The issue of scam iOS apps has plagued Apple’s App Store for several years, but over the past two weeks the developer has been doing it. Kosta Eleftheriou drew to Twitter to emphasize that the problem in at least some app categories remains as big as ever before – and also offered iOS users a way to spot it.
/article-new/2021/02/app-store-safe-secure.jpg?resize=560%2C263&ssl=1)
Eleftheriou used a blatant rip-off of its own popular FlickType Apple Watch keyboard app as an example of how scammers prey and exploit the work of real app developers, and Eleftheriou has some of the ways these scams work, exposed.
Only a few months ago, I was far ahead of my competition. When they realized how difficult auto-correction algorithms were, I rolled out all the swipe version of my keyboard and quickly approached the typing speed of the iPhone. So, how did they hit me?
First, they created an app that apparently lived up to the promise of a watch keyboard, but was virtually unusable. Then they started advertising heavily on FB & Instagram, with my own promotional video, from my own app, with my real name on it.
According to Eleftheriou, there are several clones of his FlickType app, but one of the most obvious non-functional disables was ‘KeyWatch’, which was launched with an empty interface and an “Unlock now” button. By tapping the button, users are asked to confirm a $ 8 per week subscription for an app that does nothing.
According to Eleftheriou, the scam gained notoriety in the App Store by playing Apple’s algorithmic rankings through the purchase of fake ratings and glowing five-star reviews, which pushed it to the top of the app category. It even advertised its software using its own promotional video, which contains its real name.
Until now I was in camp “Apple * wants * to do the right thing”. My point of view is starting to change. How to detect a $ 5 million a year scam @AppStore, in five minutes: 👇 – Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) 6 February 2021
Apple has since removed the fake app from the App Store, though the developer account is responsible for several scam programs stay active. Eleftheriou says that before developers removed KeyWatch, developers had long benefited from a $ 2 million a year scam that Apple moderators largely ignored until he personally exposed it.
Since then, Eleftheriou has been on a Twitter crusade to expose more scam apps in the App Store, such as the so-called stargazing app that has the name “Star Gazer +” and basically uses the same proven strategy of masking. as a real app that is barely functional and makes users an excessive weekly subscription fee in the app.
At the time of writing, the scam app ‘Star Gazer +’ is still listed in the App Store with an average 4.5-star rating and over 80,000 reviews.
Eleftheriou’s exposure to the unbridled App Store scheme has led to many more developers and critics to share their own experiences and hopefully put pressure on Apple to sharpen its app moderation and consider revising its billing interface and options, including the proposal removal the weekly subscriber option completely.
Apple has not yet commented on Eleftheriou’s findings, but we’ll probably update this article if we hear anything.