Apple Promises To Clamp Down On Spam Apps

iOS users have recently been complaining about spam apps appearing in the “New” and “What’s Hot” sections of the App Store for some categories. Spam apps and rip-offs have actually been a problem on the App Store for a long time and while the company has taken steps to ensure that users are not exposed to these apps, there’s more work to be done, and the Apple executive in charge of managing the App Store has promised that the company will address this problem.

Phil Schiller, who was handed over the responsibility for managing the App Store in December last year, acknowledged the issue on Twitter and said that it shouldn’t be happening. He promised to look into the matter.

The App Store’s algorithm recommends new apps and games to users, it makes those recommendations based on new releases and trending apps on the App Store. Often the algorithm is seen recommending spam or copycat versions of the real apps and games that it should be recommending and this leads to criticism from users who often download these copycat versions.

Developers are frustrated by this issue as well since their legitimate apps get buried while copycat versions get prominently featured. Schiller was asked about this issue by a developer and he replied that this shouldn’t be happening. Hopefully, the company will take appropriate steps to ensure that this possibility of this happening is reduced significantly.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Apple
Tags: App Store, Apps