Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Sued for Pulling Co-Viewing App Rave From the App Store

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster


Rave, a cross-platform service that lets users watch movies and TV shows together, today filed a series of antitrust lawsuits against Apple after Apple removed the Rave app from the App Store in August 2025.

rave-app.jpg

According to Rave, Apple cited "unspecified allegations of fraud and vague concerns about content moderation" when pulling the app. Rave alleges Apple targeted the service because Rave competed with SharePlay, and Apple wanted to corner the market on smartphone co-viewing. Rave claims that Apple also falsely labeled the Rave Mac app as malware, preventing Mac users from installing it.

Discussion on Reddit suggests that Rave had unmoderated public chatrooms, pornography, issues with scams, and CSAM material. The Rave app was also labeled as malware by Kaspersky, BitDefender, Windows, and Google, suggesting Apple may have had reason to protect users from the app beyond limiting competition. Apple has not yet commented on the lawsuit or the app's removal.

Rave claims that it has now created "industry-leading" content moderation and age verification technologies, presumably to preempt Apple's content moderation criticism.

Rave was available on iOS, Mac, Android, and Windows, but after Apple's crackdown, the service is limited to Windows and Android devices. Founded in 2016, Rave lets users remotely watch content together, with built-in discussion features.

Apple's SharePlay service, which came out in 2021, similarly lets iPhone, iPad, and Mac users watch and chat about TV shows, movies, and music. SharePlay does not work on Android and Windows devices, so Rave was able to deliver a cross-platform collaborative viewing experience that was unavailable with SharePlay.

Rave has filed antitrust lawsuits in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Russia, and it is aiming to get the Rave apps reintroduced on iOS and macOS and recover damages related to its removal from the App Store.

Article Link: Apple Sued for Pulling Co-Viewing App Rave From the App Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/07/apple-rave-app-store-lawsuit/
Astuces iOS said:
Apple can do what they want, it’s their stores, their rules…
Click to expand...
Bro wants all tic tac toe apps to be labeled as malware just for his to dominate...

But in all seriousness, if it has the concerns on unmoderated chatrooms, porn, and scams, and the fact that both Google and Microsoft labeled it as malware too then it kind of makes sense as to why.
It will be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out, but the fact that it has malware that 2 other major companies also saw, Apple had a reason to take it down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TEG, Stevez67, freedomlinux and 4 others
Apples authoritarian grip on apps has gotten a little obnoxious. I understand security being a priority but Apple is now just saying “we will decide for the user what they want to use and it’s going to be us no matter what.”

Also, I think they should make iMessage cross platform so fire away!!!
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
  • Haha
Reactions: Mighty Joe, TEG, Stevez67 and 7 others
Astuces iOS said:
Apple can do what they want, it’s their stores, their rules…
Click to expand...
Lol, I was going to say something just like this, but ending with an /s

Retail stores cannot just do whatever they want; restaurants cannot make whatever rules they want; no service oriented businesses can make whatever rules they want

In this case, they can make sure their services don't impact anyone harmfully, but no, just because a business is yours, you can't do whatever you want with it
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: falainber, HVDynamo, bondr006 and 1 other person
May be I'm just too Gen X, but does anyone really use this stuff? I dabbled a bit with SharePlay during the heights of the COVID pandemic ever since then I've generally just tried to do stuff with people in person.

Genuine question btw. I'm not trying to be snarky here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: rampagual and MacCheetah3
applicious84 said:
Lol, I was going to say something just like this, but ending with an /s

Retail stores cannot just do whatever they want; restaurants cannot make whatever rules they want; no service oriented businesses can make whatever rules they want

In this case, they can make sure their services don't impact anyone harmfully, but no, just because a business is yours, you can't do whatever you want with it
Click to expand...
I mean of course you cannot sell anything you want like you cannot sell drugs or guns in some places… but as the owner of the store, normally you can remove an item without any problem…
 
CalMin said:
May be I'm just too Gen X, but does anyone really use this stuff? I dabbled a bit with SharePlay during the heights of the COVID pandemic ever since then I've generally just tried to do stuff with people in person.

Genuine question btw. I'm not trying to be snarky here.
Click to expand...

I can one up you ... I don't even know how it works or what I would do..

Do both sides just start something and it keeps them in sync?
Do I invite the other user? What if it's something I subscribe to and they do not?

Also, what's the point?
I don't get it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: artifex
Corefile said:
Well, no, they can't as they have the monopoly on final say for apps being installed.
Click to expand...
A US court recently ruled Apple can remove any app from their store for any reason, or no reason at all.

forums.macrumors.com

Apple Wins Decisive Victory in Musi App Store Removal Lawsuit

A lawsuit brought against Apple by music streaming app Musi has been dismissed by a federal judge, after she ruled that Apple's developer agreement gives it the right to remove any app from the App Store at any time, "with or without cause." Launched in 2013 by two Canadian teenagers, Musi...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

A lawsuit brought against Apple by music streaming app Musi has been dismissed by a federal judge, after she ruled that Apple's developer agreement gives it the right to remove any app from the App Store at any time, "with or without cause."
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huck and Stevez67
Astuces iOS said:
Apple can do what they want, it’s their stores, their rules…
Click to expand...
Do you want a monopoly? Because that's how you end up with a monopoly, and no just because there is one other competitor (google) does not make it not a problem. Apple just needs to allow side loading. Then I am more OK with them doing whatever they please with the App Store.
 
Last edited:
  • Love
Reactions: turbineseaplane
Apple wanted to corner the market on smartphone co-viewing.
Click to expand...
Oh no, Apple would never leverage any aspect of its platform control to corner any market! If they happen to ever take away choice and give themselves an advantage it's purely for the consumer's benefit, to give them industry-leading privacy and security guarantees!
 
I would say Rave have a point... however if 3 outer separate companies state your software is Malware hmmm.. that doesn't put you in a good light now does it?
 
I'm not alleging anything here, just asking a question. How many people use SharePlay or any other kind of remote synchronized viewing? I see the use of it, particularly for long-distance relationships. But it seems a marginal medium for maintaining a relationship. It does seem like an independent service, such as Rave, would have to appeal to less mainstream use cases to justify existence.
 
MacRumors said:
The Rave app was also labeled as malware by Kaspersky, BitDefender, Windows, and Google, suggesting Apple may have had reason to protect users from the app beyond limiting competition. Apple has not yet commented on the lawsuit or the app'
Click to expand...

MacRumors said:
the service is limited to Windows and Android devices.
Click to expand...
So both Google and Microsoft labeled it malware, the wording is questionable though, but why did neither remove a "malware" app from their stores?
 
HVDynamo said:
Do you want a monopoly? Because that's how you end up with a monopoly, and no just because there is one other competitor (google) does not make it not a problem. Apple just needs to allow side loading. Then I am more OK with them doing whatever they please with the App Store.
Click to expand...
Do you want porn on the App Store? Bruh trust the app is bad
 
Astuces iOS said:
I mean of course you cannot sell anything you want like you cannot sell drugs or guns in some places… but as the owner of the store, normally you can remove an item without any problem…
Click to expand...
Maybe, but that's still legally contested in several battles; they can't just do whatever they want at this scale. And if someone pays $1,000+ for a device, and the manufacturer is the only gateway to software on it, they're not just running a store, they're controlling the owner's property, especially if that person already had an app installed. That's different from a normal retailer. A store can refuse to sell something, but they can't reach into your house and disable something you already bought. Apple kind of can, because sideloading isn't an option
 
  • Angry
Reactions: Astuces iOS
WilliApple said:
Bro wants all tic tac toe apps to be labeled as malware just for his to dominate...

But in all seriousness, if it has the concerns on unmoderated chatrooms, porn, and scams, and the fact that both Google and Microsoft labeled it as malware too then it kind of makes sense as to why.
It will be interesting to see how this lawsuit plays out, but the fact that it has malware that 2 other major companies also saw, Apple had a reason to take it down.
Click to expand...
Yet they permit the X app.
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: koifish22 and turbineseaplane
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back