The App Store has a strict review process that analyzes each candidate app to be published on the platform. This makes Apple’s app store one of the most secure, but it does not mean that it is free from malicious apps. Developer Kosta Elftheriou has, in fact, detailed in a Twitter thread how an app has been circumventing Apple’s policy to generate up to $ 13 million.
The app, specifically, is called “AmpME – Speaker & Music Sync”. It is used to synchronize music from the iPhone to other speakers or equipment, such as desktop computers, smartphones of friends or colleagues, etc. The developer of this platform boasts in the description from the App Store that has more than 20 million users and is capable of synchronizing up to 22,000 devices at the same time, a record. The app is also free.
The problem? “AmpME – Speaker & Music Sync” urges its users to activate a free subscription for the first three days. After, He goes on to charge $ 9.99 a week. A plan that reaches up to $ 520 a year. This is a huge amount for a subscription that, according to Elftheriou, “is easy to activate, but much more difficult to cancel”, despite the fact that the app shows the opposite on its home screen. This, in addition, is not the only drawback.
Fake reviews in the App Store, the “trick” of the app to generate more income
Although the application does not appear to violate any policy of the App Store, given that any developer can set a price, it is strange that at such a high cost it is so popular. “AmpME – Speaker & Music Sync”, in fact, has a rating of 4.1 stars (out of 5) and can be found on the most popular music app lists. But nevertheless, much of their reviews are fake.
Many of them, as Elftheriou comments in his Twitter thread, have names that are not real. On the other hand, are full of nonsensical comments, despite the fact that they all have five stars. The rest of the evaluations reach the lowest score, with a star, and are from users who have realized how little useful the app is, its abusive price and its complicated method to cancel the subscription.
The iPhone app, despite violating one of the App Store policies, has been operational since 2018. Since then, it has generated in total more than 13 million dollars. It has also been positioned in different categories and sections recommended by Apple. But, Why hasn’t the company removed it? Apple might not have realized it, but Elftheriou suggests that the firm is turning a blind eye because the revenue also brings benefits to the company. “If you are worried that Apple will take action, calm down, they are also making millions with their application, and they are happy to continue presenting it in the App Store, over and over again,” says the developer. Apple, remember, they get up to 30% commission for the purchases of the apps that are present in the App Store.