2 min Devops

Apple under fire for promoting scam apps on the App Store

Apple under fire for promoting scam apps on the App Store

Developers are up in arms over Apple’s failure to keep scam apps off of its App Store. The apps targeted by the developers’ complaints charge unusual fees and take away revenue from higher-quality and legitimate apps.

Apple has been under fire before for failing to block these apps from being published.

This week, however, the iPhone maker is taking heat for not just leaving these apps up but promoting some of them. Apple’s Australian App Store published a story called ‘Slime Relaxations,’ which put some types of apps at the forefront.

High fees and questionable design

Some developers and observers have come out saying that some of the apps have exorbitant subscription fees while their functionality is middling or inadequate.

An example is an app with the name ‘Jelly: Slime Simulator.’ To get this app without ads (the free version is filled with them, playing more than one back-to-back), one has to pay $13 per week. The way the ads work indicates that the developer is pushing people to get a subscription.

We are not even going to talk about the money.

Apple’s failings

We checked it out and found the price was now $7.99 a week, indicating the developers may have gotten wind of the discontentment. Even though Apple’s policy says that it rejects expensive apps (something that should prompt a chuckle, unless you are loaded), but it is open to interpretation.

Apple is essentially playing a game of whack-a-mole with these questionable apps. Google seems to be doing a little better than the iPhone maker at keeping scammy apps out of the Play Store.

In the coming months and years, privacy on app stores may take a stricter approach to protect users from apps that take advantage of them.