App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer • Hacker News Board

Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer

#31

Post by snsr » Sat, Dec 10, 2011, 5:04 AM UTC

GrantS wrote: post #22

d_r wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I had a toy sheep like that as a kid, so it seems like a legitimate app to me, sorry to hear it was rejected. I noticed those fake fingerprint scanners -- at least two of which were consistently in the top 100 -- last year when I was creating an app that performs real 3D scanning. I thought "Surely if a fake fingerprint scanner is so popular, something that actually takes a 3D scan of your face would be even more pop…

GrantS - Trimensional is fantastic; unpredictability is fun and inspiring. Thank you. It's also been my go-to wow demo for the uninitiated.

Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer

#32

Post by lazugod » Sat, Dec 10, 2011, 5:31 AM UTC

richcollins wrote: post #13

This is the same strategy Android device makers use to compete with the Apple. Fill the shelves with crap and plenty of people will never see the good stuff.

It's a strategy made by bad manufacturers, not necessarily those that use Android.

Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer

#33

Post by mkramlich » Sat, Dec 10, 2011, 6:28 AM UTC

"competing" against spooge like that was one big thing that turned me off iPhone development. So many apps that don't have to actually be apps, could have just been a web app, or could have been an MP3 file you listen to in iTunes, or a PDF at some HTTP URL, or whatever.

Re: App Store Spam - 28 identical apps, one developer

#34

Post by iradik » Sat, Dec 10, 2011, 8:11 AM UTC

apike wrote: post #9

App 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.

How can it be like web spam? Web spam is in hypertext and app store spam is compiled code.