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Apple lays out plans to resurrect developer site, services

The company says it's working to bring its developer site back online, and will do so in three stages. However, no timeline is given.

Josh Lowensohn Former Senior Writer
Josh Lowensohn joined CNET in 2006 and now covers Apple. Before that, Josh wrote about everything from new Web start-ups, to remote-controlled robots that watch your house. Prior to joining CNET, Josh covered breaking video game news, as well as reviewing game software. His current console favorite is the Xbox 360.
Josh Lowensohn
2 min read

After nearly a week, Apple's developer Web site and most of its connected services are still unavailable.

The company on Wednesday provided a small update on its progress.

On an updated version of its downtime page, Apple laid out its plans to bring services back online, saying things will occur in three phases.

"We plan to roll out our updated systems, starting with Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, Apple Developer Forums, Bug Reporter, pre-release developer libraries, and videos first," Apple wrote. "Next, we will restore software downloads, so that the latest betas of iOS 7, Xcode 5, and OS X Mavericks will once again be available to program members. We'll then bring the remaining systems online."

Apple also posted a new status page for its developer site and services, similar to the one it introduced forits consumer services last December, following a number of outages.

The company has still not detailed the specifics of the attack, which occurred last Thursday and resulted in an unnamed intruder possibly gaining access to names, mailing addresses, and e-mail addresses. The company said only that the site was not associated with consumer data, and that such data was encrypted.

Apple's developer site is home to software downloads, documentation, and forums for third-party software developers, who have not been able to access those features since Apple temporarily shut the site down to rework its security. The attack comes as Apple is gearing up for two new major releases of iOS and OS X. Developers have been readying their software for the new versions of those operating systems in time for the OSes' official release, which Apple has said will come in the fall.

Below, you can read Apple's entire message, which was posted to its developer site Wednesday afternoon and spotted by 9to5Mac:

Apple Developer Update

We apologize for the significant inconvenience caused by our developer Web site downtime. We've been working around the clock to overhaul our developer systems, update our server software, and rebuild our entire database. While we complete the work to bring our systems back online, we want to share the latest with you.

We plan to roll out our updated systems, starting with Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, Apple Developer Forums, Bug Reporter, prerelease developer libraries, and videos first. Next, we will restore software downloads, so that the latest betas of iOS 7, Xcode 5, and OS X Mavericks will once again be available to program members. We'll then bring the remaining systems online. To keep you up to date on our progress, we've created a status page to display the availability of our systems.

If your program membership is set to expire during this period, it will be extended and your app will remain on the App Store. If you have any other concerns about your account, please contact us.

Thank you for your continued patience.