Apple is undermining one of its main arguments for its walled garden by not removing a fraudulent app from the App Store, despite being notified repeatedly.
According to TechCrunch, RockAutoâwhich does not have an app of its ownâdiscovered that a fake app was impersonating the company on the App Store. The company became aware of the issue when customers complained of “annoying ads” in the app.
Despite repeatedly requesting that Apple remove the fraudulent app, and routing such requests through Apple’s official channels, the iPhone make has yet to remove the app.
âItâs mostly one-way since the only replies weâve had from Apple are âyou shouldnât have emailed, go use the online formâ and âupload screen prints of the app store listing and your trademark registration,’â RockAuto co-founder and president Jim Taylor told *TechCrunch, despite RockAuto already taking the steps Apple outlined.
âNeither the uploaded documents nor the online form submissions produced any response at all,â Taylor added, ânot even the promised âcase number in 24 hoursâ despite multiple submissions,â he said.
Apple has repeatedly argued that its walled garden approach provides users a layer of security that is missing from competing platforms, such as Android. The company has used that argument as the crux of its defense in trials defending its tight control over the App Store ecosystem.
The fact that bad actors can upload a fraudulent app is bad enough. That Apple is taking no action to resolve the situation, despite RockAuto’s repeated attempts, is unconscionable.