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A top-grossing scam on the App Store

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Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#221

Post by Apocryphon »

zepto wrote: post #216
Apocryphon wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your Apple bashing is really quite tiresome. Macs are serious machines and have grown in leaps and bounds over the past two decades. Are you seriously saying the de facto development platform for Silicon Valley startups, as well as the home for Apple Silicon, is no longer a “serious target”? No need to shill for Windows here.

It’s not a serious target for App Store scams, or scam software in general, because the user base is tiny compared to iOS. I think you know this.

Actually, the Mac App Store has received its share of scams.

https://www.howtogeek.com/281849/dont-be-fooled-the-mac-app-...

https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/mac-app-store-scam-apps

Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#222

Post by compiler-guy »

tolmasky wrote: post #54

Apple has just engineered the worst possible situation for themselves by being the only way to get apps on the store and by simultaneously incessantly marketing the store as "Safe and Secure". The former encourages them to maximize the number of apps on the store, while the latter encourages them to shoot first and ask questions later. If side-loading or alternative ways of getting apps onto the iPhone existed, then…

Apple's App store grossed twenty-billion dollars last year [1].

Whatever its problems are, it isn't the worst possible situation for themselves by a long shot.

[1] https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/08/apples-app-store-had-gross-s...

Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#224

Post by themacguffinman »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #33
vlovich123 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder if just business size can be used here rather than monopoly position. If your business is above a certain size, then more restrictions apply to what you can do. The reasoning is that the bigger you are the more people you impact, regardless of your market position and poor behaviors of smaller players to compete with larger players is also an issue. The current economic model of monopolies is very limited in…

I think size may also be construed as "infrastructure." For example, Facebook now has a couple of billion users. It has reached the point where we often have to get Facebook accounts/pages, if we want to reach certain users. In short, Facebook has become necessary to "survive," in a sense. That sort of puts it into the realm of a utility; like power or water. The idea of a utility, is that it is deliberately allowed…

> For example, Facebook now has a couple of billion users. It has reached the point where we often have to get Facebook accounts/pages, if we want to reach certain users. In short, Facebook has become necessary to "survive," in a sense.

Not in any meaningful sense that I can understand. Seems hard to argue that all the people on HN who've plainly stated that they left Facebook can be considered dead or struggling to survive. That's not a sensible definition of survival. Also, Facebook cannot and does not prevent anyone from reaching its users. Facebook users often use other products and platforms as well.

Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#225

Post by viraptor »

zepto wrote: post #217
viraptor wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes Amazon app store and f-droid not first class?

No automatic software updates.

I'd say it's a Google Play and specific deals limitation, not an Android limitation.

On a OnePlus phone I can easily activate root access and install f-droid as root which enables full updates handling.

Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#226

Post by 55555 »

cytzol wrote: post #163
55555 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see you are being downvoted but this is literally how this works. People install things and click rapidly thru the startup screens. These apps generally get legal consent from everyone who is billed, they just either didn't read it or forgot to cancel.

> People install things and click rapidly thru the startup screens. While this is true, and there are definitely cases of people not reading the text and accepting whatever, Apple has a long way to go here. On the payment screen, the text showing the price and the recurrence is way too small, and they're both located under an eminently-skippable "Policy" paragraph. It's no surprise that users are skipping this user-u…

I completely agree.

Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#228

Post by mch0lic1 »

Every time something like this happens people seem to be shocked and surprised, but his happens day in day out with every single large entity (companies, government, criminal gangs) as long as they large enough and have enough power to get away with whatever they are doing.

If Apple can make 1-2M/yr from a scam and lawyers tied all loose ends they will have no problem doing that. Worst case will push some press release statement blaming third party and that will be it.

Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#229

Post by sellyme »

kevingadd wrote: post #47
modeless wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google has an OS that is literally a browser engine It's not though. Chrome OS is literally Linux. You can install Firefox.

You may be able to install Firefox now, but originally it was literally a web-only affair. "Chrome OS is literally Linux" is about as accurate as "Android is literally Linux". Chrome OS is not just some rebadged Debian distro. Do all chromebooks support linux apps now? AFAIK that's not true, and only a subset of them support it.

> "Chrome OS is literally Linux" is about as accurate as "Android is literally Linux".

I agree, but I don't think that you're making the point you wanted to.

Re: A top-grossing scam on the App Store

#230

Post by heavyset_go »

modeless wrote: post #167
kevingadd wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You may be able to install Firefox now, but originally it was literally a web-only affair. "Chrome OS is literally Linux" is about as accurate as "Android is literally Linux". Chrome OS is not just some rebadged Debian distro. Do all chromebooks support linux apps now? AFAIK that's not true, and only a subset of them support it.

> "Chrome OS is literally Linux" is about as accurate as "Android is literally Linux". Chrome OS is not just some rebadged Debian distro. It's not rebadged Debian. The default Linux in Chrome OS is literally Debian. It has apt, bash, Wayland, X11. And of course the Linux kernel is there. What more do you want before you call it Linux? > Do all chromebooks support linux apps now? According to this page all 2019+ Chrom…

It's a Debian container.
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