these days, well, you are not alone…

Kuuvik Capture 5 also got a surprisingly useful new feature on both Mac and iPad: beep when a sequence or a bulb exposure is finished. It is on by default, but can be turned off in the app’s preferences.

These updates are available free of charge for existing users, and can be downloaded from the respective App Store.

iOS 14 Breaks USB Tethering

WARNING: iOS and iPadOS 14 that is going to be released later today completely breaks USB camera remote control on iPad and iPhone.

Customers relying on USB connections for Kuuvik Capture and ShutterCount Mobile MUST NOT upgrade to iOS 14.

We had reported the problem to Apple on July 23, and it is still not yet resolved as of today despite our numerous attempts to get Apple to fix it. I will not add further comments right now, I think the facts speak for themselves, but I’m not amused. Not remotely amused.

Update (October 2): Apple confirmed that this is a bug in iOS 14, with no workaround, and they “anticipate a fix getting included in an upcoming iOS release”. Stay tuned.

Update (November 6): The just-released iOS 14.2 fixes the bug.