Clones of Popular 'Wordle' Game Flooding App Store, Including One Charging $30 Per Year [Updated]

MacRumors said:
there's a single daily puzzle for everyone.
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This doesn't seem to be the case. A friend and I just tried the game for the first time (the Web-based one on powerlanguage.co.uk) and we had different words. Did we do something wrong?
 
Nermal said:
This doesn't seem to be the case. A friend and I just tried the game for the first time (the Web-based one on powerlanguage.co.uk) and we had different words. Did we do something wrong?
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Josh Wardle has the updates (new word) for the next day rolled out by time zones. (Local midnight? Dunno).Were you and your friend in the same time zone? If so, let Josh Wardle know on Twitter or Reddit. I recall reading a post of his (on Reddit as u/powerlanguage) mentioning a time zone bug.
 
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cjboffoli97 said:
(I say this as a lifelong, enthusiastic Apple customer and an Apple shareholder) Mr. Wardle should sue Apple. They are likely liable for contributory infringement. As the infringers have probably misrepresented to Apple that the apps they have uploaded for sale are their own IP, Apple would have every right to turn right around and sue them for damages.
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You do realise developers have to sign agreements stating that they can't sue apple?
 
MacRumors said:


If you're a regular internet user you've probably heard of popular web-based daily guessing game Wordle, created by Josh Wardle. The game, which is entirely free to play, was introduced last fall and has been spreading like wildfire.

wordle.jpg

Wordle asks players to guess a five letter word by identifying which letters are in the word and are located in the right location. Players get six guesses per day, and there's a single daily puzzle for everyone.

The website for the game tracks each person's number of wins, and provides an easily shareable graphic, which has contributed to its popularity. Josh Wardle has said that Wordle will remain ad-free and unmonetized, but because it's a web app, shady iOS developers have decided to create app versions to capitalize on the game's success.

There is no official iOS-based version of Wordle available, as it exists solely on the web. Any Wordle option available through the App Store is a clone app copying the idea from Josh Wardle, and there are several clone apps climbing up the App Store charts at the current time.

"Wordle - The App" from developer Zach Shakked is one of the most egregious copycat Wordle apps. Shakked has created an app that uses the concepts and the design of the Wordle website, and he's charging a $30 per year subscription fee for it. Earlier today, Shakked took to Twitter to brag about how much revenue his clone app would make, and he has been buying App Store ads to promote it.


Shakked is not the only developer that has created a Wordle clone, but he appears to be the only one charging a $30 per year fee for access. Other Wordle clones are free or have much lower price tags, but again, there is no official version and Wordle players should be aware that downloading one of these apps does not support the original Wordle creator.


There have been previous Wordle-like games and the general concept is not new, but Shakked and other developers have stolen the Wordle name, interface, and design from Wardle rather than making a similar game with their own graphics and naming scheme.

It's unlikely that Apple is going to remove these clone apps as apps and games based on stolen ideas are nothing new for the App Store. Many once-popular games have unfortunately been ripped off by other apps with no interference from Apple. Josh Wardle has not commented on the clone apps, and it's not clear if he'll try to get assistance from Apple.

Update: The Wordle clones have been removed from the App Store, and the only "Wordle" apps are apps that were in the App Store prior to the launch of the Wordle website.

Article Link: Clones of Popular 'Wordle' Game Flooding App Store, Including One Charging $30 Per Year [Updated]
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Thank Mac Rumors and the media in general for bringing this up for Apple to take action.

OTOH the Anki app (flashcard manager) was "copied" and Apple did nothing about it.
 
Heh. This removal seems "fast" enough. Regardless of what those copycat developers think (it is not even hard to code imo), I wish the original creator of the web app could think a bit again about this whole "mobile app" phenomenon that has been mainstream for decades. "Free of cost" =/= "Absolute free".
 
aKansasKid said:
Josh Wardle has the updates (new word) for the next day rolled out by time zones. (Local midnight? Dunno).Were you and your friend in the same time zone? If so, let Josh Wardle know on Twitter or Reddit. I recall reading a post of his (on Reddit as u/powerlanguage) mentioning a time zone bug.
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Ah, that would explain it; we're in different time zones. So the claim that everyone has the same word isn't necessarily true.
 
ouimetnick said:
I thought one of the argument for having the App Store as the ONLY WAY to get apps was to prevent scams and knockoffs like this from happening?
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I just finished my usual late work day to indulge a bit on the rumors over here, started reading this one juicy news and it ends with the update that it has been already removed… all in 4 hours, I think it kinda works? Have the other stores known and unknown put down all the knockoffs already too?

I get that it’s not perfect and that sometimes they take their sweet time to bring down the impostors but I think this specific example is not it.
 
Zach Shakked, maker of this Wordle clone, has privatized his Twitter account. I guess the heat from the developer community was too much for him after all his bragging.

Well... one of his old Tweets has been discovered.

There's always a Tweet... ?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1481001654870810626

EDIT... his Twitter account is back. Some of the replies are brutal. He's not making friends...
 
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I suppose the focus of this thread (or at least the opening post) was all the cloning business that's plaguing the App Store. But what stood out to me (once again) was how the subscription model is being abused like crazy by developers.
 
dosterpf said:
Not to mention... he didn't obfuscate or encrypt any Javascript (go to "view source" and look at the .js ... you can see the next 6 years worth of words). You're just asking for someone to steal it by doing that (heck most "coders" wouldn't even consider that stealing).
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I'm not sure if you are serious or not, but I do not agree at all. I mean that would mean that all open source projects are "just asking for someone to steal it" and not respect their licenses. Encrypting javascript isn't even possible as far as I know since that would make it impossible for the browser to run it (obfuscating can of course be done).
 
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