Ask HN: Does Apple not care about fake apps in the App Store?
I am the author of an open source desktop app (for Linux, macOS, and Windows) that is distributed via our website.
Recently, I have been receiving complaints from people who said they purchased a "pro version" of my app for $34.99 on the Apple App Store (for iOS - even though there is no iOS version of our app).
The App Store listing uses our app icon, the exact app name and has even tacked a (TM)-symbol to it. It seems to be AI-generated slop and I'm not sure if it provides any functionality at all.
I reached out to Apple via their trademark complaint form a week ago. All they seem to have done so far is forward my complaint to the author of the scam listing.
So, here is my question for folks who have been in a similar situation: Does Apple genuinely not care about fake apps in the App Store - or is there a better way to report them?
16 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 34.0 ms ] threadWhich of these is it?
> I reached out to Apple via their trademark complaint form a week ago. All they seem to have done so far is forward my complaint to the author of the scam listing.
What else would you expect them to do in that period? You told them “App X is breaking trademark Y that I own and I didn’t give them permission to do so”. They can’t take that at face value, so they asked for a rebuttal. A week isn’t too long a period to give them to reply, isn’t it?
So Apple should really be taking action on both counts, in my opinion.
https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/how-much-does-it-cos...
If he did have a trademark he could go to Apple and say specifically "this is a case of trademark infringement" and probably not need a lawyer but he'd also have the basis for a civil lawsuit.
Which is precisely why I asked if there's a better way to report scam apps that I might have missed. But unfortunately it doesn't seem to be the case and you don't seem to have an answer either.
What leads you to make these allegations?
As far as I can tell, it is not pretending to be your app or claiming any affiliation. The app doesn't even do the same things your does. It's just named the same. It seems a pretty obvious app name.
They probably just came up with the name and didn't bother to Google for prior art. Do you have a trademark on the name? If so, that should squash it from the App Store. Otherwise, I think you're hosed.
That said, it's at best a pretty low quality app with atrocious in-app prices.
Your case reminded me the ledger fake app that was available there and lead to some millionaire losses.
Even more unfortunate is that the android store also isn't free from this risk =/
See my other comment for further details: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48838328
Legit website: https://clipgrab.org/
App Store link to alleged "fake" app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clipgrab/id6761039605
As far as I can tell, the App Store app doesn't claim any affiliation with clipgrab.org or the open source app. It doesn't even do the same thing.
So yeah, it doesn't claim to do the same thing in the description - but it's vague enough that a casual reader might think it does. And the fact that they use the name and the icon makes it pretty obvious that they're trying to trick people who are looking for an iOS version of ClipGrab into paying them money. This is also made evident by the fact that I have received a number of complaints from users who were convinced, they had paid for a "pro version" of ClipGrab that was now simply not doing what they expected.