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

…” and PLEASE develop a system to automatically find low ranked apps and purge them !!” pic.twitter.com/fhFvja7vXs
— Jacob Terry (@jerkob) May 5, 2021
Rip-off iOS apps that defraud users and simulate real apps continue to be a problem to this day. In current months, designer Kosta Eleftheriou has taken to speaking up versus scam apps and highlighting significant rip-offs in the App Store, bringing extra attention to the issue.

At the time, Temple Run was a very popular iOS exclusive title, and in February 2012, a fake 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 obvious rip off of the extremely popular Temple Run, with no screenshots, trash marketing text, and nearly all 1-star scores become the # 1 totally free app on the store?”
Phil Schiller in 2012, after a rip-off app struck # 1: “What the hell is this?????
… Is no one reviewing these Apps?

Phil Schiller in 2012, after a rip-off app struck # 1: “What the hell is this?????
… Is nobody examining these Apps? Is no one minding the store?” pic.twitter.com/pNaozl6hv1
— Patrick McGee (@PatrickMcGee_) May 3, 2021
Because that 2012 tirade, App Store customers have actually continued to fight with knockoff apps that simulate real apps. A second document highlighted Minecraft knockoffs that had actually made it into the App Store not once, however two times, and was eating up Minecraft sales, and in a third 2015 file, Schiller remarks that he “cant think” that Apple does not have automated tools to find and kick out scam apps.

Knockoff apps have actually long been an issue in the App Store, with fraud apps slipping previous reviewers to contend with real apps and steal sales, and back in 2012, Apples Phil Schiller was absolutely furious when a phony app made it to the top of the App Store rankings, according to files shared in the Epic v. Apple trial.
At the time, Temple Run was an incredibly popular iOS unique title, and in February 2012, a phony version 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 rip off of the extremely popular Temple Run, with no screenshots, garbage marketing text, and almost all 1-star rankings become the # 1 complimentary app on the store?”
” Is no one examining these apps? Is no one minding the store?” he ranted on, prior to asking whether individuals kept in mind a discuss becoming the “Nordstrom” of App Stores in quality of service.