Phil Schiller on App Store Knockoffs in 2012: ‘Is No One Reviewing These Apps?’

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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 shop?” pic.twitter.com/pNaozl6hv1
— Patrick McGee (@PatrickMcGee_) May 3, 2021
Since that 2012 tirade, App Store reviewers have continued to fight with knockoff apps that imitate real apps. A second file highlighted Minecraft knockoffs that had made it into the App Store not as soon as, but twice, and was consuming Minecraft sales, and in a third 2015 file, Schiller comments that he “cant think” that Apple does not have automated tools to discover and kick out rip-off apps.

…” and PLEASE establish a system to immediately find low rated apps and purge them !!” pic.twitter.com/fhFvja7vXs
— Jacob Terry (@jerkob) May 5, 2021
Fraud iOS apps that defraud users and imitate real apps continue to be a problem to this day. In current months, designer Kosta Eleftheriou has actually taken to speaking out versus fraud apps and highlighting notable frauds in the App Store, bringing extra attention to the concern.

At the time, Temple Run was an incredibly popular iOS unique title, and in February 2012, a fake variation of Temple Run hit the App Store charts. Schiller sent out an e-mail 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 super popular Temple Run, with no screenshots, garbage marketing text, and almost all 1-star ratings end up being the # 1 free app on the store?”
Phil Schiller in 2012, after a rip-off app hit # 1: “What the hell is this?????
… Is no one reviewing these Apps?

Knockoff apps have actually long been a problem in the App Store, with fraud apps slipping previous reviewers to compete with real apps and take sales, and back in 2012, Apples Phil Schiller was definitely furious when a phony app made it to the top of the App Store rankings, according to documents shared in the Epic v. Apple trial.
At the time, Temple Run was an extremely popular iOS unique title, and in February 2012, a fake variation of Temple Run hit the App Store charts. Schiller sent an email to Eddy Cue, Greg Joswiak, Ron Okamoto, Phillip Shoemaker, Matt Fischer, Kevin Saul, and others on the App Store group. “What the hell is this????” he asked. “How does an apparent rip off of the very popular Temple Run, with no screenshots, garbage marketing text, and almost all 1-star scores become the # 1 complimentary app on the store?”
” Is no one examining these apps? Is nobody minding the store?” he ranted on, before asking whether people kept in mind a talk about becoming the “Nordstrom” of App Stores in quality of service.