Mac app purchase validation

Question

How do I sell a mac app off of my website without somebody being able to copy-and-paste the app to some friends after he buys it, etc..

I understand that you can use receipt validation when selling through the Mac App Store to stop this kind of thing, but what about for selling on my website?

Answer 1

The reason the Apple app store can do it is that the app approval and revocation is built in along with authentication, ie the device checks for the validity of an app for you.

You could write your app with some code specific to the buyer or the device, for example using a device specific identifier as a decryptor, but an attacker could reverse engineer that.

The general rule is that if the attacker has your code they can change it. If you want at least a small bit of protection you'll have to pay the price and use the app store.