Don’t Be Fooled: The Mac App Store Is Full of Scams | Hacker News Reader

Don’t Be Fooled: The Mac App Store Is Full of Scams

howtogeek.com

53 pointsadamnemecek16 comments

While I have not been fooled by those apps I have stumbled upon them when searching for the genuine thing. The problem is real.

There seems discrepancy the way Apple treated the Dash developer and the way it generally polices the marketplace. I don't want to go back to that discussion as I believe Apple has to defend the integrity of the marketplace. But very uneven enforcement leaves Apple not only open to accusations of unfairness but all sorts of legal trouble.

The article focus on misleading advertisements for products (with a 30% cut for Apple). The fact that they set the rules and enforce them (sometimes) makes it difficult to claim this is none of their business. It seems that the neglect of the Mac App store has now reached a point where one could make a reasonable case for trade mark infringement. Maybe there would be one if Microsoft or Adobe were at war with Apple.

Apple, this problem is solvable. Improve the App store deliverability. It is overdue. Clean out dead apps. Enforce proper keywords. It "only" takes leadership (a different one?) and enough resources to take a short look at what you sell. There is no shame in falling behind Microsoft if you wake up and begin to catch up.

I don't understand why Apple cannot have a verified check against some App Store apps much like how Twitter has them for user profiles.

I also think the App Store is suffering because Apple can't seem to decide whether the App Store should be a convenient technology that makes it easy for users to find, install and uninstall software (I.e. a macOS feature) or whether it should be a storefront. The naming and current policies, including the 30% cut strongly seem to suggest the latter, but I suspect Apple would be better served if they treated it as the former, and didn't look st it as a profit source.

> Apple [does not] have a verified check against some App Store apps much like how Twitter has them for user profiles

They don't? Google Play certainly has verified developers, under the name "Top Developer". See for example here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.twitter.an...

The documentation states that "top developers" are "selected by Google Play team": https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ...

On a couple of occasions I've found broken rip-offs of my applications in the App Store, and Apple was very slow to remove them. It took 6 months on average.

In my case the scammers have learned how to stall the process — at each stage they didn't respond to anything until the very last deadline, and then lied and lied as long as they could (to absurd levels — in one case my name was in credits.rtf in their app bundle, and they still said it's 100% their app).

When the app is removed Apple doesn't issue refunds, and I wouldn't be surprised if the seller kept the money. So 6 months of sales per obvious, immediately reported scam is still a good business.

The article claims: 'Over the summer at least one Mac App Store app installed malware onto users’ Macs.'

But then links to http://fortune.com/2016/07/06/mac-malware-backdoor-app/ which seems to be about something called "EasyDoc Converter" which was stated to not have been in Mac App Store...

'The good news is that the malware, dubbed “Backdoor.MAC.Eleanor” by the researchers, is not available in Apple’s AAPL 0.50% official App Store. Instead, the app has been advertised for download on third-party sites; for instance, a copy was available on the site MacUpdate until it was removed on Tuesday.'

Apple has been going through and removing old/unused apps from the App Store more recently, fortunately. I agree it isn't fast enough and that they will hopefully do more about it.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/01/apple-is-going-to-remove-a...

Can you even use an i-thing without an iTunes account and credit card?

Just asking I refused a work iPhone 4 way back when because it wouldn't let me do anything without one.

Not if you want to install apps, and if you don't want to jailbreak.

Is it really that much of a hassle, though? A lot of services have my email and credit card.

I'm still appalled that credit cards are so unavoidable for internet payment. Although in this particular case, credit cards' ability to refund your money in case of a scam should fix this problem. Why hasn't that happened?

Totally agree. Digital payments are a mess. Sadly, everyone thinks they have the answer - solutions looking for a problem.

Pretty sure you can use gift cards or a debit card instead though I haven't tried it myself.

You don't even need that. You can select 'None'.

You can skip inputting payment information when you set it up with an iTunes account.

This. Otherwise a lot of Germans wouldn't be able to use Apple devices. Credit cards are not very common here, but you can purchase iTunes prepaid cards at many chain stores.

Apple Support Article, showing how on iOS and MacOS, "Create or use your Apple ID without a payment method":

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204034

Apple reviews every single app that makes it to the store. Does the author really think this is not intentional?

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