App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
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App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#2Interesting. It seems even if Apple does something about it, the next step would be to slightly tweak each of them to be non-identical to the others.
I wonder if the developer is making a lot of money because that would be the real indicator of whether or not we will see a lot more of this.
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#3Apple's been fairly lax lately with its checking. A friend's game that we were able to get crashing on launch 100% of the time passed through the original submit process without a peep.
The same friend, just for kicks, submitted a deliberately broken app that didn't crash but showed a blank screen after launch. It also got approved without incident. It's like Apple just ran automated tests, but no human ever saw it.
I have a feeling that Apple's process varies depending on the kind of app (free vs. paid), the platforms you're targeting and your past history.
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#4Interesting. It seems even if Apple does something about it, the next step would be to slightly tweak each of them to be non-identical to the others. I wonder if the developer is making a lot of money because that would be the real indicator of whether or not we will see a lot more of this.
The developer is ultimately hurting himself here. Each of these apps is competing against the other for attention.
If he had a single app, and if that app were useful it would garner all the downloads and help it rise higher up the popularity ladder.
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#5Interesting. It seems even if Apple does something about it, the next step would be to slightly tweak each of them to be non-identical to the others. I wonder if the developer is making a lot of money because that would be the real indicator of whether or not we will see a lot more of this.
The developer is ultimately hurting himself here. Each of these apps is competing against the other for attention. If he had a single app, and if that app were useful it would garner all the downloads and help it rise higher up the popularity ladder.
I disagree. With an app like his, a white noise generator, he is unlikely to ever rank highly or be featured by Apple. But if you are searching for white noise/pink noise/relaxation/relax/sleep/dreaming/rest/calm/tranquil/tranquility/peaceful you're guaranteed to encounter one of his apps. Classic SEO stuff.
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#6He is probably doing some kind of research
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#7This is a common business model for mobile apps. I see blog posts here on the hacker news front page from iphone app guys describing the development of their app product line. In the end its quite literally make a tool that poops out apps that are just a little different.
This is rampant in the industry and is motivated by cross-promotion and social marketing with little development overhead. Their product is the eventual user base. Apple doesn't care because it feeds the market and they get their cut. To top all that off, its successful enough that there are armies of micro-companies out there doing this every day because to them it actually works.
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#8Apple's been fairly lax lately with its checking. A friend's game that we were able to get crashing on launch 100% of the time passed through the original submit process without a peep. The same friend, just for kicks, submitted a deliberately broken app that didn't crash but showed a blank screen after launch. It also got approved without incident. It's like Apple just ran automated tests, but no human ever saw it.…
I have observed the same thing. On the other hand however, when I submit my apps, somehow I always end up getting allocated to reviewers who fancy a little argument / rejection cycle about the finer details of the more exotic parts of the Human Interface Guidelines. I suspect that it relates to the price tag of the app.
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#9App Store spam should be like web spam - if the search and browse tools are good, it should fade into the background. Instead, actually choosing a good app in one of these categories is intensely frustrating. Blocking noise like this at approval time is a lot less sustainable than making it less prominent than good competitors.
Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer
#10Apple's been fairly lax lately with its checking. A friend's game that we were able to get crashing on launch 100% of the time passed through the original submit process without a peep. The same friend, just for kicks, submitted a deliberately broken app that didn't crash but showed a blank screen after launch. It also got approved without incident. It's like Apple just ran automated tests, but no human ever saw it.…
It's hit or miss. Once I made a free app that displayed a picture of a cartoon cow and made a "Moooo" sound when you turned the phone upside down. I had a toy like that as a kid. Okay, don't judge me -- but I thought I would be a fun quick idea and any kids (and even some adults) to whom I've shown the prototype loved it. I had an artist draw the cow, and bought rights to a sound I really liked.
The app was rejected twice for having "limited functionality." After I resubmitted it with various tweaks, someone actually called me personally to reject it. They were classy, communicated well, and were very polite, but ...
There are plenty of apps in the store, often in Top 100, that do less, or actually do nothing. My favorite is "traffic light changer" that claims to change traffic lights. Or a "fingerprint scanner." Also, there's "lockify your screen" that claims to give you Android-like screen unlock, and yet just displays a wallpaper with dots. Yes, they all have oodles of 1-star reviews from upset buyers, but they did get approved somehow. It seems like I just got unlucky with reviewers.