In short
- Modified APKs and sideloaded copies strip out licence checks the same way desktop cracks do.
- Phones have secure hardware: the Android Keystore (StrongBox or TEE) and Apple's Secure Enclave hold keys that can't be read out.
- Encrypt the valuable part of the app and seal its key to that hardware, so a copy on another phone opens nothing.
- Pramaan runs the same offline licence check on phones as on computers, on Android 12+ and iOS 15+.
How mobile apps get pirated
On Android, a paid APK is easy to extract and redistribute, and tools exist to patch out licence checks such as Google Play's licensing library. On iOS, cracked apps are re-signed and sideloaded. In both cases the attack is the same as on the desktop: the protection is a check in code, and code can be changed. Server-side checks help only while the phone is online and the check hasn't been removed.
Use the phone's secure hardware
Every recent phone has a place for keys that apps can use but never read. On Android it's the Android Keystore, in a separate StrongBox chip on many phones and otherwise in the processor's trusted environment. On iPhone and iPad it's the Secure Enclave. Since Android 12 the Keystore can do the key agreement a sealed licence needs; the Secure Enclave has always been able to.
Seal the licence, encrypt the content
Ship the part of the app people pay for (premium features as a module, an on-device AI model, a content pack) encrypted. On first run the app makes its own key in the secure hardware and asks for a licence sealed to it. Only that phone's hardware can unseal the content key, so a copied APK or IPA with its licence opens nothing on another phone. Reinstalling doesn't reset a free trial either: Pramaan remembers trials by an install ID that survives a reinstall.
How it works with Pramaan
Pramaan's licence check (the same one that protects desktop apps) runs on the phone, offline, through small libraries: Kotlin for Android and a Swift package for iOS. Buyers install your app from your link (Google Play, the App Store, TestFlight or an APK), and buy a licence for their phone on Pramaan Marketplace; free apps and trials need nothing paid. Leak tracing works for phone apps' content too. Check Apple's and Google's current rules on selling digital goods outside their stores for the countries you sell in.
Questions
How do I stop my APK from being pirated?
Encrypt the valuable part of the app and seal its key to the phone's Android Keystore, so a copied APK and licence open nothing on another phone. Pramaan does this on Android 12 and later.
Can iPhone apps be copy-protected without the App Store?
Yes. Pramaan seals each licence to a key in the device's Secure Enclave and checks it offline on the device, whichever way the app was installed.
Does mobile licence protection need an internet connection?
Only once, to fetch the licence. After that the check runs entirely on the phone, offline.
Related guides
- How to Protect Software From Piracy (2026 Guide)Practical ways to stop software piracy: why licence keys and checks get cracked, how hardware-bound licences and leak tracing work, and what works offline.
- How to Find Who Leaked Your SoftwareForensic watermarking and traitor tracing explained: give every customer a uniquely marked copy, so a leaked copy names the licence it came from.
- How to Sell Software Online and Get Paid InstantlySell desktop and phone apps online: free trials, offline licences, instant stablecoin payouts, licence resale with royalties, and no licence server to run.
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