Some of the Apps in the App Store
This blog post is about an app named Chatbot: Ask AI Chat Bot, subtitled “Built on ChatGPT OpenAI, GPT-4", by the developer Tuqeer Ahmad. If you’re not familiar with Tuqeer Ahmad, well… neither am I. Nonetheless, Chatbot: Ask AI Chat Bot is currently #23 top grossing in the Mac App Store and the #64 top “free” download according to AppFigures.
Believe it or not, the app is in the Education category of the Mac App Store. In fact, it’s #1 top grossing and the #3 top download in Education. (I would guess that’s because students are looking for ways to cheat on their homework, sigh.)
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The app does include IAP, and as I’ve already noted, makes a significant amount of revenue (more than my apps!), so it seems difficult to dispute that the developer is a trader. Thus, the developer’s self-assessment appears to be inaccurate and indeed illegal in the EU.
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Anyway, that’s what it takes to become one of the top grossers in the Mac App Store. On the web, I can find no media coverage, word of mouth recommendations, or even advertising for this app. Tuqeer Ahmad is effectively anonymous. And unlike the iOS App Store, the Mac App Store has no search ads. So how does this developer find customers? Honestly, I don’t know, other than stuffing the app title, subtitle, description, etc., with popular search keywords.
WTH? How does something like [BrightScreen] even make it into the Mac App Store?
You know it’s a day that ends in “y” when there’s a new App Store lawsuit. This time, the issue isn’t antitrust or developer rejection complaints, but rather a class action accusing Apple of facilitating the spread of cryptocurrency scams by allowing a fake trading app onto the App Store.
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Lead plaintiff Danyell Shin says she downloaded Swiftcrypt onto her iPhone in late 2024, after being introduced to the app through an online investment group. Believing the app was trustworthy, partly because it came from Apple’s App Store, she ended up transferring more than $80,000 into the platform. Then, the funds vanished.
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The filing paints a detailed picture of how Apple’s own rules for crypto apps, requiring licensing, regulatory compliance, and developer verification, were supposedly not enforced in this case.
Here’s an app called School Assistant that offers an IAP called “Tip Jar - $0.99” that actually costs $400. It’s been like that in the store for at least 6 months.
Arin Waichulis (via Jeff Johnson):
It’s the same early-day digital scareware we’ve all seen before: “Your iPhone is infected with (310) viruses. Click here to remove them.” These pop-ups, seemingly always 280p quality and slapped together with stock graphics from a different reality, usually appear on shady websites as malicious ads or junk software, urging people to install a “fix” or be doomed. But one was recently spotted running as an ad on YouTube for a sketchy iPhone clean up app.
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It states, “Your iphone is severely damaged by (247) virus! We have detected that your iPhone has been infected with viruses. If you don’t take any action, it will soon corrupt your SIM card, data, photos and contacts.”
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From a few minutes of research, I learned the clean up application is operated by a newly formed Chinese-based company with very weak and broad privacy policies, likely created using LLMs, and ranked 50th on Top Charts in Productivity.
The App Store is also such a cesspool. I was looking for a simple solitaire game, you’d think in 2025 the App Store would make it easy to find a simple solitaire game that isn’t a 300MB app with ads, subscriptions and extremely dubious privacy labels, but apparently no…
Previously:
- Notarized Atomic Stealer (AMOS)
- Free With In-App Purchase Is a Sham
- App Store Trader Status Deadline
- The Top PDF Reader in the Mac App Store
- IAP Bait-And-Switch Apps
- The App Store Isn’t Catching the Most Egregious Scams
- Exploring the App Store’s Top Grossing Chart
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Apple could fix this, or at least improve it if they wanted too, but they get 30% of the take from these scams. These problems have been around for awhile, I don't expect them to improve.
Is the Google Play store better?
It’s understandable that apps like these slip through from time to time, but how does Apple not give them a more thorough review once they start appearing in top downloaded/grossing charts?
