Qualcomm, Trepn, and EULA Nonsense

Qualcomm’s Trepn Power Profiler — which helps to measure battery, CPU, and GPU performance of systems and apps — cannot be used by most developers. The tool may be fine. It end-user license agreement (EULA) is not.

In particular, section 2.3 (“Additional Restrictions”) states:

You will not: …use the Software and/or Documentation to create or develop any developer tools (including without limitation plug-ins and middleware) or any software other than end-user targeted computer vision software applications

This seems oddly specific. If you are writing a computer vision app, you can use Trepn. Otherwise, you cannot.

Except that another clause may prevent many developers from using it even for that purpose:

You shall not… incorporate, link, distribute or use any third party software or code in conjunction with… any software, products, documentation, content or other materials developed using the Software

From the standpoint of you as a developer, the Android Support library is “third party software or code” that you “link” to your code. If you use such a library, and you use Trepn (“the Software”), arguably you are in violation of the EULA.

This is par for the course for Qualcomm and Trepn. This tool has had EULA problems as long as I can remember.

Other bits of nonsense:

• Saying that you cannot “commence any installation process” of Trepn if you do not agree to the EULA… for an app distributed by the Play Store, such that you can only read the EULA after having installed Trepn.

• Bug reports are mandatory (“You agree to report to QTI all bugs you experience or encounter with the Software…”). There is no word on what caliber of bullets will be used by Qualcomm’s firing squad for developers neglecting to report a bug in Trepn.

• A product that has been around for years, and is presently at version 6.2, “is a prerelease, beta or experimental version and is not at the level of performance and compatibility of a final product”. In related news, Qualcomm’s legal counsel really does not like the Oxford comma.

Suffice it to say, I have not agreed to this edition of the license agreement, as I am not developing computer vision applications.

Perhaps one of these days Qualcomm will have a EULA for Trepn that makes sense. Perhaps one of these days I will wake up with a full head of hair.