I mean I agree with your point but the math works out to 1000, lol
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Phil Schiller on App Store Knockoffs in 2012: 'Is No One Reviewing These Apps?'
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Isn’t the point of the App Store to weed out the ”anything goes” apps, like in the android world?
That fact that he's looking for automatic tools to weed out scams shows they are hoping to avoid paying (intelligent) staff to do the curation. Wonder if that's why Podcasts and stuff hasn't been that great either. Maybe they need to consider staffing up a bit.
In my opinion, the issue with an automatic app removal system because of one star reviews and lots of reviews saying scam and fake is the abuse it could have. The cancel culture could have a problem with a developer and their viewpoints on whatever topics and then they spam their app reviews. The automatic system comes in and deletes their app.
Now they have to go back in and reapply for re-entry.
Now they have to go back in and reapply for re-entry.
It is indeed a difficult problem. And it does not work in the favor of Apple's arguments or that of its most fervent defenders. Despite Apple's best efforts at being a walled garden, the App Store is still a disaster. If it weren't, the BS claims made about why the iPhone should remained locked down would have more weight.
It doesn't have to be automatic removal, it could have been automatic alert for low star review. And it could then be reviewed. Apple used to have a Report a Problem in their App Store for each App. Now that button is gone.
Also remember this happened before the current cancel culture.
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One of the many reasons why it never happened. Just not possible to do so accurately. Think about how often there have been stories about a developer's app being pulled for seemingly no reason, only to have it reinstated later on. Clearly they've tried this route. But even one false positive is one too many.
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As an attorney I don’t think this email is the smoking gun that Epic presumably thinks it is. If anything it is evidence that Apple’s TMT does, in fact, care greatly about the quality of the apps in the store and the safety of its customers. It obviously reveals a failure on Apple’s part in terms of implementation, but I don’t see how that is really germane to the issues in that case. That said, I’m not spending a single minute keeping up with the actual legal issues that Epic is raising, so perhaps I’m simply missing something.
Getting rid of scam apps is really difficult, but at least Apple is trying, which is why I lead with iOS on my app development (new games coming soon, honest, I'll finish soon, hopefully...).
Phil Schiller insulting Nordstrom… Nordstrom’s going to demand a apology.
Given the volume of apps submitted, that doesn't really mean "Apple was trying to be cheap and avoid hiring people"? It sounds like he realized you might be able to take a big chunk of the problem away simply with some automation. (If all Apple did was look for any app exceeding a certain threshold of 1 star reviews to auto-delete it from the store, that would help quite a bit. Probably couple that with auto refunding everyone who paid for it.)
Some might say this is “toxic workplace culture” but it’s what it takes to be the best.
I believe it is more a response to probably the sheer number of App submissions. I would expect the goal is to try and use automation to weed out the "problem" apps that can be detected via this method which would allow the human reviewers to focus on the more complex/sneaky apps.
And you really just can't "throw people" at the problem. I've lived through the "The Mythical Man-Month" approach to problem-solving - we literally spent billions of dollars and hired hundreds of contract engineers at a very complex project and we still ended up years late and even more billions over before we dragged it across the finish line.
So Apple trying to hire tens or even hundreds of thousands of human App Reviewers (if such a thing was even logistically possible) would not be a "magic-bullet".
The above being said, I do believe Apple should consider a "Bad App Bounty" like they (finally) did with the Security Vulnerabilities. Developers now do the leg-work on counterfeit and scam apps because it impacts their bottom-line. Others do it out of a sense of altruism / community improvement. Some do it just to try and shame Apple into being more serious than they think they do. Offering a small bounty identifying these apps to bring them to the attention of the existing App Store review and moderation process would help improve the store and relations with legitimate developers and the positive PR of a better App Store experience is worth a couple million in bounty payouts.
so app quality is ans ongoing issue. even from reputable companies at times.
but what does this have to do with Epic changing pricing?
diversion at best.
but what does this have to do with Epic changing pricing?
diversion at best.
I imagine Epic's goal is to undermine Apple's general argument that Apple's control of the App Store means developers and consumers are protected from "bad actors" trying to scam developers and consumers.
I always thought every app gets manually reviewed before going up on the App Store. Isn’t this the case?
If it is the case, surely a human should be seeing these obvious fake apps and blocking entry.
If it is the case, surely a human should be seeing these obvious fake apps and blocking entry.
Fair comment, if you can use AI to weed out the obvious rubbish then all the better - isn't it also worth then having 'Verified' developers so people would recognise a quality app made by named developers rather than a knockoff?
The concept of removing apps solely because they are rated poorly is untoward.
I also don't think apps that follow the rules but are otherwise clones should be kicked out.
People need to be educated consumers. Yanking things you don't like is not educating.
The constant nannying is the one aspect of Apple I can do without.
I also don't think apps that follow the rules but are otherwise clones should be kicked out.
People need to be educated consumers. Yanking things you don't like is not educating.
The constant nannying is the one aspect of Apple I can do without.
Outsourced to the lowest price contracting companies in all likelyhood. Just like how facebook does their own editorial, filtering, responding to reports, etc.
Yea there is a lot of junk out there but there always needed to be a better way to search for an app.
I hate it when I have to download 20 apps just to find that 19 of them are subscription or ad crazy or don’t work or have the feature that I want and then the App Store history shows them all unless I hide them.
Should be a way to revoke a purchase and issue a vote of no confidence not the slow quirky 5 star (no zero option) review option which can give a false activity of popularity.
Some of the better apps out of the 20 may only have 5 reviews yet be exactly what I wanted. Needs to be a try before you buy option.
I hate it when I have to download 20 apps just to find that 19 of them are subscription or ad crazy or don’t work or have the feature that I want and then the App Store history shows them all unless I hide them.
Should be a way to revoke a purchase and issue a vote of no confidence not the slow quirky 5 star (no zero option) review option which can give a false activity of popularity.
Some of the better apps out of the 20 may only have 5 reviews yet be exactly what I wanted. Needs to be a try before you buy option.
You’ve got some major Stockholm syndrome or something.
The walls keep out the good apps, not the bad ones.
Think of all the great apps on your computer. Now think of all the great apps on your iPhone. There’s more and better apps on your computer. The devs would love them to be on your iPhone. Apple has rules to keep them off.
All the best apps on the iOS App Store may as well be web apps for how lousy they are.