App Store Scam App Required a Good Review to Function at All

[MacRumors]

An app that demanded at least a three-star review to function got through the App Store review process, it has been found (via The Verge).

iOS developer Kosta Eleftheriou discovered that the "UPNP Xtreme" app, which claimed to let users stream video to a TV, presented the system's App Store rating box as soon as it opened. The rating box could not be escaped from and it was not possible to tap the one or two-star ratings for most users, according to Eleftheriou.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1397288722706489353

One of Apple's best practices documents states that developers should "avoid showing a request for a review immediately when a user launches your app." UPNP Xtreme sought good reviews to rise up the App Store's rankings, using exploitative tactics to become more visible than legitimate developers' apps, but also drive more users to engage with the scam. The app now appears to have been removed from the App Store.

Eleftheriou has previously brought attention to scam and copycat apps on the App Store and raised concerns that Apple is not doing enough to stop these apps during its App Store review process. Eleftheriou experienced the difficulty of contending with scam apps with his own FlickType Apple Watch keyboard app, which was mired by scam copycats that Apple was allegedly reluctant to remove.

Earlier this year, Eleftheriou brought a lawsuit against Apple for a variety of allegations related to his experience with FlickType, including negligence and anticompetitive conduct.

Article Link: App Store Scam App Required a Good Review to Function at All

 

[The Clark]

Suspect. This will be fixed promptly though, so no worries.

 

[Techwatcher]

Suspect. This will be fixed promptly though, so no worries.

Forget a fix, suspend or ban the app and refund everyone if purchases were made.

 

[Cosmosent]

The BIG picture, if the Judge in the Epic vs Apple court case gets wind of this, one of Apple's main arguments just went out the window !

 

[Doomtomb]

Grasping at straws

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

"The worst part? This trick is EXTREMELY easy for any developer to do, and not limited to this app."

I'm sure any legitimate developer wouldn't dream of doing something like this, and for a lot of reasons.

 

[Sasparilla]

Apple needs a system that can scale to the need here. It needs to leverage the community (like maps letting users report things) and lets users flag apps as bad & provide the detail - so the scale of identification and removal can be seriously increased for things like this (or for example apps given names to try and trick users). These are things the community could identify to snuff out quite quickly.

Needs to be a big red button right up a the top and lets the user provide the details. Might need a set of folks (users but paid for the work perhaps) to triage them before they get into the serious, address this, pipeline.

 

[icanhazmac]

No process is perfect, there will be mistakes.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Tired of seeing fake reviews.

 

[mansplains]

This comment requires at least a like or love to be read, anything less and you don't get the function.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Apple needs a system that leverages the community (like maps letting users report things) and lets users flag apps as bad & provide the detail - so the scale of identification and removal can be seriously increased for things like this (or for example apps given names to try and trick users). These are things the community could identify to snuff out quite quickly.

Needs to be a big red button right up a the top and lets the user provide the details. Might need a set of folks (users but paid for the work perhaps) to triage them before they get into the serious, address this, pipeline.

The question is whether they would listen. I used to report bugs to Apple, which was time consuming, and I stopped doing it because they were never followed up on.

 

[Silent Service]

This happened several years ago with a third party app that syncs Fitbit data to  Health. It required a 5-star rating to continue. Don't remember the app name though.

 

[Dorfdad]

Easy fix! Just put this in the terms that for full functionality the application can never require a user to review the applications. And for anyone found doing these your developer account and all your apps will be permanently banned from the iOS AppStore.

 

[ksec]

Forget a fix, suspend or ban the app and refund everyone if purchases were made.

The problem is if those purchase that happened outside of the 30days would have already been processed to those Scams.

Apple needs a system that leverages the community (like maps letting users report things) and lets users flag apps as bad & provide the detail - so the scale of identification and removal can be seriously increased for things like this (or for example apps given names to try and trick users). These are things the community could identify to snuff out quite quickly.

Needs to be a big red button right up a the top and lets the user provide the details. Might need a set of folks (users but paid for the work perhaps) to triage them before they get into the serious, address this, pipeline.

App Store used to have that. A big button called Report a Problem, Guess what happen to it ?

 

[ksec]

The problem is if those purchase that happened outside of the 30days would have already been processed to those Scams.



App Store used to have that. A big button called Report a Problem, Guess what happen to it ?

And I remember someone on MR once said Kosta Eleftheriou is a Russian spy attacking Apple. There cant be that many Scams.....

 

[Ion-X]

Scam apps are another reason I hope Apple prevails against Epic in court.

 

[zorinlynx]

The question is whether they would listen. I used to report bugs to Apple, which was time consuming, and I stopped doing it because they were never followed up on.

Same here. I've reported so many bugs, even in betas, gathering diagnostic data, screenshots and videos, etc. and my reports just vanish into the aether with nary a response.

Even a "This is a duplicate of bug #xxxx" would be a million times better than nothing.

 

[djcerla]

Darwin Award, for apps.

 

[Ion-X]

"The worst part? This trick is EXTREMELY easy for any developer to do, and not limited to this app."

I'm sure any legitimate developer wouldn't dream of doing something like this, and for a lot of reasons.

We're not talking about legitimate developers using this, because they have too much (reputation, relationship with Apple, etc.) to protect. This would purely be used by scammers who shouldn't be allowed to publish on the App Store.

 

[Ion-X]

Same here. I've reported so many bugs, even in betas, gathering diagnostic data, screenshots and videos, etc. and my reports just vanish into the aether with nary a response.

Even a "This is a duplicate of bug #xxxx" would be a million times better than nothing.

Could that be attributed to Apple's secrecy? Perhaps they don't want to give insight into their internal development timelines and processes?

 

[randyhudson]

This is the kind of quality vetting that $72 billion/year buys you.

 

[Braderunner]

"The worst part? This trick is EXTREMELY easy for any developer to do, and not limited to this app."

I'm sure any legitimate developer wouldn't dream of doing something like this, and for a lot of reasons.

The point is that Apple claims that they protect users from stuff like this. They don't do a good enough job.
Yet, they take 30% of developer's revenues.

 

[randyhudson]

Scam apps are another reason I hope Apple prevails against Epic in court.

Your post makes no sense. Epic is a legitimate app trying to save iOS users money compared to the same purchases made on other platforms. This scam app proves that Apple is just lining their pockets off the work of other developers.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Apple’s App Store system isn’t perfect and never will be because it’s human made but it’s far far better than the alternative Epic would subject us to by demolishing Steve’s Walled Garden; I hope the judge takes this heavily into account when she makes her finding/decision.

 

[gnomeisland]

Overall I’m very pro-Apple on a lot of the App Store controversy. But this one man campaign has made realize Apple just needs to do what it takes to increase/improve the review process. Even if it means cutting into the margin.
Also this man should be earning the equivalent of “bug bounties” just like a white hat hacker exposing system vulnerabilities.