Like their real colleagues, they promised to calculate your BMI, track your daily calorie intake, or remind you to drink more water. However, they also used a list trick, which is however fraudulently tied to the iOS Touch ID sensor. While being asked to back up your personal diet data by scanning your fingerprint, apps will show a $ 1
It appears that people have reported the apps to Apple, which has probably led to their removal, even though Apple itself has not released an official statement on the takedowns. According to WeLiveSecurity the "Fitness Balance App" had an average rating of 4.3 stars and received at least 18 mostly positive reviews that could have been faked.
. @ AppleSupport This app, Fitness Balance, attempts to cheat people in excess of $ 100 by tempting them to buy their in-app purchases. It is unacceptable that this app has entered your App Store. pic.twitter.com/I68vwQoG86
– Jacques Fourie (@ Jac4e) November 29, 2018
In its developer guidelines, Apple prohibits apps that "exploit users or attempt to rip off customers persuade them to make unwanted purchases, force them to share unnecessary data, raise prices in a tricky way, charge for undelivered features or content, or use other manipulative practices inside or outside the app. "Developers against The rules are violating, threatening to be banned forever, the company warns.
Despite Apple's solid track record of app store security, the odd dodgy app has slipped through the cracks. Late last year, a fake port of the Xbox game Cuphead made the cut before it was removed. And in 2012, a fake version of the Game Boy classic Pokemon Yellow also appeared briefly on the App Store.