Tag: App Store

Apple Pulls Vibe Coding App ‘Anything’ From App Store, Escalating Enforcement

Posted on by faz_business


Apple has removed a “vibe coding” app from its App Store, reports The Information. AI app building app “Anything” was pulled from the ‌App Store‌, and Anything co-founder Dhruv Amin was told that his app violated Guideline 2.5.2.

iOS App Store General Feature Black
“Vibe coding” is a term used for code generated using AI based on natural language with no coding experience necessary. Anything and other apps like it let users create apps, websites, and tools with text-based prompts.

Apple started removing vibe coding apps from the ‌App Store‌ earlier in March, and the company said that certain features in the apps that were pulled violate code execution rules. In a statement to MacRumors, Apple said that there are no specific rules against vibe coding, but the apps have to adhere to longstanding guidelines. Apple specifically mentioned Guideline 2.5.2, which is the rule Anything apparently violated.

Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps. Educational apps designed to teach, develop, or allow students to test executable code may, in limited circumstances, download code provided that such code is not used for other purposes. Such apps must make the source code provided by the app completely viewable and editable by the user.

“Anything” launched on iOS back in November with no issue, and Amin says the tool has been used to publish thousands of apps in the ‌App Store‌. The app let users create and preview vibe code apps on the iPhone, and it raised $11 million at a valuation of $100 million back in September.

While Anything was removed from the ‌App Store‌ on March 26, Apple has been blocking updates to the app since December. Amin submitted an update that would allow vibe coded apps to be previewed in a web browser instead of in the app to attempt to comply with the 2.5.2 rule, but Apple blocked the update and pulled the app.

Apple previously blocked iOS updates to Vibecode and Replit, vibe coding apps used to generate other apps.

Apple removes ICEBlock from the App Store after Trump administration’s demand

Posted on by faz_business


Apple has removed ICEBlock, the app which allowed users to put a pin on a map to show where ICE agents have recently been spotted, from the App Store. It has also pulled other apps that served a similar purpose. According to Fox Business, Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded their takedown, telling Apple that the apps were “designed to put ICE agents at risk just for doing their jobs.” Bondi added that “violence against law enforcement is an intolerable red line that cannot be crossed.” She also said that the “Department of Justice will continue making every effort to protect [its] brave federal law enforcement officers, who risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe.”

“We created the App Store to be a safe and trusted place to discover apps,” Apple told the publication in a statement. “Based on information we’ve received from law enforcement about the safety risks associated with ICEBlock, we have removed it and similar apps from the App Store.”

Bondi demanded the apps’ removal after the FBI and the administration reported that the gunman who attacked an ICE facility in Dallas used tracking apps, including ICEBlock, to open fire from a rooftop. The gunman killed two immigrants and injured a third, but he was allegedly targeting ICE agents. Joshua Aaron, the app’s developer, told Fox Business that he was “incredibly disappointed” by Apple’s actions. “Capitulating to an authoritarian regime is never the right move,” he said. “Apple has claimed they received information from law enforcement that ICEBlock served to harm law enforcement officers. This is patently false.” Aaron added: “We are determined to fight this with everything we have. Our mission has always been to protect our neighbors from the terror this administration continues to reign down on the people of this nation.”

ICEBlock climbed to the top of the App Store charts in July after administration officials slammed it, making more people aware of its existence. At the time, officials warned Aaron that they were “looking at him, and he better watch out” because the app threatens the lives of law enforcement agents. NBC News reports that it was downloaded more than 1 million times since it was introduced. Tom Homan, the administration’s “border czar,” recently told Fox News that the government will investigate the “people who put these apps up” because they put “law enforcement at great risk.”

Apple Seeks to Pause ‘Extraordinary’ App Store Ruling in Epic Games Battle

Posted on by faz_business


Apple has filed an emergency motion asking the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to pause key parts of a recent ruling that dramatically changes how the App Store operates, following a contempt finding in its long-running legal battle with Fortnite maker Epic Games.

iOS App Store General Feature Dock 2
In court documents filed Wednesday, Apple called the district court’s order “extraordinary” and argued it unlawfully forces the company to permanently give up control over “core aspects of its business operations.”

“A federal court cannot force Apple to permanently give away free access to its products and services, including intellectual property,” Apple’s lawyers wrote in the motion.

Apple is specifically seeking to halt two major provisions while its appeal moves forward: a ban on charging any commissions for purchases made through external links, and restrictions on Apple’s ability to set conditions for how those links appear in iOS apps.

The emergency filing comes after Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found Apple in contempt last week for violating her 2021 injunction, which required the company to allow developers to include links to alternative payment methods. The judge determined that internal company documents showed Apple deliberately violated her earlier order.

Apple complied with the latest ruling immediately but is now asking for relief from what it describes as “punitive” measures that would cost it “hundreds of millions to billions” of dollars annually. The company wants the appeals court to issue a ruling by May 28.

“These new rules are not temporary sanctions for non-compliance that Apple can purge,” the filing states. “Instead, the district court took the highly irregular step of imposing new, different, and permanent restrictions.”

At the heart of the dispute is how Apple implemented the original 2021 injunction. After losing at trial, Apple created a new entitlement system that allowed developers to include links to external payment options, but imposed a 12-27% commission on purchases made through those links and restricted where the links could appear.

Epic Games argued this framework violated both the letter and spirit of the court’s order, and Judge Gonzalez Rogers ultimately agreed, finding that Apple’s approach “undermine[d] the spirit of the injunction by limiting competition.”

In its emergency motion, Apple contends the judge exceeded her authority by essentially setting its prices at zero and taking control over how developers can present alternative payment options within apps.

Several major apps including Spotify, Kindle, and Patreon have already updated their iOS apps to include direct links to external payment methods since the ruling took effect.

Epic Games responded to Apple’s emergency motion by calling it “a last ditch effort to block competition and extract massive junk fees at the expense of consumers and developers.” The company added that it was “full speed ahead to bring Fortnite to iPhones and iPads in the U.S. this week.”

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Screenshot-reading malware cracks iPhone security for the first time

Posted on by faz_business


In the realm of smartphones, Apple’s ecosystem is deemed to be the safer one. Independent analysis by security experts has also proved that point repeatedly over the years. But Apple’s guardrails are not impenetrable. On the contrary, it seems bad actors have managed yet another worrying breakthrough.

As per an analysis by Kaspersky, malware with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities has been spotted on the App Store for the first time. Instead of stealing files stored on a phone, the malware scanned screenshots stored locally, analyzed the text content, and relayed the necessary information to servers.

The malware-seeding operation, codenamed “SparkCat,” targeted apps seeded from official repositories — Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store — and third-party sources. The infected apps amassed roughly a quarter million downloads across both platforms.

An app listed on the App Store infected by malware.
Kaspersky

Interestingly, the malware piggybacked atop Google’s ML Kit library, a toolkit that lets developers deploy machine learning capabilities for quick and offline data processing in apps. This ML Kit system is what ultimately allowed the Google OCR model to scan photos stored on an iPhone and recognize the text containing sensitive information.


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But it seems the malware was not just capable of stealing crypto-related recovery codes. “It must be noted that the malware is flexible enough to steal not just these phrases but also other sensitive data from the gallery, such as messages or passwords that might have been captured in screenshots,” says Kaspersky’s report.

Among the targeted iPhone apps was ComeCome, which appears to be a Chinese food delivery app on the surface, but came loaded with a screenshot-reading malware. “This is the first known case of an app infected with OCR spyware being found in Apple’s official app marketplace,” notes Kaspersky’s analysis.

One of the iPhone apps infected by OCR malware.
Kaspersky

It is, however, unclear whether the developers of these problematic apps were engaged in embedding the malware, or if it was a supply chain attack. Irrespective of the origin, the whole pipeline was quite inconspicuous as the apps seemed legitimate and catered to tasks such as messaging, AI learning, or food delivery. Notably, the cross-platform malware was also capable of obfuscating its presence, which made it harder to detect.

The primary objective of this campaign was extracting crypto wallet recovery phrases, which can allow a bad actor to take over a person’s crypto wallet and get away with their assets. The target zones appear to be Europe and Asia, but some of the hotlisted apps appear to be operating in Africa and other regions, as well.






Brazil demands Apple open up the App Store…or else

Posted on by faz_business


Little by little, countries around the world are taking steps to change how Apple’s App Store functions. The most recent development comes from Brazil, where the nation’s antitrust regulator Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica (CADE) on Monday issued Apple an ultimatum of sorts. CADE has given Apple 20 days to make changes that allows for purchases from third-party app developers without going through Apple or face a fine of 250,000 Real ($43,000) each day after. Candidly, given the amount of money Apple makes every, $43,000 could probably come from Tim Cook’s Diet Mountain Dew expense account.

More specifically, Apple must take steps such as allowing third-party developers to tell their users about alternative locations to purchase their goods or services and to include buttons, external links and other calls to action that show users alternative ways to access their products, rather than just in-app. Developers would also be able to use other in-app purchasing systems (Apple charges a 30 percent fee when using its system), distribute their apps in places other than Apple’s App Store, and more. The ruling stems from e-commerce company MercadoLibre’s 2022 filing alleging Apple restricts goods distribution and purchase methods.

This decision follows changes earlier this year to how Apple can operate its app store in the European Union. The bloc’s Digital Markets Act forced Apple to allow developers to receive payments and distribute apps outside the company’s App Store. Apple has also faced pushes to change its systems in the US, most notably through a lawsuit brought by Epic Games.

Apple claims Epic is trying to ‘micromanage’ its business operations in a new court filing

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Last month, Epic Games filed a motion asking a California judge to hold Apple in contempt for what it claims are violations of a 2021 injunction relating to the company’s App Store practices. Now, Apple is asking the judge to reject Epic’s request, alleging in a new filing spotted by that the motion is an attempt to “micromanage Apple’s business operations in a way that would increase Epic’s profitability.”

The original injunction by US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers required Apple to let developers provide an option for external payment methods, which would allow them to avoid fees of up to 30 percent on App Store and in-app purchases. Apple for developers in January that do allow linking to external websites for purchasing alternatives, but the new rules also require they get Apple’s approval to do so and impose a commission of 12-27 percent for these transactions. Per Reuters, Epic argued that this makes alternative payment options “commercially unusable.”

Epic also said at the time that Apple’s “so-called compliance is a sham,” and accused the company of violating the injunction with its recent moves. Apple maintains that it has acted in compliance with the injunction, stating in the new filing, “The purpose of the Injunction is to make information regarding alternative purchase options more readily available, not to dictate the commercial terms on which Apple provides access to its platform, tools and technologies, and userbase.”