Problem with Apple’s App Store

wkleem

There has been a case of a fake app, AdwareMedic which Apple has shut down but it was not discovered immediately. The App sends users’ browsing history to China. There are probably more of the same.

Not to be confused with Adware Medic which became Malwarebytes for MAC.

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/threat-analysis/2018/09/mac-app-store-apps-are-stealing-user-data/

Over the years I noticed Apps with similar sounding names to 1Password. OnePassword for example with confused users visiting this AgileBits Forum. I hope they aren’t stealing anything.

There are stil “Password Manager” apps with the old 1Password Logo still in the App Store.

AGAlumB

My understanding is it's a problem with a specific app, not the App Store itself. Certainly I wish it had been removed more quickly, but it did have to request the permissions from users, and that is not even possible sorting with Mohave. Things like the App Store have helped a lot of people get software more conveniently and securely over the years, but ultimately we all still need to be circumspect about what we install, and what we allow it to do on our systems. Better than what we had in the past, but still more work to do — for all of us.

There are stil “Password Manager” apps with the old 1Password Logo still in the App Store.

I'm not seeing any in an App Store (US) search on my Mac, but please let us know of any when you find them.

wkleem

@brenty,

I was using the App Store from the iPhone to check. Sorry for any confusion.

[link to impostor app removed by 1Password team]

Also something I read in the comments: "i" can be mistaken for "1" Password in the App name.

[link to impostor app removed by 1Password team]

AGAlumB

@wkleem: Absolutely! Thank you! I was looking in the wrong place. I've removed the links from you post for obvious reasons, and we'll look into them. Thanks again! :)

wkleem

I could not find, within these forums, people who would come here to post about bad experiences (about 1Password) from those fake Apps. I was certain there were some. The imposters will appear again eventually.

AGAlumB

@wkleem: Indeed. We definitely get those both here in the forum and via email (probably social media too, but I'm not active there), but I often can't find these things when I want to either. Lots of "iPassword" support requests, and it breaks my heart because I know nothing about how it works and they don't seem to have any support resources themselves to direct people to. :(

wkleem

Hi

Just to post some good news. Apple is cracking down on some duplicate apps, although, they'll be back eventually...

https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/27/apple-removes-voip-app-clones-from-the-app-store/

AGAlumB

Indeed, it's not really something that can be reliably automated, and doing it manually is a huge task. I'm glad they're making the effort though.