Pirated Movie App Disguised as Vision Test Snuck Onto App Store

[vipergts2207]

Correct. But hyperbolic posts said apple should be perfect.

So opinion is equivalent to baseless assumption. I like it and will use it in the future. That’s certainly a glass half empty view.

Well that’s an opinion er baseless assumption. How do you know what the bar is?

What I said is a malleable opinion, that the bar doesn't seem to be that high, though I'm open to being shown that this is wrong when the data starts coming in on these stores. What you said was an opinion stated as fact, that Apple does as good a job or better than anyone else could.

Two scams are apps out of millions.

Only two now? Is this the new claim?

I agree and said as much in prior posts.

Ah, so Apple is hindering the potential creation of safer and higher quality stores. This would actually apply to themselves and the iOS App Store as well, but they're too infatuated with the money they earn by forcing all apps to go through them. Apple essentially allows almost any app (outside of the known exclusions) onto the App Store because it is/was the only way to get an app to iPhone users. If Apple were to implement a more refined selection of what they choose to host on the App Store, while allowing for other sources of apps, they could actually differentiate themselves from the competition as the highest quality source for apps, while also needing to review fewer of them which in-turn could strengthen their review process for each app. If a lower quality app or an app of which several of that kind are already available on the iOS App Store is submitted, Apple could tell the dev, "while your app is not the right fit for the iOS App Store, there are multiple other stores you can submit your app to for iOS users." Then users could be even more confident that what they're getting from the iOS App Store is high-quality and legitimate, rather than potentially an app someone at Apple spent 5 minutes looking at before rubberstamping it for approval.

There's a lot of chaff Apple could get out of the App Store if they allowed for it.

 

[I7guy]

What I said is a malleable opinion, that the bar doesn't seem to be that high, though I'm open to being shown that this is wrong when the data starts coming in on these stores. What you said was an opinion stated as fact, that Apple does as good a job or better than anyone else could.

Word games. That was an opinion stated as an opinion given an App Store the breadth and depth of apples. The point being that a third party app stores intent, is not known. At least with the apple iOS store there is a reasonably good chance of getting a legitimate app. And this doesn’t discount boutique app stores from major vendors.

Only two now? Is this the new claim?

No, it’s what been reported on in the last several days. If one has been following.

Ah, so Apple is hindering the potential creation of safer and higher quality stores.

In the same way apple is hindering the potential creation of app stores filled with scamware and malware.

This would actually apply to themselves and the iOS App Store as well, but they're too infatuated with the money they earn by forcing all apps to go through them.

It’s their prerogative as it’s their creation. But I got it another “apple is greedy meme”.

Apple essentially allows almost any app (outside of the known exclusions) onto the App Store because it is/was the only way to get an app to iPhone users. If Apple were to implement a more refined selection of what they choose to host on the App Store, while allowing for other sources of apps, they could actually differentiate themselves from the competition as the highest quality source for apps, while also needing to review fewer of them which in-turn could strengthen their review process for each app. If a lower quality app or an app of which several of that kind are already available on the iOS App Store is submitted, Apple could tell the dev, "while your app is not the right fit for the iOS App Store, there are multiple other stores you can submit your app to for iOS users." Then users could be even more confident that what they're getting from the iOS App Store is high-quality and legitimate, rather than potentially an app someone at Apple spent 5 minutes looking at before rubberstamping it for approval.

There's a lot of chaff Apple could get out of the App Store if they allowed for it.

Well sure. Maybe apple will note your “suggestions”. On the other hand, maybe it’s not how they want to run their business.

 

[Samplasion]

So opinion is equivalent to baseless assumption. I like it and will use it in the future. That’s certainly a glass half empty view.

It's one thing to state "I think Apple has the best app store". But to go from there to "Apple has to limit other app stores because theirs is the best" is, in fact, throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to use your example, and using a baseless assumption.

ETA: You're disingenuously doing the latter and defending it with the former

 

[vipergts2207]

Word games. That was an opinion stated as an opinion given an App Store the breadth and depth of apples. The point being that a third party app stores intent, is not known. At least with the apple iOS store there is a reasonably good chance of getting a legitimate app. And this doesn’t discount boutique app stores from major vendors.

No, it’s what been reported on in the last several days. If one has been following.

In the same way apple is hindering the potential creation of app stores filled with scamware and malware.

It’s their prerogative as it’s their creation. But I got it another “apple is greedy meme”.

Well sure. Maybe apple will note your “suggestions”. On the other hand, maybe it’s not how they want to run their business.

Apple won't take suggestions if it's going to impact their bottom line. They'll continue to run a store filled with a bunch of garbage apps because it makes more money than not doing that. In the U.S. at least. The EU is wisely forcing Apple to open up.

 

[I7guy]

Apple won't take suggestions if it's going to impact their bottom line. They'll continue to run a store filled with a bunch of garbage apps because it makes more money than not doing that. In the U.S. at least. The EU is wisely forcing Apple to open up.

Fully disagree. What’s done is done and hoping this crap doesn’t come to the US. But I believe the EU will get what it asked for.

 

[I7guy]

It's one thing to state "I think Apple has the best app store". But to go from there to "Apple has to limit other app stores because theirs is the best" is, in fact, throwing the baby out with the bathwater, to use your example, and using a baseless assumption.

ETA: You're disingenuously doing the latter and defending it with the former

There is clearly many examples of “throwing the baby out with the bath water” and those fine examples speak for themselves.

 

[truthsteve]

You do realize all of this content is accessible via the web browser, and has been for years, right?

so your logic is web is a great alternative to the App Store.

yes, I agree, devs should stop whining and build for the web instead. 🙂

seriously, what kind of logic is that?

 

[truthsteve]

This myth really needs to die.

Developers make a decent living just supporting open platforms like the Mac.

never said you can't make a living when people pirate apps.

 

[truthsteve]

I don’t need a company telling me what appropriate or what’s not. I can figure that out on my own and fully understand I am accountable for my actions

sounds like you'll be happy with an android device

 

[Samplasion]

sounds like you'll be happy with an android device

Because they're totally the same thing!!!

 

[truthsteve]

Guess what, you can already pirate Apps if you want with low to no effort. Just saying.

not any app, nope.

 

[truthsteve]

Because they're totally the same thing!!!

never said they were

 

[JCCL]

sounds like you'll be happy with an android device

Everything has to be black or white, right? I don't like Android, and for the most part I like iOS. I just dislike that a company has to tell me how to use my 1,200 USD device I fully paid for. And what gets me is that users actually support that. Do you really like having a company dictating what's good for you? I stopped needing a baby sitter, a few decades ago....don't need a company acting like that.

 

[truthsteve]

Everything has to be black or white, right?

No, things just need to be fair.

People don't buy Teslas because they don't support CarPlay, for example. Why should the gov force Tesla to support Android Auto/CarPlay just because customers want it?

 

[Samplasion]

never said they were

Then don't suggest it as if they were

 

[truthsteve]

Then don't suggest it as if they were

I didn't. you did.

 

[falkon-engine]

While they might, yet to be determined, get away from Apple’s “strictness”, we have seen in the Android world how stores can get a bad reputation and eventually ignored. Open source and having alternatives is a definite benefit for those of us who trod the areas outside of the Play Store and OEM Stores.
I wouldn’t call it better or worse, but different. Choice is nice.

I agree with choice for sure. I like that on the Macintosh I can get apps from anywhere and run other OSes such as Linux. I just don’t think alternative iOS app stores, on average, will be stricter and/or more “secure” than the default App Store. I wonder if Cydia will make a comeback.

 

[falkon-engine]

SetApp has been reported as the first third-party application store to launch on iOS in the EU. Their macOS service has a more limited (in numbers) - but much better curated - selection of higher-quality apps from trustworthy developers (compared to Apple's Mac App Store).

Admittedly, they (SetApp) do it by selective curation rather than accepting every low-quality crap app and trying to weed out all that mess by minute-long reviews (as Apple does).

👉 So yes, I do believe that third-party application stores can be successful with having much stricter quality standards than Apple.

I think we are talking past each other. I am all for user choice, especially as someone that used to jailbreak and use Cydia.

While SetApp is a good example of what an alternative app store can be, and they have been great for years, the EU rules do not require alternative app stores to have the depth of experience of Setapp.

So in my view, the conversation isn’t whether an alternative App Store operator can be stricter or more secure than Apple. The question is the average experience. Will the alternative App Stores, on average, have similar quality to setApp or is setApp going to be an aberration, an exception to the rule. The rule where the average App Store is much less strict than Apple. No one can know for certain what will happen and which stores will become dominant.

But in my view, I am willing to wager that there will be at least some app stores that are less strict than Apple in terms of what apps are allowed. Remember, jailbreaking and Cydia were very popular for a reason. To allow apps to do things Apple wouldn’t even dream of. Emulation. Access to lower level stats of the WiFi radio. File system access. Themes. Hot spot (I used to jail break specifically when hot spot was prohibited). There’s pent up demand for apps that can do what Apple would prohibit.

So that is why I say that at least some app stores will be less strict than Apple because that is what a certain percentage of the population wants. The question is: how locked down will iOS be in terms of what the apps can do and not do. Emulation allowed or not? What about themes? What about reconfiguring the springboard or the control center ?

 

[Mousse]

sounds like you'll be happy with an android device

I am. Well, not plain ol' vanilla android. It has to be a rooted android because firewall is the most important feature on my phone. Hail, I'm happy with my jailbroken iPhone 7 Plus with a firewall from the Cydia app store.🤗

I don't connect to the internet on my computer without a firewall. It hardly has any personal information on it. Why would I connect to the internet with my smartphone without a firewall, when it's chocked full of personal information?

That's madness.

 

[truthsteve]

I'm happy with my jailbroken iPhone 7 Plus with a firewall from the Cydia app store.🤗

trusting apps from the Cydia App Store on a device with all of your personal information

talk about madness 💀🤣

 

[Mousse]

trusting apps from the Cydia App Store on a device with all of your personal information

talk about madness 💀🤣

I trust the app, not the app store. If I only trust the app store, I would have downloaded a bunch of scam apps from Apple's AppStore.😏

 

[dk001]

I agree with choice for sure. I like that on the Macintosh I can get apps from anywhere and run other OSes such as Linux. I just don’t think alternative iOS app stores, on average, will be stricter and/or more “secure” than the default App Store. I wonder if Cydia will make a comeback.

One thing to remember is the app selection in the App Store is artificially constrained by Apple’s moral stance and the desire to control the landscape. Heaven forbid if the OS becomes a commodity. Then there is the financial aspect.

Other stores would be driven by other guiding principles. It would likely allow devs to expand and push the boundaries of what could be accomplished on an iPhone.

 

[truthsteve]

I trust the app, not the app store. If I only trust the app store, I would have downloaded a bunch of scam apps from Apple's AppStore.😏

And I'm sure you vetted each line of the source code from the apps you get from cydia. This is no different than a developer including a malicious update on a popular NPM package. Well actually it's worse since you don't have access to the source.

I trust iOS the same way you trust that particular app. 💀

 

[AppliedMicro]

I am willing to wager that there will be at least some app stores that are less strict than Apple in terms of what apps are allowed

Certainly.

I never suggested that all alternative stores will be “better” than Apple’s. I don’t care about the average though - I will be selective in the apps I download and stores I use.

 

[Samplasion]

And I'm sure you vetted each line of the source code from the apps you get from cydia. This is no different than a developer including a malicious update on a popular NPM package. Well actually it's worse since you don't have access to the source.

I trust iOS the same way you trust that particular app. 💀

Because you vetted each line of the source code of iOS and its App Store? No? Why is it even a talking point again?