Avast researchers have discovered a total of 204 wool applications with more than a billion downloads and more than $ 400 million in revenue from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. This is at a time when Apple faces increasing scrutiny about fraudulent apps on the App Store.
This is not the first time someone has highlighted fraudulent apps on the App Store. Last month, a developer exposed several fraudulent apps on the App Store, some bringing in millions of dollars in revenue. That same developer is suing Apple for not policing the App Store.
First of all, it is important to explain what fleeceware is: it is a term that refers to a mobile application that comes with excessive subscription fees. For example, most apps include a brief free trial, but these fleeceware apps take advantage of users who are not familiar with how subscriptions work on the iPhone or other Android device and charge higher fees.
On a blog In the post, Avast explains how wool blows promise free subscription tests, but offer expensive charges to victims.
These applications generally have no exclusive functionality and are only channels for woolen strikes. Avast reported the wool applications for analysis by Apple and Google.
THE Avast the research points to the following categories of applications as being the most prone to fleeceware:
- Musical instrument app
- Palm Readers
- Image editors
- Camera filters
- Soothsayers
- QR and PDF code readers
- Slime Simulators
Although most applications will work, it is unlikely that a user would want to pay a significant recurring fee for them, especially when cheaper or even free alternatives are on the market.
It seems that part of the wool strategy is to reach a younger audience through playful themes and catchy ads on popular social networks with promises of ‘free installation’ or ‘free download’. By the time the parents notice the weekly payments, the wool may have already extracted significant amounts of money.
How could the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store combat wool blows?
Avast offers some solutions that Apple and Google should follow. First, the researchers think that companies should change the way subscriptions work. If a user downloads a free app with a trial, after the trial ends, the store should send an alert if the user wants to subscribe to the app and does not start charging automatically once it is finished.
Another option is to provide a better pop-up when deleting an application to which you are subscribed. Apple and Google already alert the user when he tries to remove an enrolled application, but Avast thinks it could be better.
An emerging trend is that several popular applications have been converted to the subscription-based fleeceware model. Apps that were once free or required a one-time fee to unlock all features now offer expensive weekly subscriptions. Judging by the reviews, sometimes users who have previously paid for the full app are also forced to subscribe to wool without having access to the app already purchased. More developers are likely to do the same, since the revenue generated from wool is evidently substantial.
Avast also gives you some tips to avoid wool blows:
- Be careful with free trials of less than a week
- Read the fine print
- Be skeptical of viral ads
- Shop around
- Protect your payments
- Discuss the dangers of wool with your family
FTC: We use affiliate links for automobiles that generate revenue. Most.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more news from Apple: