
How to Make $80k per Month on the Apple App Store (2017) - turrini
https://medium.com/@johnnylin/how-to-make-80-000-per-month-on-the-apple-app-store-bdb943862e88
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blunte
There is no way that Apple is not aware of the revenue analytics that would
indicate these apps as financial outliers and not aware that these apps are
scams.

Given the frequency with which we hear of legitimate apps being removed or
rejected by Apple, one can't even argue that Apple is just not paying enough
attention.

I don't say this often, but someone at Apple should be fired over this. This
devalues the App Store in the long run, because it will teach Apple users not
to trust their only source for apps; and that will lead them away from Apple
products.

~~~
btown
It's interesting that you say "this devalues the App Store in the long run."
Because since there's no way to use an alternate app store on iOS products,
Apple would only be at risk if the idea that "iOS apps are scammy" starts to
enter the mainstream zeitgeist and change deeply-ingrained product choice
decisions. Before that happens, the story would be picked up by mainstream
media, not just a Medium blog. And at that point, Apple could _hire_ the anti-
scam team they should have hired in the first place, fire nobody, issue a
veiled apology, and move forwards. Some will gripe, but Apple will almost
certainly escape unscathed from a public-trust perspective. It's entirely
rational - saddeningly so - for them to be reactive rather than proactive to
these types of apps.

The correct response is to publicize these types of findings, have journalists
and lawmakers demand accountability, and accelerate the transition towards
voluntary self-regulation. Tech needs its muckrakers [0] just like any other
industry, and we shouldn't expect companies to change without them.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muckraker)

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giancarlostoro
His 4th point about cancelling subscriptions is pretty solid I wish all app
stores would add that prompt. Most people dont know how to cancel app
subscriptions cause they are hidden magic. They likely think having the app
installed ensures the app charges money.

What's scary is the prompt doesn't emphasize the amount of money to be spend
enough. I think if you're going to subscribe to anything, it shouldn't be such
a simple dialog, you should be forced to look through some sort of clear page
that separates the micro-legal jargon and shows you the cost in big bold
letters.

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reverend_gonzo
More than likely, that app is used to either launder funds or get money out of
stolen credit cards.

~~~
cortesoft
This seems like a horrible way to do both of those things... very easy to
track, and you don't think Apple/investigators will notice if a lot of stolen
cards are buying the same app?

~~~
aphextron
>This seems like a horrible way to do both of those things... very easy to
track, and you don't think Apple/investigators will notice if a lot of stolen
cards are buying the same app?

Doesn't matter if the cash has already been funneled overseas. Good luck
extraditing someone on credit card fraud from Cambodia.

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kartan
> They’re taking advantage of the fact that there’s no filtering or approval
> process for ads, and that ads look almost indistinguishable from real
> results, and some ads take up the entire search result’s first page.

How is not Apple legally responsible for this? Apple tricks its own users to
click on ads, but it doesn't take any responsability on its content. I guess
that it is, but nobody is suing them and goverments have been historically
soft with IT companies.

Automation and the rule of law are mutually exclusive. Or you have inmense
scalable systems without human intervention or you have systems that follow
local laws and ethics. And this will not change until AI has human-level
understanding and intelligence.

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agrinman
I'd be curious to learn how much of that $80k/mo was returned by Apple to
consumers (and not actually paid out to the developer). It's hard to imagine
such a scheme would last long on the top grossing page without intervention...

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theartfuldodger
I have about a dozen financial scanner services from mint to albert to
moneylion that would tell me that this is happening to me.

This article reads more like a how-to scam thousands. Luckily, i don't have
the skillset or ethics to pursue this model.

The entire security and anti-virus model has always survived a few points
lower than this in pricing and actual impact.

I have an owner who profits hard on the BS services of a basic dns scanner
service at 99 a month.

I dont think there is a fix for the fool and his money are soon parted
problem.

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makecheck
The spectrum is just insane for this company. I’ve had pushback and app
rejections for _the most ridiculous_ things; meanwhile, I’m never more than
1-2 searches away from finding what I would call an “obvious scam”. (If their
search engine wasn’t garbage, I’m sure I’d find more.)

The scammers make hundreds of dollars for every misclick. Meanwhile, did you
know that if you don’t make enough money you effectively grant Apple an
interest-free loan and they can wait weeks or months to finally pay you when
you reach the threshold?

Whatever Apple claims to gain by making itself gatekeeper, it’s clear they
fail pretty often at quality control. Meanwhile, real developers get angrier
and angrier.

