Apple has made it easier to file malware complaints on the App Store
Apple has responded to one of the most popular user requests. Now you can quickly report problematic software to the App Store without resorting to all sorts of tricks.
For the first time in years, the "Report a Problem" button is back in the app description, with a drop-down list that allows you to, among other things, "Report Fraud or Abuse."
Before the release of iOS 15, the only way to quickly find such a button was extremely non-obvious - you had to scroll all the way to the end of the "Apps" or "Games" tab. The second way to find the "Report a Problem" button was to wait for an email from Apple with an invoice for the purchased app to appear in your inbox.
The button redirected the user to a special site where they could select, for example, "Report suspicious activity" or "Report quality issues." In either case, neither option offered a consistent and explicit way to report fraud. For example, selecting "Report suspicious activity" redirected to Apple Support. If the user had already paid money and was a victim of fraud, only "quality issues" could be reported.
In a major reversal, Apple quietly added back the "Report a Problem" @AppStore button in iOS 15: pic.twitter.com/UopiPDEV7e
- Kosta Eleftheriou (@keleftheriou) October 3, 2021
Now, even from the free app page with the ability to purchase additional features, problems can reported. Yes, the system still redirects users to a site that requires re-identification, but the interface is much more user-friendly.
It's still unclear what actions Apple plans to take in response to the complaints. The company reportedly has about 500 people responsible for auditing apps on the App Store. In comparison, Facebook has 15,000 moderators, Google has 20,000 and Twitter has 2,200.
In early September, it was reported that Apple was looking for employees for the position of "ASI Investigator" - people involved in researching malicious apps and issues related to them. This position is currently inactive.
It is not yet known how the complaints mechanism will work. The good news is that Apple has started to listen to the wishes of users. Recently the company has allowed users to rate stock apps in the App Store - Apple's previous software "immunity" caused dissatisfaction among many users.
Source: @keleftheriou
Illustration: Parampreet Chanana
