Jeff Johnson, developer of the popular StopTheMadness Safari extension, has said that “obvious” App Store ratings fraud is going undetected by Apple despite the company’s claims to review listings.
He said that although he doesn’t go proactively looking for App Store fraud, he does encounter it rather frequently, citing the latest example …
The App Store as ‘a safe and trusted place’
Apple has aggressively resisted every antitrust move involving third-party app stores or sideloaded apps for iPhones, only relenting when forced to do so by law. Even then, it continues to fight its corner.
The company claims it isn’t motivated by money, but rather a desire to protect iPhone users from malware. Last year, for example, the company claims to have prevented over $9 billion in fraudulent transactions.
A number of developers, however, have taken issue with claims that the App Store is a safe place, pointing to a number of multi-million dollar scams. Just last month, three customers sued Apple after a fake wallet app wiped out their Bitcoin.
App Store ratings fraud
App Store ratings fraud has long been a major problem, with companies in China renting out iPhone farms in order to download apps and give them five-star ratings.
Developer Jeff Johnson, best known for his StopTheMadness Safari extension, pointed to the latest example of what he describes as “pervasive and obvious” review fraud in App Store listings. He points to TabControl Extension as the latest example.
He said this was the #12 top paid Safari extension in the US Mac App Store when he happened across it, and that it uses a fake screenshot that appears to be AI-generated.
As he notes, if a developer is scamming you in order to sell you the app in the first place, you certainly don’t want to trust them with your browsing data.
9to5Mac’s Take
It will of course never be possible to detect every instance of App Store fraud, but fake reviews are ridiculously common, and examples like this should be so absurdly obvious to Apple that it’s hard to understand how the extension was ever approved.
At the very least, Apple needs to implement a system where hitting any of the top rankings automatically triggers a new and more rigorous review of an app and the claims that it makes.
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Image: 9to5Mac/Apple/Jeff Johnson/Sincerely Media
