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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

#61
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Creating dev accounts with fraud is super easy. Apple has no way to verify whatever documents they ask for proving your/your company's identity are authentic.

But Apple still have to pay you, right? Wouldn't it be suspicious if payment details doesn't match?

Presumably they already have a solution around that if they're scamming people, or maybe they're in a country where law enforcement is so lacking that this practice is normalized and low-risk, so they can just do this in friends/accomplices' names for a small cut of the profits and not have to worry about concealing their identity from law enforcement.

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

#63
post #37

This guy's business was doomed from the start in more than one way. E.g. nothing would stop Apple from copying the idea in the next version of the watch. The idea is simply too generic. And it's a feature, not a product.

I agree, many app makers don't seem to realize that any long-term sustainable software needs to be based on deep know-how (or: tons of features and a strong lead), something that cannot be easily copied. Otherwise it will be copied a thousand times anyway. Some of the copy-cats will have strong financial backing, others will be students in a poor country with almost unlimited time and extremely low costs, and yet oth…

You can also be successful by going deep into a vertical. Be the best for a specific use case and repeat.

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

#64
So many people have reported this in past:

2017 - https://johnnylin.medium.com/how-to-make-80-000-per-month-on...

2016 - https://deepakabbot.medium.com/why-is-apple-allowing-a-scam-...

Apple seem to have accepted this as even they earn a lot and are not taking any action.

Just go to top charts paid apps and you will see maximum of such spammy/scammy apps.

Search any utility keyword (Ex: usd converter, etc.) in App Store and maximum out of top rankers are scammers.

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

#65
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.

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

#67
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.

Student accommodation in some capitals is above €1000/month if you don't opt for a shared room

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

#68

It’s easy to blame Apple here and to some degree they are responsible for scammers aren’t banned from the App Store. However, why isn’t somebody complaining who got scammed? Don’t they want $400 back? Maybe they do a simple refund and that’s enough for them but there should be some feedback loop to detect scams quickly before they climb the App Store charts.

> why isn’t somebody complaining who got scammed? Don’t they want $400 back?

Many App Store customers literally do not know that they can request a refund, or how to request one. App Store does not even have a clear refund policy. You see a lot of reviews for scam apps that say "I want a refund!" They just don't know.

App Store customers assume, naturally but unfortunately mistakenly, that app developers have the power to grant refunds. They have no idea Apple itself is the sole source of refunds. You would think that Apple would put a refund link in the ratings/review area of the store, but nope.

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

#70

Lol they having million of reviews rating on app which cost 400$ a year which is $$$ for Apple (they get 30% of that). But Apple wont pay someone for looking through these apps and assure the app at least do something similar to what is advertised.

No, the app is free and so you can rate it without paying anything. The In App Purchase to make the app usable is 400$/year.
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