Mobile application developer Kosta Eleftheriou has a new vocation that goes beyond software development: taking what he sees as a rampant scam that ruins the integrity of Apple’s App Store.
Eleftheriou, who created the successful Apple Watch FlickType keyboard app, in the past two weeks has publicly criticized Apple for its loose application of its App Store rules that allowed fraudulent apps, as well as apps that cloned popular software from other developers, to run rampant. These apps enjoy higher revenue in the iPhone market, all thanks to great reviews and excellent five-star ratings that are widely manufactured, he says.
So far, I’ve been in the field “Apple * wants * to do the right thing”. My point of view is starting to change.
How to detect a $ 5 million / year scam in @Application store, in 5 minutes:
– Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) February 6, 2021
“It is surprising that more people do not know about this. The extent to which this has happened and is currently happening is absolutely mind-boggling, ”said Eleftheriou The Verge the magnitude of the fraud he says is occurring daily on the App Store. “In particular now with the App Store, which is my main concern, the problem has grown so much that having the rating and review system is getting worse. This gives consumers a false sense of security and a false idea that the app is great when you’re entering it through a brilliant App Store page with delusional reviews. ”
His vocal complaints, which have attracted the attention and support of countless other application developers in the iOS community, underscore the growing tension between Apple and the software manufacturers on which it depends. It comes at a time of unprecedented antitrust scrutiny and legal challenges from competitors related to the company’s administration of the App Store, with which it is estimated to have made more than $ 64 billion last year.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.
The issues Eleftheriou is raising are interlinked, all stemming from what he says are inconsistent App Store rules and lazy moderation. It is not just apps that try to embezzle money from consumers under false pretenses, using exploitative subscription services. They are also fake ratings and ratings that can be purchased and a broken algorithmic rating system that helps these apps reach the top and replace genuine paid apps developed by small teams or unique developers, says Eleftheriou. Letting it be perpetuated, he adds, is a platform that Apple does not actively police, unless it’s a problem that gains media attention or involves one of Apple’s current rivals, like Facebook or Fifteen days Epic Games manufacturer.
Eleftheriou first detailed his personal experience with scams from the App Store at the end of last month on a Twitter topic, where he explained how his FlickType application was maliciously copied by several developers who created non-functional versions of the software and charged blatant subscription fees, only escaping because of strong criticism in the App Store and high five-star ratings that he claims are false.
Eleftheriou says its main competitor, a fraudulent app called KeyWatch, charged users $ 8 a week and amassed more than $ 2 million a year, according to Appfigures’ analyzes, although the app doesn’t work properly. He says KeyWatch even announced its software using its promotional video – with its name still attached.
The App Store has a big problem
You: an honest developer, working hard to improve your IAP conversions.
Your competitor: a $ 2 million / year scam running rampant.1 /
– Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) January 31, 2021
Eleftheriou has since embarked on an online crusade to bring more attention to the topic, fueled in part by Apple’s choice to withdraw some of the apps it has highlighted, but allowing the developers behind those apps to continue publishing on the App Store. Many other developers have also started collaborating on their own experiences, including notable critics of Apple, such as Basecamp co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson.
Some of these critics, including Hansson regarding his company’s Hey email client, have accused Apple in the past of mistreating and overburdening developers using the standard cut of 30% of app downloads and in-app purchases from the App Store. These critics see the coup situation as further proof that Apple profits from these developers and, therefore, does not take the appropriate measures to moderate the platform and enforce its rules.
The fraudulent subscription apps that Apple allows on the App Store are really crazy. While they are busy hunting legitimate developers for their kilo of meat, they are letting these hyenas fight in the savanna without opposition. https://t.co/NpsjjWC0CY
– DHH (@dhh) February 8, 2021
Apple has not yet responded publicly to Eleftheriou’s allegations, although the company removed KeyWatch and some of the other fraudulent applications that it drew attention to last week. But the problems are systemic, says Eleftheriou, and nothing less than a review of how the App Store rates software, measures reliability and eliminates malicious actors will solve the problem. Until then, Eleftheriou says he will continue to sound the alarm.
“I will not stop. Whenever I see a scam, I will report them, ”he says. “I just can’t wait for some real adequate change from Apple to make me feel that I should focus on what I should be focusing on, which is application development.”
He says that a competing app store on the iPhone can help solve many of these problems. This is the same line of argument that Epic used in its lawsuit against Apple about removing Fifteen days. Epic and its chief executive, Tim Sweeney, have asked for alternative markets on iOS, as well as the ability for apps distributed through the App Store to use their own payment systems and not give Apple 30% of each transaction. After Epic deployed its own in-app payment system within Fifteen days last summer, Apple removed the app for violating its rules. Epic is now suing Apple and Google.
“In an ideal world, competition has a tendency to solve many things, be it prices or application of rules. Competition is like creativity; you get all these new ideas and, hopefully, the best ones reach the top ”, says Eleftheriou. “The other way would be for developers to publicly share their stories as widely and widely as possible. The more users understand that this is a problem, the more pressure there will be on Apple to act. ”
Eleftheriou adds that he is disappointed by Apple’s silence on the matter, although that only energized him further to continue talking. “It is not just acting. I think Apple needs, at the very least, to say something, acknowledge the problem and is working on it, ”he says. “Being silent about this is just falsely reinforcing the notion for consumers that App Store ratings and ratings are reliable. They are not.”