Kosta Eleftheriou, a scam app hunter and developer who is recognized for spotting egregious frauds that get past Apple's review process, has once again brought attention to a fresh crop of dodgy programs being marketed through the App Store. This time, they're on the Mac, and they're employing pop-ups that make it nearly impossible to exit an app without agreeing to exorbitant subscription fees — all without Apple's knowledge, despite the company's claim that its App Review process protects devices and users secure.
My Metronome is the software that started the quest, and it appears to have been discovered by Edoardo Vacchi. The program locks up and won't allow you stop using keyboard shortcuts or the menu bar until you agree to a $9.99-a-month subscription, according to Vacchi, Eleftheriou, and user reviews. (However, it is possible to be forced to leave.) "It appears that this developer has tried with numerous strategies over the years of keeping consumers from shutting the paywall," Eleftheriou told The Verge, referring us to several other applications with identical behavior that are still on the store — we'll get to those in a minute.
My Metronome was apparently taken off the store when Eleftheriou tweeted about it. When I try to open the link, I get a warning indicating it is no longer available in my area. (Though to be clear, you shouldn't try to download it or any of the other apps we'll be discussing.) Apple did not answer The Verge's request for comment on whether it was the company that removed the app or how it got through App Review in the first place.
However, the narrative does not finish there. The firm that created the metronome software, Music Paradise, LLC, has a relationship with another App Store developer, Groove Vibes, as developer Jeff Johnson uncovered. Both developers' privacy policies (which are linked on their App Store pages) state that they're registered at the same location and that they're owned by the same legal company, Akadem GmbH.
We decided to put these programs to the test ourselves, so we went to the Mac Software Store and downloaded Music Paradise's second app, Music Paradise Player, as well as Groove Vibes' whole Mac app portfolio. All of them featured a pop-up asking for money in the form of a recurring subscription (typically approximately $10 per month, give or take a few dollars). Three of Groove Vibes' applications were functional, and you could exit them using the menu bar or Command+Q.
However, along with Music Paradise Player, two of the developer's applications have greyed out the quit option on the menu bar and won't allow you to touch the regular red close button. Keyboard shortcuts were also useless; they remained open even when I repeatedly pressed Command+Q, Command+W, and the escape key.
The programs don't completely lock you out of your computer like ransomware, and even if you don't know how to force quit, there are other methods to shut them. On the offer screen of Music Paradise Player, there is an "X" button that when pressed removes the subscription page and allows you to exit the program properly. A little "Maybe Later" button in FX Tool Box performs the same thing. All To MP3 Convertor includes a similar "just allow me into the program so I can close it" option, but it is by far the most difficult to find. "Continue with the limited edition," says a piece of writing.
However, the fact that a knowledgeable user could uninstall these applications if necessary does not explain their presence on the market. App Review, in principle, should have tried them out and rejected them for breaking Apple's rules. It's disappointing to see these applications elude Apple's notice when there are so many other examples of developers being penalized for apparently random reasons (or even for just following Apple's lead).
Apple, on the other hand, has allowed a slew of other shady apps to get through the gaps. Eleftheriou previously uncovered an iPhone app that won't run unless you give it a high rating, as well as children's games that changed into gambling applications when accessed from a specific country. The firm has modified its restrictions in an attempt to make scammy app development less tempting, but it is failing to enforce those rules.
Apple, on the other hand, maintains that iPhone users should only be allowed to install apps from its store so that it can inspect the software. The business is adamantly opposed to laws that would require it to enable sideloading, or the installation of software from sources other than the App Store, claiming that the absence of a monopoly would expose consumers to a slew of frauds and viruses. (Last year, the Program Review team consisted of just 500 individuals, who were tasked with the Herculean task of ensuring that every app on the store adhered to the regulations.)