{"id":53374,"date":"2026-09-30T16:45:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=53374"},"modified":"2026-09-30T16:45:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:45:28","slug":"app-store-scam-update-my-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2026\/09\/30\/app-store-scam-update-my-phone\/","title":{"rendered":"App Store Scam: “Update My Phone”"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Gruber<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

“Update My Phone & Apps: Guide” is an iOS app from developer Tair Olzhasev. By default, the only thing it does for free is give you a “Check for Updates” button that launches the system Settings app. It doesn’t even take you to the General → Software Update screen. It just takes you to the root level of Settings.<\/p>\n

Everything else it purports to do requires a $15\/week subscription. That’s $780 per year.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Jeff Johnson<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

You can tell it's a scam without even downloading the app, because it has no website and hosts the privacy policy on sites.google.com, a dead giveaway.<\/p>\n

The 3-day trial with auto-renewing subscription is also a huge red flag. By no coincidence, 3 days is the minimum subscription trial length allowed by Apple. All the scams use it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Christian Tietze<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Being part of a team with a successful App Store app opens my eyes for how weird the app store is.<\/p>\n

This is not the Bear Notes<\/a> the Shiny Frog team is working on :)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

This one seems to not be a scam—and there’s only a one-time $3.99 IAP—but it sure is confusing.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n