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Developer account removed by Apple

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Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#21

Post by ceejayoz »

wahnfrieden wrote: post #13
ceejayoz wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think the Boomerang app is theirs. It doesn’t show up in the link of their Google Play apps. If it is, that’s Instagram’s trademark.

Apple allows “for X” and “powered by X” type app names per official policy cited by App Store reviewers There are other patterns they allow that I’m unfamiliar with. Perhaps “X Maker” is one of them because it appears there are many other developer accounts using this pattern from a quick search. The point is that using another trademark isn’t itself a violation necessarily

Yes, but the app depicted doesn’t do that.

https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/introducing-b...

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/boomerang-video-maker/id145467...

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#22

Post by EwanG »

dado3212 wrote: post #3
EwanG wrote: post #2

Honestly, after looking through the "apps" they created and what little I could find about reviews for them, I am having a hard time not feeling that Apple was in the right here. On the other hand, I certainly understand that having your business shut down with little or no notice and right of appeal lies with the "prosecution" can feel crummy.

What makes you say that? The article is light on details about what the apps actually do, and why they might be violating.

Looking at "Fontly Color Fonts", and some of their other apps, they are mainly repackaging websites as an app. For example check out the actual website at - https://fontly.org/

I don't think that's necessarily a "bad" thing but I hardly find it reasonable to believe they are charging for the privilege.

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#24

Post by mk89 »

From the reviews on play store it looks like the typical apps that spit ads like hell. Some complain about the fact they don't work, some are happy with them. Business as usual.

Not sure why they got shutdown, probably the competition really burnt them with the fake reviews.

That's really ugly.

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#26

Post by wouldbecouldbe »

Working with Apple is horrific, I have a small Saas company publishing fitness apps.

They don't give a f**. They treat you like a peasant, while constantly making review mistakes (like asking questions explained all caps in the review notes), unexplained white screens, bugs & unreachable appstore connects.

I often had an app rejected because IAPurchase takes too long because of Apple's server being too slow. Then they take days to respond just because they claim it's your mistake. On second try it works and they find something else to complain.

Honestly bad karma. It will come back at some point. But it will take a while, the App Store is not build on quality & care, but on pure power.

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#28

Post by madeofpalk »

mortallywounded wrote: post #4

Something feels off... those apps don't seem like 33K/MRR worthy. I suspect some kind of manipulation was being done to... help?

I've never seen these apps before. I have no idea who this company is. But these icons, names, and type of apps I typically associate with trash behaviour I wish was removed from the app store. Like a Video Joiner Pro that lets you concat two videos, has a 1 week free trial and then $20/month subscription.

Edit: Ahh yup, that's exactly what this is

> A simple and convenient collage maker will help you make cool videos for TikTok and Instagram, Facebook.

> Subscription price $ 3.99 / week, $ 19.99 / year and $ 39.99 / forever

$3.99/week subscription is deliberately predatory. It tries to bait people in thinking "oh it's just $3.99", and then forgetting and now paying $17/month for a photo collage app.

I'm not sad this developer's had their account cancelled.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:xJlbYZ...

Re: Developer account removed by Apple

#29

Post by stickfigure »

beeboobaa wrote: post #14
Manuel_D wrote: post #8

If the fake reviews are indeed the reason why the apps were taken off the store, that does strike me as an inappropriate action. Take down the reviews, yes. But closing the developer account creates a big opportunity to eliminate competition by buying fake reviews for your competitors. There's also nothing developers can do to prevent this since they can't curate or reject reviews from what I know. That said, other c…

It's apple punishing you for their own failure to moderate the reviews posted to their store, which they're charging you $100+30% to access.

You can moderate reviews of your app in the App Store?? How does that work?
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