Apple has brought back the ‘Report a Problem’ option on the App Store to flag scam apps and other issues. The new addition was highlighted by the grieved developer Kosta Eleftheriou and The Verge.
App Store has been under the microscope, recently, for its in-app purchases commission rates and review process. Eleftheriou is one of the developers who has actively put the spotlight on scam apps that use reviews and 5-star ratings to trick users into spending millions of dollars annually and blasts Apple for permitting them.
With iOS 15, an improved ‘Report a Problem’ feature returns to App Store to report a scam
‘Report a problem’ was a feature on Apple’s digital marketplace several years ago, but it was hard to access and only allowed users to “report suspicious activity”, “report a quality issue”, “find my content” or “request a refund”. It is not possible to report a malicious app scamming people for money.
Now, the new and improved “Report a Problem’ feature allows users to directly an app from its listing in the App Store. In addition, Eleftheriou points out that the drop-down menu of the new feature also includes the option to “Report a scam or fraud” which was not part of the older version of the ‘Report a Problem’ button.
Recently, security researcher and developer Denis Tokarev showed how malicious apps easily fool App Store’s detection algorithm and that company’s human review processes are arbitrary and bias towards small developers. In conclusion, he said that Apple allows scam apps on its digital marketplace because “they receive 30% commission on all purchases made inside any app and it’s a tremendously lucrative business for them.”
The inclusion of a new reporting option is the first indication that the Cupertino tech company wants to resolve the scam apps issue whose existence on the App Store put a big question mark on Apple’s commitment to user privacy and security.
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