Indie Developer Dogged By Scammy Clone Apps Again Highlights the Holes in Apple's App Store Review Process

[russell_314]

A fair questions fairly asked. I mostly use 1st party apps. I don't play games on my phone. I download my banking apps and apps like ecobee to control my thermostat (although I wish I could connect it to home kit without using the ecobee app), banking apps etc are from the store, I use MS Office which I pay for outside of the App Store and use the App Store to download. I don't do Facebook et al. All the apps on my phone fit on one screen with a few folders. I don't have hundreds of apps, perhaps 40.

I find the App Store useful for downloading apps for services I have purchased elsewhere (banking, insurance, utilities, entertainment), I have only one paid app from the store, AdGuard.

The App Store has its uses. I would never shop it like a store, I don't look at it as a place to find and buy products, but the place where the people I have bought products from distribute software to connect with them.

The App Store has a use case for me, but 99.99% of the stuff on offer it pure unadulterated, worthless, crap.

I don't think you're in the majority when it comes to this use case scenario. I have 147 apps and I'm older so not exactly the newer generation that gets the full potential from their smart phone. It honestly sounds like you use your phone for very basic purposes. Unless you're into the photography I hope you didn't spend money on a newer iPhone. You could get by with a very budget android phone (Yes I know I'll get some hate for that comment ?)

 

[Sophisticatednut]

I don't think you're in the majority when it comes to this use case scenario. I have 147 apps and I'm older so not exactly the newer generation that gets the full potential from their smart phone. It honestly sounds like you use your phone for very basic purposes. Unless you're into the photography I hope you didn't spend money on a newer iPhone. You could get by with a very budget android phone (Yes I know I'll get some hate for that comment ?)

Or just an older iPhone. Their systems do perform and act differently.

I personally think the AppStore is terrible and worthless if I actually want to find apps for a specific task. I used to browse iTunes on my computer to find them, but now I’m forced to use YouTube or google to find relevant content, instead of using the tiny iPhone screen

 

[I7guy]

Or just an older iPhone. Their systems do perform and act differently.

I personally think the AppStore is terrible and worthless if I actually want to find apps for a specific task. I used to browse iTunes on my computer to find them, but now I’m forced to use YouTube or google to find relevant content, instead of using the tiny iPhone screen

The ios app store imo, is not "terrible and/or worthless". I have found apps just by searching. Because it's search doesn't always return that results *you* want to see, doesn't make it worthless in the overall sense...in the same way google and bing provide a similar service, but in a different way.

 

[laptech]

Ironic bordering laughable. For years with courts cases against Spotify and Epic, Apple have used the courts time to boast about how brilliant the app store is, how safe the app store is and how security focused the app store is, a place where everyone, app developers and users can enjoy a safe and secure place to enjoy. Then comes along indi-developers (been a number of them over the past couple of years, ones i remember is most recently wordle and now this one) who have been complaining to Apple for years about fake and scam apps appearing in the app store and Apple not doing enough about them but yet Apple is happy to go into court against Spoitfy and Epic and say the complete opposite.

How many times are people going to realise that Apple is not the company they think it is.

 

[BaldiMac]

Ironic bordering laughable. For years with courts cases against Spotify and Epic, Apple have used the courts time to boast about how brilliant the app store is, how safe the app store is and how security focused the app store is, a place where everyone, app developers and users can enjoy a safe and secure place to enjoy. Then comes along indi-developers (been a number of them over the past couple of years, ones i remember is most recently wordle and now this one) who have been complaining to Apple for years about fake and scam apps appearing in the app store and Apple not doing enough about them but yet Apple is happy to go into court against Spoitfy and Epic and say the complete opposite.

How many times are people going to realise that Apple is not the company they think it is.

What is enough? I'd argue "perfect" isn't a reasonable standard. The reasonable comparison would be to the alternatives.

 

[Abazigal]

Ironic bordering laughable. For years with courts cases against Spotify and Epic, Apple have used the courts time to boast about how brilliant the app store is, how safe the app store is and how security focused the app store is, a place where everyone, app developers and users can enjoy a safe and secure place to enjoy. Then comes along indi-developers (been a number of them over the past couple of years, ones i remember is most recently wordle and now this one) who have been complaining to Apple for years about fake and scam apps appearing in the app store and Apple not doing enough about them but yet Apple is happy to go into court against Spoitfy and Epic and say the complete opposite.

How many times are people going to realise that Apple is not the company they think it is.

Here’s the hypocrisy.

The App Store model has shown that yes, there are scams and fake apps and maybe Apple isn’t investing as much time and resources in managing this as they should.

But how is the solution to this to allow for third party payments, sideloading, third party app stores or any other solution which takes power from Apple and places it in the hands of entities who have even less of an incentive to do any of this properly for the consumer?

Everyone is arguing that Apple is not perfect, but nobody is arguing how their proposed alternatives is going to be any better for me as the end user.

And maybe that’s the uncomfortable truth that the people bringing forth these lawsuits don’t want to admit. It’s not, and it won’t be.

 

[txscott]

I certainly don't want to see side loading on the phone. In fact I think the solution is more curation not less. By the time the 12th or 15th knitting app or alternate cameral app or app to blur the background in selfies or app that identifies plants hits the store, just say we're full. Not every store stocks every product that is available.

Better yet, they could have a relegation system like English soccer. If your sales, program quality, customer satisfaction, and absence of tracking/respect for privacy are at a very high level, you get promoted to the Premier store. Developers might also have to submit to a stricter code of conduct and their code might be more intensely reviewed. Users could have a way to limit searches only to Premier apps or search the entire store. Relegation would also be in play if standards are not maintained.

This would apply to apps for sale as well as free apps like the ones the control IOT devices, banking apps or grocery store apps. If your app was vacuuming up all the data available it wouldn't be in the Premier store and customers might think less of your product.

 

[I7guy]

[…].

How many times are people going to realise that Apple is not the company they think it is.

Based on recent quarterly results, the number of people who realize apple is not the company they think it is, pales in comparison to those who know it is.

 

[laptech]

Here’s the hypocrisy.

The App Store model has shown that yes, there are scams and fake apps and maybe Apple isn’t investing as much time and resources in managing this as they should.

But how is the solution to this to allow for third party payments, sideloading, third party app stores or any other solution which takes power from Apple and places it in the hands of entities who have even less of an incentive to do any of this properly for the consumer?

Everyone is arguing that Apple is not perfect, but nobody is arguing how their proposed alternatives is going to be any better for me as the end user.

And maybe that’s the uncomfortable truth that the people bringing forth these lawsuits don’t want to admit. It’s not, and it won’t be.

Are you and BaldiMac related in anyway because you both have this canny knack of injecting words and sentences into posts that have nothing to do with the topic of discussion which is nothing more than trying to push the discussion into another direction. Both of you need to stop doing this.

This topic of discussion is about indie developers finding Apple is not policing the store properly and then you come out with things like third party payments and sideloading!!!! it's got nothing to with this topic of debate. So please, stop trying to turn the discussion into another direction. Your as bad as BaldiMac.

 

[Abazigal]

Are you and BaldiMac related in anyway because you both have this canny knack of injecting words and sentences into posts that have nothing to do with the topic of discussion which is nothing more than trying to push the discussion into another direction. Both of you need to stop doing this.

This topic of discussion is about indie developers finding Apple is not policing the store properly and then you come out with things like third party payments and sideloading!!!! it's got nothing to with this topic of debate. So please, stop trying to turn the discussion into another direction. Your as bad as BaldiMac.

I have no idea who this Baldimac person is, and I am not sure what you would like said.

I mean, yeah, so there are copycat apps in the App Store. So?

When we are talking about a store with tens of billions in revenue flowing through it, of course there are going to be copy apps and scams that slip through app review. Baring hard numbers and data, all we really have at this point are anecdotes that point to a few problematic apps and this is somehow supposed to be evidence that the App Store model isn’t working?

 

[I7guy]

Are you and BaldiMac related in anyway because you both have this canny knack of injecting words and sentences into posts that have nothing to do with the topic of discussion which is nothing more than trying to push the discussion into another direction. Both of you need to stop doing this.

You are also free to ignore posts instead of insulting other posters. And you can report off-topic posts.

This topic of discussion is about indie developers finding Apple is not policing the store properly and then you come out with things like third party payments and sideloading!!!! it's got nothing to with this topic of debate. So please, stop trying to turn the discussion into another direction. Your as bad as BaldiMac.

The point some (“critics”) may be trying to make, is the App Store isn’t perfect and therefore can’t get any worse if the government intervenes and regulates it.

But I would think it’s tough to police millions of apps, but glad apple finally resolved this issue.