Apple gets fooled again and lists two pirate streaming apps in the App Store

Real Hacker StaffAugust 1, 2024

3 2 minutes read

Apple gets fooled again and lists two pirate streaming apps in the App Store

Less than two weeks ago we told you about a listing on the App Store called “Collect Cards: Store box” that appeared to be an app for managing and storing pictures and videos. When the app was installed on an iPhone in certain markets like the U.S., it opened to reveal the UI of a photo and video storage app; nothing strange there. But in other markets like Brazil, the app would open as a pirate streaming service showing videos from services such as a pirate streaming service showing content from Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple+, and HBO Max.

For the developer, it was a clever way of obtaining the green light from Apple’s U.S.-based app vetting team to receive the “all clear” to be listed in the U.S. App Store and other markets as well. After all, when tested in the States, the app was clearly a place to store and manage images and videos. But the real purpose of the app was discovered in other markets.

Not too long after getting an app kicked out of the App Store, developers tricked Apple again into listing two more apps in the App Store. | Image Credit-9to5Mac

Apple kicked the app out of the App Store last month but the company must have a short memory because once again the developers of the “Collect Cards: Store box” app fooled Apple and got the okay to list two new apps in the App Store, Collect Cards: Birthday Check and Collect Cards: Sugar. We suspect that the same exact ruse used to obtain the previous listing from Apple was used again.

In other words, the team at Apple in charge of approving app listings in the App Store would only see the UI of two unexceptional apps. Once out of the country and in certain markets, as with the previously removed title from the same developers, each of the two apps turned into a pirate streamer showing videos from other notable streaming services. Both apps have since been removed from the App Store. The developers reportedly used a geofence that blocked U.S. iPhone users from seeing the true intentions of the apps.

If you have installed Collect Cards: Store box, Collect Cards: Birthday Check and Collect Cards: Sugar on your iPhone, you should uninstall them. Just because Apple removed the titles from the App Store doesn’t mean that they can’t stay installed on your iPhone. And there is no telling what the developers future intentions are with the apps.

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