When the App Has a Fake Try Again Button
Over the last several weeks, programmer Kosta Eleftheriou has been highlighting many apparent scam applications on the App Store. The formula for each scam application is about identical, and it centers on false reviews and ratings paired with a deceptive weekly subscription.
Update February 11, 2021: Apple tree has given the post-obit statement to The Verge regarding scam apps on the App Store.
We accept feedback regarding fraudulent activity seriously, and investigate and have action on each report. The App Store is designed to be a safe and trusted identify for users to get apps, and a great opportunity for developers to be successful.Nosotros do non tolerate fraudulent activity on the App Store, and take stringent rules against apps and developers who attempt to cheat the arrangement. In 2020 lonely, we terminated over half a million developer accounts for fraud, and removed over 60 million user reviews that were considered spam. Equally function of our ongoing efforts to maintain the integrity of our platform, our Discovery Fraud team actively works to remove these kinds of violations, and is constantly improving their procedure along the way.
Eleftheriou is the programmer behind FlickType, a popular Apple Watch keyboard application that brings gesture typing to the wearable device. He was besides one of the creators of the Flesky keyboard app, acquired past Pinterest, and Bullheaded Type, acquired by Google.
The thread began two weeks agone, when Eleftheriou began highlighting applications that were essentially not-functional ripoffs of FlickType. One of the near blatant ones was KeyWatch:
Merely a few months agone, I was fashion ahead of my contest. Past the time they figured out just how difficult autocorrect algorithms were, I was already rolling out the swipe version of my keyboard, apace approaching iPhone typing speeds. And so how did they beat me?
Showtime, they made an app that appeared to fulfill the hope of a watch keyboard – only was practically unusable. So, they started heavily advertising on FB & Instagram, using my own promo video, of my own app, with my bodily name on it.
When users downloaded the app, the first screen was a blank interface with an "Unlock now" push button. Tap the "Unlock at present" button, and you'd be prompted with Apple tree's purchase screen to confirm an $8/week subscription for an app that was nonfunctional.
What about App Shop reviews and ratings? The KeyWatch developers simply purchased fake ratings and reviews, which flooded the App Shop listings and gave users the impression the app was a legitimate Apple Spotter keyboard. According to Appfigures data, KeyWatch was generating $two one thousand thousand a year through its App Store scam.
Simulated ratings, and fake reviews. These quickly push button the scams to the height of search results, leaving honest & difficult-working developers in the dust. An onetime problem that's not easy to solve, only one that's at the core of why App Shop app discovery is so problematic.
Later on Eleftheriou's Twitter thread gained traction, Apple removed KeyWatch and a scattering of other similar scam Apple Lookout man keyboard apps from the App Store. That being said, the company hasn't taken every bit swift of activity against similar applications from the aforementioned "developer."
But since then, Eleftheriou has exposed additional scam applications on the App Store. Over the weekend, he posted a elementary thread showcasing "how to spot a $5M/year scam on the App Store, in 5 minutes apartment." This time, he showcased Star Gazer+, which is still available on the App Store with a 4.4 rating and over 80,000 ratings.
The state of affairs is nigh the aforementioned as the original example of KeyWatch. The "programmer" releases a barely-functioning app with a weekly subscription requirement. The App Store listing is flooded with false ratings and reviews, tricking users into thinking it's a legitimate service.
Potential solutions
Developer Marco Arment chimed in on Twitter, suggesting that one solution to eliminate these scams would be for Apple to eliminate the weekly subscription billing option altogether. This has proven to be a common tactic used by many of the scammers highlighted by Eleftheriou's tweets.
Other developers have also joined the chat suggesting possible solutions. For instance, David Barnard retweeted a concept he first shared back in 2019 nigh how Apple could redesign the App Store'due south "purchase sheet" to make the payment terms more clear for users.
Eleftheriou also points out that some of Apple's marketing materials for the App Store give users the impression that they shouldn't have to worry about scam apps.
He also described reaching out to Apple directly to about these bug when speaking to TechCrunch:
"They put you lot in contact with the other developer in question, and oversee the thread while they promise you will resolve the consequence with the other party directly," he explains. "The scammers I complained virtually in that dispute weren't fifty-fifty the bigger scammers I mention in my Twitter thread. Yet, the complaint I had with them barely got addressed, and at that place was no response from Apple whatsoever on the consequence of the fake ratings and reviews. Only a 'if we don't hear dorsum from you very presently nosotros consider the matter resolved'. Nosotros fifty-fifty reached out to Apple privately afterwards that merely got no response."
Theoretically, App Shop Review should be able to filter out some of these applications, only Apple should too make a better attempt to weed out fake ratings and reviews. A quick Google search reveals merely how advanced this manufacture is, making Apple tree's silence even more deafening.
What practice you think of the issues highlighted by Eleftheriou? Accept yous e'er encountered a scam application on the App Store? Let us know down in the comments.
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Source: https://9to5mac.com/2021/02/11/app-store-scam-apps-how-to-spot/
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