Scam apps in the spotlight
You may remember it from the early days of the App Store: bland fart and beer apps, which quickly became boring. Fortunately, they were usually free or cost a euro. In 2021 there are still nonsensical apps, but the difference is that you have to be careful not to get scammed. Apple is cooperating with this by promoting nonsensical slime mucilage apps, with hefty in-app purchases. They sometimes cost a tenner a week and almost all look the same. Developers are angry: It's hard enough getting attention in the App Store and Apple shouldn't be promoting this junk.
The apps all simulate mucus, something that should have a therapeutic effect. Another similarity is that they charge remarkably high in-app subscriptions. It happened in the Australian App Store, where these so-called 'Slime relaxation' apps are recommended for relaxing. It doesn't have much functionality. One of them, called ‘Jelly: Slime Simulator, ASMR’ has a paywall of AU$13 per week, which equates to AU$676 per year. ‘Slime Games!!’ costs AU$8.99 per week and ‘Slime Boutique’ costs AU$4.49 per week.
That is against the rules of the App Store. Apple's rules read: “… we won't distribute apps and in-app purchase items that are clear rip-offs. We’ll reject expensive apps that try to cheat users with irrationally high prices.”
‘App Store is not a safe place’
It is remarkable that the apps have even made it through the review process. Even more remarkable is that Apple also recommends them to unsuspecting users. That undermines the trust people have in the App Store. The games are clearly aimed at kids, who may not realize they're taking out an expensive subscription.
Developer Simeon of the independent development studio Two Lives Left, downloaded some apps to see if they're really that bad. “This makes me angry,” said Simeon. “How can Apple spotlight these scammers?” Another developer complains that Apple is already recommending these slime apps. “Some have in-app subscriptions over AU$10 per week. One does nothing at all.” This developer, Beau Novelle, believes that this is yet another proof that the App Store is one big joke. It also proves that Apple's claims that the App Store is a safe environment are simply based on lies.
Want to spot scam apps yourself because Apple isn't doing it for you? In the tip below you can read what you should pay attention to.