Tag: app store

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Clone of acclaimed indie game Unpacking tops App Store, then gets removed

One of last year’s most acclaimed indie games was Unpacking, a relaxing puzzler about piecing together the protagonist’s life by emptying their boxes and figuring out where to put their boxes.

Naturally, then, some jerks had to shamelessly copy it. As Unpacking developer Witch Beam shared on Twitter, a title that looked virtually identical to its own was making the rounds on the App Store and Google Play.

The clone, titled Unpacking Master, was published by a company called Cypress-based SayGames. It was free to download with ads, although these could be removed for a one-time $4.99 USD (about $6.32 CAD).

Per the Brisbane, Australia-based Witch Beam, promotion on TikTok and Instagram led many people to discover the knock-off. “While we’ve seen many imitators already, usually they don’t get much traction,” the developer explained.

The clone got so much attention, in fact, that it briefly topped the App Store charts. Shortly after, the game was removed from the App Store, with the Google Play version following suit. Witch Beam then thanked fans on Twitter for their support.

SayGames, meanwhile, apologized to Witch Beam via a January 25th statement to Kotaku. “I’d like to apologize for our lack of research prior to launching the game from one of the developers we work with,” the publisher said. “The game clearly resembles Unpacking and this resemblance goes way beyond the game title. We messed up and we apologize.”

The publisher went on to say it’s been “in touch with Witch Beam to discuss how we can resolve this.” Given how blatantly similar Unpacking Master is to Unpacking (down to the nearly identical titles), it’s hard to believe SayGames that this was accidental.

In any event, it’s no doubt little consolation to Witch Beam.

“It’s demoralising for a small team like ours to see content we spent literally years planning, refining and handcrafting be hastily reproduced in an opportunistic ad-riddled app a mere 3 months after our launch,” Witch Beam tweeted on January 24th.

“We’re a tiny indie team and even with the success we have achieved, we still don’t have the resources to pursue companies trying to use our game’s distinct look and feel to make a quick buck. We have to rely on storefronts like the App Store to better curate their content.”

The Unpacking debacle comes mere weeks after the App Store played host to a variety of since-removed clones of Josh Wardle’s popular word puzzle game, Wordle. One of these even came from a New York-based developer who publicly boasted on Twitter about how he blatantly ripped off Wardle’s game. 

In both cases, Apple quietly removed the clones without making any public statement. Hopefully, the company updates its App Store policies to better protect creators.

For now, you can purchase the real Unpacking (which is a lovely little game!) on Steam, GOG, Nintendo Switch and Xbox consoles (including Game Pass) for $22.79 to $25.99 CAD, depending on the platform.

Image credit: Witch Beam

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Mobile Syrup

Epic Games files opening appeal brief, seeks to overturn App Store ruling

Fortnite-maker Epic Games filed its opening briefing to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The company seeks to overturn the previous ruling in its lawsuit against Apple, which determined that the iPhone-makers control over the App Store doesn’t qualify as a monopoly.

As pointed out by The Verge, this marks the first time Epic has laid out its appeal argument at length since the company announced it would appeal the decision in September.

Epic wrote in the filing that the “district court’s factual findings make clear that Apple’s conduct is precisely what the antitrust laws prohibit.”

The company reiterated allegations that Apple requires developers to exclusively use its App Store to distribute apps and use its in-app payment processing platform. It’s worth noting in-app payments are one area where the courts sided with Epic, handing down an injunction against Apple that required it to allow third-party payment systems on iOS apps.

However, Apple was granted a stay on that injunction while the company appeals the ruling. Apple previously called the ruling a “resounding victory.”

In the original ruling handed down in September 2021, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers determined that Apple was engaging in some anti-competitive practices, but wrote that the “court cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws.”

Since then, both companies have appealed the ruling and Epic’s CEO has frequently complained about Apple on Twitter.

Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Apple removes multiple Wordle clones from the App Store

Apple has quietly removed a number of games from its App Store that blatantly copy Josh Wardle’s “Wordle” daily puzzle game sensation.

The company didn’t make any public statement about the move, but The Verge notes that games that clearly listed themselves as “Wordle” with the same rules have been delisted. While some “clones” still remain, they don’t use the name “Wordle.”

But it was the copycat app made by developer Zach Shakked, which was released on January 10th, that garnered the most attention. His version took Wardle’s game —  free-to-play, unmonetized and featuring five-letter puzzles — and added six- and seven-letter word options, as well as an unlimited play mode for $30 USD/year (about $37.50 CAD).

Shakked spent the days since launch bragging about well “his” game was doing and how all he wanted to do was “make tons of fucking money.” People were quick to point out how shameless he was, as well as hypocritical, given a previously deleted tweet that his own app was copied. That Wardle originally only made the game for his partner to play, and then opened it up to everyone for free without a desire to monetize it, just made Shakked’s brazenness stand out all the more.

Eventually, Shakked did issue what would seem to be his attempt at an apology in a Twitter thread:

After a few tweets defending himself, he said “I realize I crossed a line. And I surely, surely will never do anything remotely close to this again. I fucked up.” However, he notably never actually apologized to Wardle himself.

Further, Shakked’s more recent tweets have either shifted the blame to Wardle or boasted about other ways he can get rich quickly, without any need for actual talent or originality. He also complained that “Apple is unilaterally removing apps without any recourse,” and that lawyers apparently said “[Wardle’s] claim to ‘Wordle’ was highly dubious.”

While the point about lawyers is harder to verify, Shakked is outright wrong about the app removal. As Apple’s App Store own guidelines explicitly state, “Don’t simply copy the latest popular app on the App Store, or make some minor changes to another app’s name or UI and pass it off as your own.” Clearly, Shakked did not comply with that.

It’s important to note, though, that it doesn’t seem that Wardle would have any legal recourse. As Shakked notes, the name isn’t trademarked, and Wordle itself does draw inspiration from many other games. That said, that doesn’t exonerate Shakked from the court of public opinion, and it’s clear that many people have (rightfully) condemned him.

Via: The Verge

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Mobile Syrup

Apple says developers have earned more than $260 billion in the App Store since 2008

Apple says that App Store developers have earned more than $260 billion USD (about $329 billion CAD) since the store launched back in 2008, according to a press release from the tech giant.

Last year, Apple revealed that developers made $200 billion USD (roughly $253 billion CAD) since the App Store’s creation, indicating that in 2021, the platform made $60 billion (approximately $76 billion CAD). The tech giant went on to say that between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve 2021, revenue grew in the double-digits, though it doesn’t offer specific numbers in its press release.

While the App Store seems to have experienced a big 12-months amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 30 percent revenue cut Apple takes from all apps and subscriptions sold on the platform came under fire this year. The tech giant is also still involved in a legal battle with Fortnite developer Epic Games regarding the App Store. Given the Epic vs. Apple ruling is currently on hold, it’s unclear when Apple will be forced to allow developers to offer alternate payment methods through apps offered in the App Store.

Apple’s press release also mentions there are now more than 745 million paid subscriptions to its various services, including Apple Music, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple TV+ and more. Though the tech giant doesn’t offer a breakdown of subscriber numbers, this is good news for Apple as it continues to transition to being a services-focused company.

Source: Apple 

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Apple reveals App Store Award winners for 2021

Apple has revealed its 2021 App Store Award winners, handing out top honours to 15 apps and games the company says embody the best of what its store has to offer.

Toca Life World, a world-building app and LumaFusion, a video editing platform, took home the best iPhone and iPad app of the year award, respectively. On the streaming side of things, the sports streaming app DAZN won the award for best ‘Apple TV App of the Year.’

Apple also handed out awards to several notable games, including League of Legends: Wild Rift for ‘iPhone Game of the Year’ and Marvel Future Revolution for ‘iPad Game of the Year.’

It’s also worth noting that Fantasian, one of the best titles on iOS, won the award for ‘Apple Arcade Game of the Year.’ For more on Fantasian, check out Brad Shankar’s interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi, Mistwalker’s studio head and the creator of the Final Fantasy series.

The complete list of App Store Award winners can be found below:

App winners

iPhone App of the Year: Toca Life World, from Toca Boca
iPad App of the Year: LumaFusion, from LumaTouch
Mac App of the Year: Craft, from Luki Labs Limited
Apple TV App of the Year: DAZN, from DAZN Group
Apple Watch App of the Year: Carrot Weather, from Grailr

Game winners

iPhone Game of the Year: League of Legends: Wild Rift, from Riot Games
iPad Game of the Year: Marvel Future Revolution, from Netmarble Corporation
Mac Game of the Year: Myst, from Cyan
Apple TV Game of the Year: Space Marshals 3, from Pixelbite
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Fantasian, from Mistwalker

Image credit: Mistwalker

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Apple boosted Podcasts App Store score by prompting users to review it

Apple’s revamped Podcasts app arrived to significant criticism from users. For a while, it sat on the App Store with a low score — a measly 1.8 stars out of five. At least, that’s what it was about a month ago before Podcasts began its ascension to a more impressive 4.6 stars (and it’s still climbing). However, Apple didn’t change things around by fixing Podcasts — instead, it simply added a prompt to review the app.

App Store watchdog Kosta Eleftheriou first spotted the change, citing data from ‘AppFigures‘ that shows a sudden surge in positive reviews starting in early November. Additionally, the majority of the new reviews include a five-star score.

So, is Apple manipulating the reviews for its own app? Well, no, not exactly. Both Eleftheriou and The Verge point out that many of the reviews appear to be about specific podcasts, not about the Podcasts app itself. The Verge digs into the reviews a little more, noting that other podcasting apps don’t have reviews for specific podcasts — or at least, not to the same extent as Apple Podcasts.

Apple did confirm to The Verge that it added a prompt to review Podcasts in iOS 15.1, but the company says it used the standard ‘Rating & Review’ prompt that’s “available to all developers.” Apple does offer review prompts as a standard feature of the App Store (and it’s one users can turn off by heading to Settings > App Store > In-App Ratings & Reviews).

Whether Apple used the standard review prompt isn’t really the issue here, however. As The Verge points out, the Podcasts app reviews highlight a larger problem with the star system: it’s hard to tell if a five-star score is legitimate. Plenty of App Store apps game the star score system by buying high ratings or even more scummy practices like blocking an app from launching until users submit a high-score review.

Now, it’s highly unlikely that Apple’s doing anything like that with the Podcasts app, but that doesn’t rule out other things. The Verge pointed out that Apple could use an algorithm to target dedicated users with review prompts or issue a prompt in a way that misleads users into thinking they’re reviewing the podcast. We don’t know what’s going on with the Podcasts prompt — The Verge was unable to get a copy of Podcasts’ review prompt and despite my best efforts, I haven’t gotten one either.

Whatever the underlying reason, it’s worth keeping in mind that Apple managed to boost its Podcasts app to the top of the App Store charts by using review prompts to gather tons of high-score reviews without changing any of the many underlying issues that got the app its original low score.

Source: Kosta Eleftheriou (Twitter), The Verge

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Netflix Games on iOS will be offered individually on the App Store: report

Netflix Games will be made available individually on Apple’s App Store when they eventually come to iOS, according to Bloomberg‘s often reliable Mark Gurman.

The streamer made its first official foray into gaming last week with five Android titles, including a pair of Stranger Things experiences. However, the company simply said at the time that an iOS rollout is “on the way.”

Per Bloomberg, the hold-up appears to be related to Apple’s strict App Store policies, which prevent third-party apps from offering as an all-in-one hub for a collection of games. Microsoft infamously ran into this issue last year with its Xbox Game Pass’ Cloud Gaming service, which it’s since offered via browsers on iOS.

It should be noted that Netflix Games currently operate similarly on Android; you still need to download each title individually from the Play Store. However, Gurman predicts that Netflix will eventually offer its games in an all-in-one app through the cloud, which would be possible on Android but not iOS based on the current App Store rules.

“To be a true all-in-one service on iOS, Netflix will have to make its move to the cloud — and Apple will need to change its rules or grant Netflix an exemption,” Gurman concluded. “That leaves the ultimate success of Netflix’s service in the hands of Apple, a longtime partner but also a growing rival.”

Netflix Games are offered at no additional cost to Netflix subscribers and can be found on Android under the ‘Netflix Games’ banner on the Netflix app homepage or the new ‘games’ tab. Netflix has also previously said its gaming efforts will be “primarily focused on games for mobile devices,” although this seems to leave the possibility open for AAA console and/or PC titles.

Image credit: Netflix

Source: Bloomberg

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Apple says it won’t allow Fortnite back in the App Store yet

The ongoing legal battle between Epic Games and Apple isn’t over yet.

Following the ruling that Apple must allow App Store developers to direct users to alternative payment methods, the tech giant has denied Epic’s request to reactivate its developer account.

In a string of recent tweets, Tim Sweeney, Epic’s CEO, revealed court documents outlining that Apple has denied Epic’s request. Apple’s legal team says that it won’t allow Fortnite back in the App Store until the ruling is final and Epic has exhausted all of its appeals.

Though it’s still unclear, the appeal process can take up to five years, according to Sweeney.

Epic’s CEO goes on to say that “just last week, Epic agreed with Apple that we would play by the same rules as everyone else.” Sweeney claims that Apple isn’t allowing the popular battle royale title back in the App Store because the company “won” the court battle, statements Epic has made over the last few weeks and because the game developer/publisher launched its direct payment system back in 2020.

It’s unclear when or if the game will return the iOS App Store, but it’s clear Epic feels it was misled by Apple regarding Fortnite’s return to the App Store.

Sweeney says that this is yet another “extraordinary anticompetitive move by Apple” that reveals its “power to reshape markets and choose winners and losers.”

Source: @TimSweeneyEpic

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Apple kicks keyboard app off App Store, releases own version shortly after

Apple has once again been caught using its power over the App Store to give itself an advantage over the competition. However, in this case, a small indie studio is the victim and not a giant corporate app developer.

During Apple’s recent ‘California streaming’ event, the tech giant revealed that watchOS 8 with the Apple Watch Series 7 includes support for a full keyboard. This is an exciting addition for Apple Watch users since responding to messages from the wearable has never been a great experience.

With that in mind, Apple is far from the first company to release an app that allows users to do this. In August, developer Kosta Eleftheriou released an app called ‘Flick Type’ that brings a full keyboard to the Apple Watch. This app has been around for a few months, but recently, Apple pulled it from the App Store, stating that keyboard apps aren’t allowed on the Apple Watch.

Since Apple followed up this move with its own watchOS 8 Apple Watch keyboard, the timing is more than a little interesting. It’s worth noting that Apple’s new keyboard is only available on the Apple Watch Series 7 because it features a slightly larger screen. Eeftheriou’s app, on the other hand, works on older Apple Watches and became pretty popular. It’s unlikely that a few millimetres of extra display space really make that much of a difference regarding the typing experience.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has done something like this. For example, Apple removed all Flashlight apps back in the iPhone 4s era, and last year, password locker apps were also worried the company had plans to pull users away from their apps.

In a recent tweet, Eeftheriou says he plans to launch a lawsuit against Apple tied to the company’s anti-competitive behaviour. In other Apple-related news, though the dust is still settling surrounding the court case, it’s widely believed that the recent Epic v. Apple trial will allow developers to offer external payment options outside of the App Store.

Source: @keleftheriou Via: Input

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Epic v. Apple judge rules Apple must allow other forms of in-app purchases

U.S. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers issued a permanent injunction in the Epic Games v. Apple case on September 10th. Under the ruling, Apple must allow other forms of in-app purchases:

“Apple Inc. [is]… permanently restrained and enjoined from prohibiting developers from including in their apps and their metadata buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms, in addition to In-App Purchasing and (ii) communicating with customers through points of contact obtained voluntarily from customers through account registration within the app.”

The injunction concludes a lengthy and bitter court battle between the companies. Epic argued that Apple’s App Store fees were a monopolistic tax, while the iPhone-maker said the fees were a necessary operating cost. However, Gonzalez-Rogers explained in the full ruling that neither company was entirely correct.

“The relevant market here is digital mobile gaming transactions, not gaming generally and not Apple’s own internal operating systems related to the App Store,” wrote Gonzalez-Rogers. Going by that definition, “the court cannot ultimately conclude that Apple is a monopolist under either federal or state antitrust laws. Nonetheless, the trial did show that Apple is engaging in anti-competitive conduct under California’s competition laws.”

In other words, Apple’s effort to block alternate payment methods in apps was anti-competitive. Going forward, Apple will need to allow developers to offer other forms of in-app purchases if they choose.

The Verge notes that these new restrictions echo some provisional anti-steering restrictions placed on Apple outside the U.S. For example, Apple recently allowed app developers to offer alternate payment methods over email, agreed to allow outside signup links for ‘reader’ apps like Netflix and Spotify following a Japanese regulatory investigation. Moreover, a recent South Korean law also opened the door for alternate payment systems in the app store.

The ruling will likely have significant impacts beyond Apple and its App Store. Epic sued Google for similar reasons, and the search giant is also battling an antitrust suit filed by several U.S. state attorneys general.

However, it remains to be seen how much the ruling will impact developers and users on Apple’s platform.

Source: The Verge