Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#61

Post by granzymes » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:07 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #54

granzymes wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Why would they remove the ability for people to easily report apps? Presumably for a reason. I don't work at Apple, so to spitball some possibilities: * The "report a problem" button was being misused and had worse signal than other metrics Apple added. * Legal or Public Relations pressed to remove the button because only a portion of reports were actioned (possibly because of the above point) and it was causing leg…

Even in this most generous possible explanation, Apple removed a quality-control check and didn't replace it with anything.

My point is that you don't know that they didn't replace it with anything.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#62

Post by smoldesu » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:09 PM UTC

cageface wrote: post #39

granzymes wrote: post #4

Would the number of scams in the top 1000 be higher than 2% if the App Store was not tightly controlled? It doesn't follow that, since some bad things have gotten past the gatekeeper, we should get rid of the gatekeeper.

Apple asks us to relinquish some of our most essential freedoms in exchange for the promise of safety. If they’re not providing that safety it’s a rotten bargain.

I'd argue that if they can't prove the safety, you're getting ripped off. Apple can point their finger at every third party under the sun, but at the end of the day PRISM and the CCP has it's respective index fingers on their iCloud servers, quietly (and happily) siphoning information from a "completely secure" (unaudited) system.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#63

Post by williesleg » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:10 PM UTC

The internet is one of the greatest scams of our time. By the time you realize it, it's too late.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#64

Post by defaultname » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:10 PM UTC

smoldesu wrote: post #60

defaultname wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which doesn't say or claim that it's "completely secure". The notion is preposterous if third parties are involved. Only a Sith deals in absolutes. Then again, so do people making disingenuous arguments online.

Excuse me, they used the words "every one of" and "every app" to describe the purview of their security checks. Is that somehow not absolute enough for you?

To be clear, you read "we review every app" and from that your interpretation is that every app is "completely secure".

To be polite, ROFL. Either you're posing a disingenuous argument to win a pathetic internet argument (which is hilariously dumb, but here we are), or you're stupid. Which is it?

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#65

Post by smoldesu » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:11 PM UTC

tlogan wrote: post #10

I got scammed too. I got an app for $14/week for some LG / Samsung screen sharing. We were in hotel and I wanted to stream something to TV in the hotel room so I quickly downloaded it. Wine did not help :( The app was charging me for one month. But then it disappeared from the store. One problem is this weekly schedule: people do not check cc statements on weekly schedule. Also they should sent an iMessage a couple o…

You're forgetting that Apple makes money every time you spend it. They aren't going to stop serving you drinks inside their casino, and they're certainly not going to warn you before you fleece their pockets again.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#66

Post by FriendlyNormie » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:11 PM UTC

echelon wrote: post #8

joezydeco wrote: post #3

I'm boggled that Apple lets apps charge a weekly amount for features that have no appearance of new content each week, like a newspaper or magazine would. This seems like the simplest thing to fix right away.

I'm boggled that the US government lets Apple rake in 30% for commerce on the app store, despite it being only one of two games in town for commerce. It'd be like only having two options for cars (Ford and Tesla), and forcing restaurants, stores, etc. to pay 30% of their gross revenue to Tesla for their having brought you. It's truly bizarro world. Make no pretense. This isn't about protecting consumers, this is abou…

No post body was provided.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#67

Post by tedunangst » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:12 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #45

> Simon Willison, a software engineer and a former iOS developer [...] owns a Samsung television and went to the App Store on his phone to install the accompanying Samsung remote control app called “SmartThings.” An app called “Smart Things” popped up, claiming to be a remote for Samsung televisions. Willison paid $19 for the app. It turns out the app was pretending to the be the genuine Samsung product. His mistake,…

Huh? He's clearly blaming Apple for violating his trust. He never trusted Samsung.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#68

Post by defaultname » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:14 PM UTC

delfinom wrote: post #59

defaultname wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which doesn't say or claim that it's "completely secure". The notion is preposterous if third parties are involved. Only a Sith deals in absolutes. Then again, so do people making disingenuous arguments online.

Idk, when I see " rigorously reviewed", I think being able to see the app is attempting to masquerade as an existing one...

We are discussing the claim that Apple guarantees every app is "completely secure". Thanks for the comment though.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#69

Post by citizenpaul » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:14 PM UTC

rchaud wrote: post #45

> Simon Willison, a software engineer and a former iOS developer [...] owns a Samsung television and went to the App Store on his phone to install the accompanying Samsung remote control app called “SmartThings.” An app called “Smart Things” popped up, claiming to be a remote for Samsung televisions. Willison paid $19 for the app. It turns out the app was pretending to the be the genuine Samsung product. His mistake,…

I've met quite a number of developers that somehow barely have the skills of my grandma using a PC outside of their daily development tasks. Ive seen multiple help desk tickets back in my help desk days where developers got someone to email saying their PC was broken when it was just turned off.

My point being a developer does not necessarily make this person somehow less susceptible to app store scams.

Re: Apple’s tightly controlled App Store is teeming with scams

#70

Post by smoldesu » Sun, Jun 06, 2021, 5:15 PM UTC

granzymes wrote: post #56

TaupeRanger wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article is arguing that the veneer of safety implied by Apple (above and beyond other stores) might make users more susceptible to fraud because they are more likely to believe the apps are all safe. They might be more cautious with other stores that don't offer that protection. Whether this leads to more actual cases of fraud would require a real study to be done.

The reason I disagree with this argument is that it boils down to "tons of scams are better than a few sophisticated scams because users are more wary." Users themselves have various levels of sophistication, and unsophisticated scams have plenty of victims.

The only reason I disagree with your disagreement is because Apple is making money here, and they have every incentive to turn the other cheek. Their entire business model is based on driving user interaction and spending, so I don't think they're the most trustworthy party to audit the App Store. That would be like if we let the President decide which news channels were allowed to broadcast at the beginning of their term.