MOXiI 2^nd Edition to be self published -
Vol I? by Nov 2015 Apr 2016Aug 2016

Hello Everyone!!!

I've been getting a lot of requests via @Technologeeks, the website, and email for updates about the 2^nd Edition. So here is a big one:

After the successful venture of publishing my Android Internals Volume I (AIvI), I figured I could and should try for the same with MOXiI 2^nd Ed. After a long discussion with Wiley, I bought back my rights, and so now the 2^nd Edition is entirely under my control. That means it will be self published (via Technologeeks Press), and available (eventually) through this site. While negotiations were proceeding this was kept under the radar, and slowed me down, which was good for Volume II of Android Internals - on the way soon. Now, though, I can shift back to Apple mode, and deliver this long needed revision.

Why self publishing??

If you're wondering why an author has to buy back his or her own rights, well.. that's the way it works when a first-time author basically has to sell his soul all rights to editions, past present and future to the publisher. I ended up coughing a significant figure (in the $Ks) to get what basically is my rights back, fully, from here-on.

I hope to address two of the main criticisms I had - page count and editorial quality - by doing this on my own. The first, because I am relieved of it (Wiley first capped at 500pg, and totally said NO MORE, MAN at around 800 - which is what led to chapter 19 being way shorter than it should have). Editorial quality.. well, let's not get me riled at the terrible typos (not mine) which started right at the acknowledgment page, and some messed up content (e.g. fig12-1, arrow to pmap going from size, not pmap, sheesh!).

Another plus is I am entirely uncensored and unrestricted (with 1^st ed I couldn't write about iOS6/OSX10.8 at the time because they were beta, nor go into private frameworks into too much detail). There will be loads more reverse engineered findings in this. All the above will hopefully enable me to provide unparalleled depth and quality to you all.

When??

The schedule for the 2^nd Ed looks like:

• Volume 1: Oct/Nov 2015 (to coincide with iOS 9, and the 6S) - no sense in getting out something that will be obsoleted or in need of update. And from what I hear, iOS 9 will have tons of reworkings in the internals dept, which of course means it affects the book's contents. So, yes, this is a bit delayed. But keep in mind that A) there is a TON of info to put in the book and B) I am a one man crew with a life in between books and iOS and Android and all that. Latest guesstimate is now August 2016 for a very special Volume . Volume I will also keep code to a minimum (samples and snippets excluded), to follow the same figure-rich format I've had with AIvI, and hopefully bring it closer to a "Windows Internals" style.
• Volume 2: Feb 2016 or earlier Summer 2016. I will be putting out a TOC for that really soon, but you can expect tons of info on VFS and IOKit families (both of which I only skimmed in the 1st), as well as details on bluetooth, cellular interfaces, and the new Mach objects (vouchers, ATMs and ledgers). And whatever else I get requests for. Note that I'm not sure I will be able to avoid code excerpts here.

How much of it is new material?

Tons. To name but a few:

• Private Frameworks broken down
• security in a dedicated chapter, including code signing and entitlements in depth
• OBJ-C/Swift internals
• iOS and OSX Daemons explained
• Filesystem contents (useful for forensics/tweaking)
• launchd in 10.10, and XPC
• iDevices (including watch)
• iBoot internals
• Air protocols
• and much more.

A full list can be found here, with requests are welcome through here. I'm guesstimating at least 40% 60% so far will be new (and exciting)

Pricing? Formats?

Unknown as yet, but in the ballpark of $65 for a print copy. A bit higher than the Android Internals Volume I, since it's likely to be around 500 pages for Volume I alone, and thus costlier to print (AIvI is 250 A4 pages, double the page size than MOXiI 1, and just printing it is $20!). This is a serious mangum opus. There'll likely be a PDF version as well, though that also depends on whether or not AIvI PDF will be pirated by then. So far, I should say, so good. I'm exploring a third option of a "smart" book, which would enable a dynamic diff view (so you can zoom on the new content quickly), and have plenty of external links , in lieu of source code snippets.

What about pre-orders?

This means if you've already preordered on amazon through Mac OS X and iOS Internals: To the Apple's Core, Volume 1 User Mode cancel your order. That book is not the right one. But I'm going to set up a listing for the (real) 2^nd Ed on Amazon, and I'm also opening up a preorder list (similar to what I did with the Android book) at preorder@this_domain.

I won't actually take any money (except for pre-release, maybe, see below) before I can deliver the work fully, but putting yourself on the preorder list would be more than welcome, just so I have some idea as to whether or not I can make back my ransom money :-)

What about a pre-release?

As per CricketGeek's forum question from back in September '14 (gulp!), I'm not thinking about a KickStarter here (that's kind of like begging, in some ways, plus a 10% tithe). But I am planning to offer a pre-release, probably via the the book's forum. But give me a week or two to figure this out.

What can be done to speed this up?

Err.. not much. But if you want to be helpful, spread the word, get active in the forum (every bit helps) and/or get in touch.

Getting in touch

Though my email remains always open, please consider whether or not a question or request isn't best served by The book's forum, if only to spare me from having to answer duplicate questions. This would hopefully also beef up the forum so it becomes its own knowledge base. BTW, @Technologeeks doesn't normally reply to Twitter-messages - it's the company feed - so rather than contacting them, the forum is the much more preferred option. It's good to follow them, though, especially to get details on my work, or our upcoming courses (one of which based on MOXiI 2^nd scheduled for March 2015)

Hope to get your feedback - the Table of Contents for Volume I is still accepting requests via the forum!