Most of us may scratching their heads over the question how to get some apps into the App Store in the first place. Mozilla, for example, is still hoping that its Home app is making the cut. Once you are in the store, it appears it’s a fair game and you can focus on marketing your app. But you can also do what Thuat Nguyen has done and get booted from the store altogether. And if you heard about Nguyen already then you might be upset, but, realistically, it was just a matter of time until we would see some fraudulent exploit.
What happened is that Nguyen was able to occupy 42 of the top 50 sales positions in the App Store’s “book” category using bogus apps. Interestingly, when Nguyen’s apps appeared, there was also a spike in complaints of iTunes accounts being hacked and being overcharged. Apparently “only” a few hundred accounts were affected until Apple booted Nguyen, which is the good news. The bad news is, of course that the exploit happened and that it may have affected the credibility of tens of thousands of other developers.
Courtesy of Engadget, Apple has posted a statement, which reads:
The developer Thuat Nguyen and his apps were removed from the App Store for violating the developer Program License Agreement, including fraudulent purchase patterns.
Developers do not receive any iTunes confidential customer data when an app is downloaded.
If your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about canceling the card and issuing a chargeback for any unauthorized transactions. We also recommend that you change your iTunes account password immediately. For more information on best practices for password security visit http://www.apple.com/support/itunes.
The App Store and Apple’s tight grip on what is published and what not through, let’s be honest, a walled garden approach, has always promoted the idea of high quality applications and a sense of security that, for example, Google just can’t provide with Android. But it should be a wake-up call for app buyers as well as developers that the App Store can be exploited in way it was not designed for. This case may have been just a shot in front of the bow and the damage could have been worse.
Of course, Nguyen’s approach was a sure bet to get booted from the App Store and I’d be surprised if that was already everything we have heard about him and Apple. The App Store has been and still is a relatively safe environment to make purchase and I doubt Apple will risk this perception. But, personally, I would wish Apple would be a bit more vocal in its support for developers in this situation. And more vocal to calm potential concerns of consumers. Just silencing the topic does not always work.
A version of the good old neighborhood watch may be the best protection of the community against such fraudulent exploits. However, even on an individual level, you should be making sure that your reputation is not affected by such exploits. More and more consumers may be trying to find ways to determine whether an app is real or not and you should make it as easy as possible for them to figure that out. Make sure you have a functioning web site and an active support section. Make sure you can be contacted and maintain a public persona, perhaps through a Facebook page. Public exposure creates confidence and you can use this way to earn trust.