Mike Peterson
An iOS app that forced users to leave a positive rating before using it managed to get past Apple's App Review process, though it has since been removed from the App Store.
The app, named UPNP Xtreme, purported to let users stream videos to their TV. However, as soon as the app opens after installation, it demands a review before it even functioned.
As spotted by app developer and anti-scam advocate Kosta Eleftheriou, the app would open a review dialog box as soon as it opened. However, the box couldn't be dismissed without leaving a review that was between three and five stars.
The review: "This app forced me to give it a good rating before I could use it."
— Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) May 25, 2021
You: "Pfff, no one's FORCING you!"
The app: pic.twitter.com/R6ytFAguhU
The review behavior directly violates Apple's App Store guidelines, which bar developers from "showing a request review immediately when a user launches your app."
More than that, Apple's review API wouldn't allow developers to force leaving a review, so the developer of the scam app appears to have side-stepped the standard developer tools. In a subsequent tweet, Eleftheriou said the odd functionality was the result of a "trick" that is "extremely easy for any developer to do."
According to Eleftheriou, the developer of the fraudulent app has more than 15 million downloads and reportedly makes millions in revenue.
This isn't the first scam app Eleftheriou has discovered — the app developer has publicized a slew of scammy apps in the past while vocally criticized Apple's App Review process. Back in March, Eleftheriou sued Apple for allegedly enabling the scam app problem.
Apple's App Review process has been a centerpiece of the Epic Games v. Apple antitrust trial. Tesitmony during the trial revealed a variety of details about the process, including the fact that concerns about scam apps among Apple executives stretch back nearly a decade.
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29 Comments
Yet another proof that most third-party mobile apps are rubbish by default.
I noticed there's been a wave of posts very similar to Owl's (similar wording) taking aim at Kosta the individual without addressing the substance of his points on here, 9to5Mac, MacRumors, and reddit, all posted this morning, some not even in reply to specific messages about this app. Looks like he rattled enough doors to make someone angry enough to spend a little money for an anti-marketing campaign.
I laughed. If you’re going to be scammy it’s good to be funny about it.
Stuff like this slips the review process cause the developer used a remote configuration to turn off the features they don't want the reviewers to see. Once it passes review and is released they updated the config to turn them on. Maybe apple should consider a post release review process with a randomized time for check