Apple Removing Rip-Off Games and Apps from The App Store

[Phillip Swanson]

*Photo courtesy of TechCrunch*

Temple Jump. Tiny Birds. Numbers With Friends. The names sound familiar. The characters might even elicit a double take. A few could reside on your phone. These apps all share the same characteristics: They’re blatant rip-offs of highly successful games and they’re no longer available in the App Store.

Apple removed the aforementioned games from the App Store for blatant plagiarism. The developers of these applications created them with the sole purpose of scamming potential buyers into thinking their products were the original and more successful counterparts. Stealing a few $1.99 purchases here and there wouldn’t be a sizable offense, but in the case of Temple Run, it’s ripoff counterpart Temple Jump managed to reach the top of the paid app chart.

The Guardian ran a story highlighting developer Anton Sinelnikov who is notorious for creating fake apps, and created all three of the apps listed above. Keith Shepard, owner of Imangi Studios who developed Temple Run, tweeted a number of other rip-offs Apple removed as well.

While a number of rip-off games and apps have been removed from The App Store, there will always be more. Apple’s inconsistent app approval process, better than Android's lack thereof, still isn’t perfect. This is why Tech Crunch’s idea that Apple should add a new option to its “report a problem” button is essential. By adding “This app plagiarized another” or “This app is a fake version of another” to the different problems users can report, Apple will effectively be able to locate, evaluate and eliminate rip-off applications through their massive community of iOS users.

Rip-off applications and games don't do anything, but line the pockets of seedy developers. However, I will concede Tiny Birds' character design is hilarious. All the birds look like they have a serious case of the munchies.

Source: TechCrunch and The Guardian

[ggonxhi]

Wow mmi this is old news Read about this like 4 days ago.

[Paco]

As long as they arent paid, its okay for me. Ripoffs are the closest to having mario games on ios

[eightyk88]

Wow mmi this is old news Read about this like 4 days ago.

Like the new Samsung Super Bowl ad I watched Thursday or Friday?

[iLoveWindows&iPhone]

Haha, this doesn't seem fair.

"Angry Birds" is released, becomes huge hit....

Someone realizes it would be profitable to make a clone of the massively popular "Angry Birds"....

"Tiny Wings" is hatched (get it) and completely rips off "Angry Birds".

The "Angry Birds" clone gets so big, that someone realizes it would be profitable to rip off the rip off.....

And so "Angry Wings" (takes a word from both games) is hatched.

"Angry Wings" is then labeled as a rip off, and pulled from the app store............whaaaa?

So is it app store policy that a app can only be ripped off once? And that the app that rips off another app cannot be ripped off?

I think Apple should let irony play it's course here.

[Dainelli]

Loool, I agree on the character design of the right logo

[Fofer]

Haha, this doesn't seem fair.

"Angry Birds" is released, becomes huge hit....

Someone realizes it would be profitable to make a clone of the massively popular "Angry Birds"....

"Tiny Wings" is hatched (get it) and completely rips off "Angry Birds".

Your theory doesn't hold up. Tiny Wings isn't a rip off of Angry Birds in any way. It's completely different game play, the graphics and sounds are nothing alike, at all. The only link between these two titles is that they both are games that can be played on iOS, and that birds have wings. That's it.

[baRRy boRRis]

So does this mean that all of Gameloft's games are going too? Of their entire repertoire they have what, one game that isn't a copy?!

[Dainelli]

Sure, they stole a little bit from both games but the game doesn't seem misleading in any way, doesn't feel like a trap.. The name isn't misleading, the screenshots/app icon don't even look like angry birds / tiny wings.. Anyone know what the gameplay was like? I don't understand why it was taken off..

[feidhlim1986]

I assume they removed Angry Birds so ya?

[BenderRodriguez]

Apple removed the aforementioned games from the App Store for blatant plagiarism. The developers of these applications created them with the sole purpose of scamming potential buyers into thinking their products were the original and more successful counterparts. Stealing a few $1.99 purchases here and there wouldn’t be a sizable offense, but in the case of Temple Run, it’s ripoff counterpart Temple Jump managed to reach the top of the paid app chart.

Um Temple Run is there but Temple Jump?

[jeffhesser]

It may seem more shady because it's so easy to turn around a ripped off product for iOS but legally it's on the level so long as they aren't stealing actual code... Virtually every game out there is just a 'rip-off' of another persons idea if you want to get reductive about it. I'm not defending any of these games in specific but i'd be surprised if some of these games didn't offer some small improvements/differentiator. Angry Birds is a perfect example of a game where the whole product is far more than the sum of it's parts. Making a great game is an art and as companies try to copy mechanics or bullet points they'll miss the mark.

[Paco]

Ummm isnt angry birds a ripoff of crush the castle?

[santacruzlocal]

So Basically .... If you are an individual developer, You basically have no shot of making it big! EVERYTHING has been stolen in one way or another! It needs to be blatantly obvious like Temple Run and Temple Jump.

[bigliquid530]

Times are hard enough just let people make money if someone wants to by it instead of the original just let them. America is all about options....

[teej1410]

Your theory doesn't hold up. Tiny Wings isn't a rip off of Angry Birds in any way. It's completely different game play, the graphics and sounds are nothing alike, at all. The only link between these two titles is that they both are games that can be played on iOS, and that birds have wings. That's it.

Yeah it isn't a rip off but is it original? No. I hate all these birds and zombie apps that are on the AppStore.

[versatilias]

best way to stop this is to make payments to the app developer 1 or 2 months later... if the item was plagerized... then payment wont be sent....

[teej1410]

best way to stop this is to make payments to the app developer 1 or 2 months later... if the item was plagerized... then payment wont be sent....

Or just have apple not accept the app in the store.