Apple promotes, profits from scam apps, developer claims

Apple sold applications that used the FlickType keyboard such as Chirp for Twitter, Nano for Reddit, WatchChat for WhatsApp and Lens for Instagram, but refused to sell Eleftheriou’s FlickType as an independent app for the Apple Watch, according to the complaint. — AFP

Apple Inc was sued by the creator of a mobile-device keyboard interface for the blind who says the company’s failure to police fraudulent knockoffs sold in the App Store penalises honest developers.

Kosta Eleftheriou, who cites a long history of developing successful applications acquired by Google and Pinterest, says that after struggling with the iPhone maker to get permission to sell his FlickType in the App Store, competitors quickly surfaced with products that were slickly marketed but didn’t really work – stealing 80% of his revenue.