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How does garbage like this get through the App Store? I thought Apple was notoriously strict on approvals? Also, do people still use the App Store? I don't thi

How does garbage like this get through the App Store? I thought Apple was notoriously strict on approvals? Also, do people still use the App Store? I don't think I have casually browsed for apps in 5 years or more.

alaskamiller 9y ago
But I’ve also never clicked on a Google Ad, yet Google somehow rode Adwords to $700 billion dollars today.
sausman 9y ago
I was wondering the same thing.. Maybe the developer was able to remotely flip a switch after the app went through approval to change its behavior and app review didn't catch it? What's really surprising is how long it's been out (almost 2 months)
- quaz3l 9y ago
  I can see that by using Microsoft CodePush or similar. But you can't change the description, in app purchases or title without going through the approval process again.
  - vsl 9y ago
    You definitely can the description...
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
Buge 9y ago
Maybe they submitted it 100 times before it got approved. With the money at stake, the effort is worth it.
- sumoboy 9y ago
  There should be a bad app bounty for stuff like this trash.
yoodenvranx 9y ago
> How does garbage like this get through the App Store Yes, exactly. How is there no-one at Apple/Google checking the top list of their app stores once a day to weed out all the crap?
- jjeaff 9y ago
  All you would have to do is put eyes on any app that charges $400 a month like this scam. That's got to be an absurdly low number of apps.
imron 9y ago
This was my first thought too. How do these apps even make it past review.
htormey 9y ago
Maybe they used some code push tech similar to what rollout used to update the app after review.
- megablast 9y ago
  Or they can just have a delay in the app, or have it check a website to see which code path it takes.
  - htormey 9y ago
    Yep. I do wonder if they employed some sort of shady tactic like this or my suggestion to get past app review. What surprising is they were still in the app store after 2 months. Apple usually pulls things pretty quick.
giarc 9y ago
It frustrating. I tried to get a legit app through the app store that had a link to our website where people could sign up. The iOS app is for customers with accounts, so it made sense to us to have a link where users could see our website (discover our Saas product and sign up). Apple repeatedly rejected it since they wanted their 30% cut of our revenue. So we now have to make it clear in our description that this app if for current customers only. However, these scamming apps make it through.
- eridius 9y ago
  The app store guidelines very clearly prohibit what you tried to do, and it's been well-known that this is prohibited for many many years. If you want to be able to get new users with your app, you need to provide an IAP subscription option.
  - MichaelGG 9y ago
    Doesn't Netflix's app's first screen say sign in or visit Netflix.com to sign up?
    - nulagrithom 9y ago
      I'd imagine there's some companies that even Apple can't bully.
    - jjeaff 9y ago
      They used to do that, and that is ok. But you can't link them to an external site to pay and sign up. But now they just bit the bullet and give up a portion of their revenue to Apple and Google. Although I believe 30% is only for the first year. It goes down after that.
      - edoceo 9y ago
        But, if you have existing customers and their account has lapsed and must be paid to re-enable service your app can link to a web-page payment form
DanBlake 9y ago
Years and years ago when we first launched a video chat room app, they denied it. They said it wasnt allowed to have a listing of rooms. So we simply had the app request a file from our server on app launch. If the file was present, we hid rooms. Once we got approved we just removed the file. We kept that up for a few months but it seemed like after the initial approval apple never bothered to check again so we just abandoned it after that.
- hellbanner 9y ago
  What was their reasoning "listing of rooms"? I'm somewhat familiar with the developer guidelines and not familiar with that one.
- thyselius 9y ago
  Be careful, I once got this from Apple (they had misunderstood something about my app) "Deliberate disregard of the App Store Review Guidelines and attempts to deceive users or undermine the review process is a direct violation of section 3.2(f) of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement. Continuing to violate the Terms & Conditions of the Apple Developer Program will result in the termination of your account, as well as any related or linked accounts, and the removal of all your associated apps from the App Store."
chrisseaton 9y ago
> do people still use the App Store Yes people spend billions of dollars a month on the App Store.
- notadoc 9y ago
  I get the feeling it's very top heavy, with the vast majority coming from in-app purchases of games. Presumably these are the ones advertised relentlessly too.

alaskamiller 9y ago

But I’ve also never clicked on a Google Ad, yet Google somehow rode Adwords to $700 billion dollars today.

sausman 9y ago

I was wondering the same thing.. Maybe the developer was able to remotely flip a switch after the app went through approval to change its behavior and app review didn't catch it? What's really surprising is how long it's been out (almost 2 months)

quaz3l 9y ago
I can see that by using Microsoft CodePush or similar. But you can't change the description, in app purchases or title without going through the approval process again.
- vsl 9y ago
  You definitely can the description...

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

Buge 9y ago

Maybe they submitted it 100 times before it got approved. With the money at stake, the effort is worth it.

sumoboy 9y ago
There should be a bad app bounty for stuff like this trash.

yoodenvranx 9y ago

> How does garbage like this get through the App Store Yes, exactly. How is there no-one at Apple/Google checking the top list of their app stores once a day to weed out all the crap?

jjeaff 9y ago
All you would have to do is put eyes on any app that charges $400 a month like this scam. That's got to be an absurdly low number of apps.

imron 9y ago

This was my first thought too. How do these apps even make it past review.

htormey 9y ago

Maybe they used some code push tech similar to what rollout used to update the app after review.

megablast 9y ago
Or they can just have a delay in the app, or have it check a website to see which code path it takes.
- htormey 9y ago
  Yep. I do wonder if they employed some sort of shady tactic like this or my suggestion to get past app review. What surprising is they were still in the app store after 2 months. Apple usually pulls things pretty quick.

giarc 9y ago

It frustrating. I tried to get a legit app through the app store that had a link to our website where people could sign up. The iOS app is for customers with accounts, so it made sense to us to have a link where users could see our website (discover our Saas product and sign up). Apple repeatedly rejected it since they wanted their 30% cut of our revenue. So we now have to make it clear in our description that this app if for current customers only. However, these scamming apps make it through.

eridius 9y ago
The app store guidelines very clearly prohibit what you tried to do, and it's been well-known that this is prohibited for many many years. If you want to be able to get new users with your app, you need to provide an IAP subscription option.
- MichaelGG 9y ago
  Doesn't Netflix's app's first screen say sign in or visit Netflix.com to sign up?
  - nulagrithom 9y ago
    I'd imagine there's some companies that even Apple can't bully.
  - jjeaff 9y ago
    They used to do that, and that is ok. But you can't link them to an external site to pay and sign up. But now they just bit the bullet and give up a portion of their revenue to Apple and Google. Although I believe 30% is only for the first year. It goes down after that.
    - edoceo 9y ago
      But, if you have existing customers and their account has lapsed and must be paid to re-enable service your app can link to a web-page payment form

DanBlake 9y ago

Years and years ago when we first launched a video chat room app, they denied it. They said it wasnt allowed to have a listing of rooms. So we simply had the app request a file from our server on app launch. If the file was present, we hid rooms. Once we got approved we just removed the file. We kept that up for a few months but it seemed like after the initial approval apple never bothered to check again so we just abandoned it after that.

hellbanner 9y ago
What was their reasoning "listing of rooms"? I'm somewhat familiar with the developer guidelines and not familiar with that one.
thyselius 9y ago
Be careful, I once got this from Apple (they had misunderstood something about my app) "Deliberate disregard of the App Store Review Guidelines and attempts to deceive users or undermine the review process is a direct violation of section 3.2(f) of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement. Continuing to violate the Terms & Conditions of the Apple Developer Program will result in the termination of your account, as well as any related or linked accounts, and the removal of all your associated apps from the App Store."

chrisseaton 9y ago

> do people still use the App Store Yes people spend billions of dollars a month on the App Store.

notadoc 9y ago
I get the feeling it's very top heavy, with the vast majority coming from in-app purchases of games. Presumably these are the ones advertised relentlessly too.