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Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

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Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#111

Post by alisonkisk »

whywhywhywhy wrote: post #89
coldtea wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, so? It's still a 100 billion market they've built, for devices, OSes, and SDKs they build. And it still has better paying customers than the Play store, and 1/50+ less malware (according to stats), so more customer trust. Is it perfect? No.

>OSes, and SDKs they build They build the OS and SDK on Mac too, why do they not get a % cut on all apps there too? Actually when you're in Safari you're using their OS and SDK too why don't they get a % cut of purchases and software there too? Just interested why one scenario is considered the norm yet these two others that fall under the same justification seem absurd.

Because it takes time for Apple to migrate everyone over from old expectations, and Apple made a fortune on hardware markup on the computer purchase.

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#112

Post by _qulr »

coldtea wrote: post #77
lm28469 wrote: post #66

Remember that you pay a 30% fee because they need the money to maintain their infra and to offer a good platform for users to find your app(s). /s

Yes, so? It's still a 100 billion market they've built, for devices, OSes, and SDKs they build. And it still has better paying customers than the Play store, and 1/50+ less malware (according to stats), so more customer trust. Is it perfect? No.

You speak as though app developers are swimming in money, but the fact is that the App Store market is very top heavy. As usual, "the 1%" are doing extremely well, but the vast majority of app developers are not making a lot of money. Apple's recent small business program is tacit acknowledgement from Apple that many developers are struggling financially and cannot afford even the 30% cut.

In comparison, the so-called "gig economy" is also extremely large, perhaps even larger in total dollars than the App Store, but that doesn't mean individual gig workers are doing well.

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#113

Post by coldtea »

solarengineer wrote: post #82
coldtea wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how would they know it's one or the other party that violated the terms? "Because our app was posted first" is not enough.

“Because our app was posted first” is actually what I thought of. Could you explain why this isn’t enough?

The app could very well be developed before and you stole it from their version control, or copied ideas the posted in their blogs, or copied from their betas.

Or theirs could be available in another store, and you copied theirs from there.

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#114

Post by bryanrasmussen »

function_seven wrote: post #103
xwdv wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then enforce your copyright. No one will do it for you.

Would be nice if the company taking 30% of my sales would offer some assistance.

I suppose you could do a DMCA takedown? but that would really seem like using a morally compromised solution for good, as opposed to the more normal using morally neutral solutions for good.

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#115

Post by exikyut »

yarcob wrote: post #5

Oh my god, they don't even bother implementing the app any more... It reminds me of my first App Store experience. I made an app that was somewhat successful (about 2000€ a month, enough to pay for a students living expenses). Within short time, a chinese speaking developer cloned it. They copied the icon (slighlty different color), they copied the UI, they even copied all the text in the dialog boxes. They released…

[Posting here on the assumption the parent comment will likely stay at the top]

What about... a service, that helps walk you through these kinds of situations, handles country-specific implementation details, can help figure out the best approach for a given scenario, and give you the best chance of getting things sorted out...

...and...

...is NOT a "welcome, welcome, one and all" type of environment, and requires Twitter, GitHub, an HN profile, proof of long-term domain registration (eg, Internet Archive history) - the kinds of things that would be infuriatingly difficult for a scammer to successfully clone?

HN is absolutely big enough that "the HN crowd" would use something like this.

In fact, a service like this could theoretically develop working relationships with contacts inside Apple and Google, build a history/reputation of forwarding accurate, high-signal issues, and maybe help to mitigate the current mess of "problem must attract 10K views to be fixed".

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#116

Post by coldtea »

_qulr wrote: post #107
mwexler wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You post screenshots of your app in progress for feedback. Scammer dupes those, rushes app into store, and when you finally launch, they "were there first" and requests your deletion on those grounds. So, I suspect Apple just wants to stay out of it, let courts decide based on a collection of evidence (and whomever has the money to pay for lawyers, and time to do all the proceedings), and profit no matter who wins.

> You post screenshots of your app in progress for feedback. Scammer dupes those, rushes app into store, and when you finally launch, they "were there first" and requests your deletion on those grounds. I seriously doubt this has ever happened in the history of the App Store. Scammers are "lazy". The look for the easy targets. Copying an existing app is easier and more lucrative than trying to write a new app based j…

>I seriously doubt this has ever happened in the history of the App Store.

Don't know about the App Store, but people have copied in-progress websites and did copy-cat products (sometimes complete with the original artwork/styles).

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#117

Post by bryanrasmussen »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #65
yarcob wrote: post #5

Oh my god, they don't even bother implementing the app any more... It reminds me of my first App Store experience. I made an app that was somewhat successful (about 2000€ a month, enough to pay for a students living expenses). Within short time, a chinese speaking developer cloned it. They copied the icon (slighlty different color), they copied the UI, they even copied all the text in the dialog boxes. They released…

>about 2000€ a month, enough to pay for a students living expenses Just out of pure curiosity, where did you live/study that 2000 Euros are student living expenses? In my neck of the woods in central-western Europe (Austria), 1000 Euros per month is already really good money for most students and 2000 is what you make as a junior full time employee in a good tech company.

I would think 2000 euro in Denmark would be about a student's living expenses.

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#118

Post by parasubvert »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #108
andix wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vienna for example. Although it is possible to survive with around 700-900€ per month, eat, live and study. But if you also want to go out, go to restaurants/bars regularly and live in a nice place (not a shared dorm room), 1500-2000€ are way better.

I think we have two very distinct student lives in mind: The one I know most students have, is living very frugally, cooking at home, counting every penny to not go into more debt, studying hard to get a head start in life and partying hard on a budget, mostly house parties with booze bought from the supermarket with the occasional club or restaurant outing being a treat. The other one is the Instagram lifestyle stud…

1000-2000 a month is hardly “jet setting” and has nothing to do with instagram. We are talking the difference between living in a shared accommodation and maybe having a small apartment, maybe having a used car, etc.

Plenty of students get bankrolled by a combination of scholarships, their parents, and loans, and have for decades. There’s nothing wrong with it (or with going the frugal route either).

Edit: To live in dorm 25 years ago in a standard Canadian university (for me) it cost $500/month plus another $500 a month in mandatory food card. That’s equivalent to 650 euros. That’s plus utilities, off campus food and drink, computer, recreation, and transportation, probably another 100-150 euros. My family was hardly rich (school teacher and truck driver) and helped out, I worked part time, and took out loans. Things are more expensive now.

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#119

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

exikyut wrote: post #104
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the reasons I like to open-source my work (even in “source-available” form), is so that there is clear “prior art.” However, I have yet to write an app that has been highly successful, so being copied has not been a problem for me. Seeing the behavior of these scammers, I have no doubt that they would gleefully take my source, tweak the storyboard, and release a clone. They don’t seem to have any sense of sham…

Out of curiosity, how do you handle the "source-available" scenario? Also... I just realized... in the same way the article OP mentioned they were ahead of everyone else wrt features/implementation etc, I wonder if the scammers are ahead of the game in terms of preternaturally staying under the App/Play Store radars? Like, specifically, exactly what might they be doing, I wonder?

I just publish it on GH, without a distribution license[0].

These folks are experts. They probably know exactly what terminology to use, which screens to optimize, etc. Just because they are scammers, doesn't mean they are stupid.

They could probably actually make legit money, giving classes on the Apple App Store process.

[0] https://github.com/RiftValleySoftware/ambiamara

Re: Apple watch keyboard developer put off by app store scammers

#120

Post by [deleted] »

ikurei wrote: post #96

An app that does nothing passed review? I hope this doesn't happen often, and that the processes are reviewed. May be reviewers have too much work to do and just click OK sometimes to move on? Also, I understand that the App store has a million apps, and they can't be super thorough with all of them. What I don't understand is how an app that is actually getting a lot of downloads and reviews, and that charges a huge…

[deleted]
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