Phil Schiller on App Store Knockoffs in 2012: ‘Is No One Reviewing These Apps?’
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At the time, Temple Run was an extremely popular iOS special title, and in February 2012, a fake variation of Temple Run struck the App Store charts. Schiller sent out an email to Eddy Cue, Greg Joswiak, Ron Okamoto, Phillip Shoemaker, Matt Fischer, Kevin Saul, and others on the App Store team. “What the hell is this????” he asked. “How does an obvious dupe of the very popular Temple Run, with no screenshots, garbage marketing text, and almost all 1-star rankings become the # 1 free app on the shop?”
” Is no one examining these apps? Is nobody minding the shop?” he ranted on, before asking whether people remembered a speak about becoming the “Nordstrom” of App Stores in quality of service.
Phil Schiller in 2012, after a rip-off app struck # 1: “What the hell is this?????
… Is nobody reviewing these Apps? Is no one minding the store?” pic.twitter.com/pNaozl6hv1
— Patrick McGee (@PatrickMcGee_) May 3, 2021
Because that 2012 rant, App Store customers have actually continued to battle with knockoff apps that imitate real apps. A 2nd file highlighted Minecraft knockoffs that had made it into the App Store not once, however twice, and was consuming Minecraft sales, and in a third 2015 document, Schiller comments that he “cant believe” that Apple does not have automatic tools to kick and discover out fraud apps.
At the time, Temple Run was an incredibly popular iOS unique title, and in February 2012, a phony variation of Temple Run hit the App Store charts. Schiller sent out an email to Eddy Cue, Greg Joswiak, Ron Okamoto, Phillip Shoemaker, Matt Fischer, Kevin Saul, and others on the App Store group. “How does an apparent rip off of the extremely popular Temple Run, with no screenshots, garbage marketing text, and nearly all 1-star scores become the # 1 complimentary app on the shop?”
Phil Schiller in 2012, after a rip-off app struck # 1: “What the hell is this?????
… Is no one reviewing evaluating Apps?
Phil Schiller, 2015:
” [this fraud app] is a great example of the things we need to have automatic tools to find and kick out of the store. I cant believe we still do not.” …” and PLEASE develop a system to immediately find low ranked apps and purge them !!” pic.twitter.com/fhFvja7vXs
— Jacob Terry (@jerkob) May 5, 2021
Fraud iOS apps that defraud users and simulate genuine apps continue to be an issue to this day. In current months, developer Kosta Eleftheriou has required to speaking up versus fraud apps and highlighting significant rip-offs in the App Store, bringing extra attention to the issue.