Apple: do not cheat, or be cheated!

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ampos

Published today:

https://developer.apple.com/news/index.php?id=02062012a

QuoteAdhering to Guidelines on Third-Party Marketing Services
Feb 6, 2012

Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership. Get helpful tips and resources on marketing your apps the right way from the App Store Resource Center.
check my web and/or my blog :D
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I own PC-Win, MacBook 13", iPhone 3G/3GS/4G and iPAC-WinCE

bigsofty

Yep, the rating system is being manipulated by bot farm services.

Another problem is people ripping of successful games...

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/02/rampant-app-store-fraud-indicates-changes-in-apples-review-policy
Cheers,

Ian.

"It is practically impossible to teach good programming style to students that have had prior exposure to BASIC.  As potential programmers, they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration."
(E. W. Dijkstra)

okee

QuoteAnother problem is people ripping of successful games...

It boggles the mind when you see GLB users struggling with simple things
like getting turned down by Apple because of a word in the title and scammers
can get away with this:

http://www.appspy.com/anton-sinelnikov-seller

Note the Plants vs Zombie game
They aren't even proper games
Android: Samsung Galaxy S2 -  ZTE Blade (Orange San Francisco) - Ainol Novo 7 Aurora 2
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Crivens

Yep had one game turned down because it had women in Bikinis in it (HP took it no problem), and my last one because it has a quit button (even though 1st app that was allowed had a quit button). Re-submitted the app the next night without a quit button and it has been at "In Review" status for a full week almost (tonight it will be). So is now a total of more than two weeks waiting on one app to be authorised and the only problem was there was a quit button on the main menu (which is more of a suggestion than an actual outright rejection apparently). Luckily I don't rely on this stuff for living costs or anything. Sigh...

Cheers
Current fave quote: Cause you like musicians and I like people with boobs.

Ian Price

HP aren't prefect either, with regards to rejections - I won't mention MinedOut! again. Grrrrr!.

And some of the stuff that goes through their review process and onto the App Catalog is simply shocking.
I came. I saw. I played.

BdR

//offtopic: all three of my AppStore games have a quit button O_O huh!?

I always wonder how some apps get so incredibly many user ratings, like tens of thousands! I barely get any at all. Most developers know about the ratings bots and the companies in India that do nothing but post reviews and ratings. Check out this one for example.

The rigging of the ratings is only part of the problem, even worse are the really nasty scam apps. By flooding the appstore with crAPPs, they bring down the overall quality of apps and violate public trust (remember the videogame crash 1983?). For example, they just copy the icon and screenshots of some popular app and package a block jump game (with a gallery i.e. the screenshots in the appstore). Apparently they can get away with it because they mention in their disclaimer "this is actually a jump game". It's insane!

Take a look at this one -> Eclipsecraft. Seriously, take a look at the AppStore screenshots and then check the game, skip to 6:30 in this video. :rant: Appalling

Ian Price

I totally agree - Apple should not allow their customers to be ripped off in that way. And Apple must have a way of identifying review farms by their IP surely. Again this practice should be made illegal.

I must say that I do actually like the look of that retro game, although I would have been pissed too if I'd bought an app thinking it was something completely different, given the screenshots and icon.
I came. I saw. I played.

spacefractal

Sometimes review process fails to check that their doing. That game is a class scum game as the dev account should have been rejected for scam. We should report that cheat to apple....

Also if quit key designed different and confused they might threaten as a crash and rejected it.
Genius.Greedy Mouse - Karma Miwa - Spot Race - CatchOut - PowerUp Elevation - The beagle Jam - Cave Heroes 2023 - https://spacefractal.itch.io/

ampos

It is easy to cheat Apple:

Just upload the app and explain the app as it is. No lies.

Once it is approved, you can change screenshoots and description texts without problems: now you can lie with no problems.

In Android it is even worse, as there is no review process in any step. Just the jungle.
check my web and/or my blog :D
http://diniplay.blogspot.com (devblog)
http://www.ampostata.org
http://ampostata.blogspot.com
I own PC-Win, MacBook 13", iPhone 3G/3GS/4G and iPAC-WinCE