Apple yanks subscription scam apps, but leaves a bigger problem intact

Apple has known for years that its App Stores are cash machines, giving developers almost instant access to hundreds of millions of wallets — each only a single authenticated tap away. So I was glad to learn that Apple has started to yank apps that were tricking App Store customers into signing up for expensive subscriptions, a situation Forbes was monitoring for some time. The scam was simple: Use a pop-up screen to insert a big “Free Trial” button with tiny or obscured subscription terms into an app, then collect hundreds or thousands of dollars from unwitting users.

Developers have reported that Apple pulled high-earning subscription apps that offered free trials without conspicuously disclosing the subscription’s price, as well as others that used art or graphic design elements to obscure the user’s option to avoid subscribing. The apps — including a QR code scanner, a weather app, and a web page translation app — were reportedly earning between $260 to $4,700 per year, per user. To get back into the store, developers have been fixing their graphics, and replacing buttons like “Try for 3 days, free” with “Join: $3.99/wk.”