Most people find iPhones and iPads the most secured and protected devices. There is a good reason for that. While the Android-based devices require downloading some antimalware and antivirus applications, iPhones do not require any, simply because iOS is not affected by any viruses or malware.
Well, it’s actually true, but not so many users know that Apple sometimes fails to remove porn games, gambling applications offering no deposit bonus Canada and other stuff, violent games aimed at kids, and other inappropriate content from its store. Surprised? We know that feeling.
Nowadays, Apple Store remains the second-biggest app store in the world with over 2 million apps published. Each of these applications is thoroughly tested and reviewed according to the Store Review Guidelines. If a developer breaks at least one rule from the list, he gets an immediate rejection.
Such a strict policy allows Apple to prevent virus content from getting into their store. However, there are still some ways to avoid all these rules, publish illicit applications, and make them available to all users.
Jailbreaking
One of these ways is jailbreaking. This process allows iPhone users to avoid all the limitations imposed by Apple on iOS, download various applications that are not available in the official AppStore, and modified different functions of the phone.
Those users, who want to jailbreak their iPhones should understand that their gadget will no longer be protected. But if they use legally approved and licensed iPad Casino or iPhone gambling apps, there is no need to jailbreaking your device.
Apple knows well about jailbreaking and warns that it is not responsible for any jailbroken iPhone. The company also used some measures towards restricting jailbreaking so that the latest iPhone models cannot be jailbroken so easily.
The second and the biggest problem of Apple’s AppStore is misusing the so-called enterprise certificates. These certificates are being issued to all the companies, which want to distribute the in-house apps among their employees. The main difference between regular and enterprise apps is that the later
They are supposed to be downloaded only by the employees. That’s actually why Apple doesn’t test or review any of the enterprise applications. The absence of control over the employee-only apps led to the distribution of illicit marketplaces filled up with inappropriate content, modified games, and online gambling applications.
What’s Hiding Behind Apple Developer Enterprise Program?
You will be definitely surprised how fast you can download and install an application that is not available in the official AppStore. It will take you several clicks to confirm you want to install a shady application. Thus, TutuApp and App Valley
These disguised app stores are dangerous for both regular users and fair software developing companies. They threaten users’ security since any of the games and apps offered illegally can contain some data-collecting or virus-deploying scripts. All the apps from such stores as TutuApp and App Valley are being offered for free.
For example, you can download the Minecraft game, which usually costs around 6.99$ in AppStore, without paying any penny. It may have an influence on the revenue of other fair software developers since many people stop buying official products when they hear about the possibility to get the same stuff for free.
Believe it or not, even world-famous companies were misusing the Enterprise certificates and breaking the terms of the agreement with Apple. Yep, we are talking about Facebook – one of the biggest social media services in the world. A couple of years ago, Facebook started sharing the Facebook Research application among iPhone users.
It was uploaded to the web within the Enterprise program so that it wasn’t available in the official store. The users, who installed this application, agreed to share with Facebook their personal information, web history, and other sensitive data. Facebook Research was using a hidden VPN technology in order to collect data. More than that, users were paid around 20$ each month for the use of this app. When these facts went public, Apple revoked all the Enterprise certificates issued to Facebook and a scandalous app was removed from the web.
Does Apple Filter All Content Successfully?
Apple is very strict when it comes to hosting inappropriate content. There were a lot of instances of removing popular apps from AppStore due to distributing porn-related content. The great examples are Telegram and Tumblr. The later suddenly disappeared from the store in November 2018.
As it turned out the application was hosting child pornography images, which is completely unacceptable for Apple. How did this happen? Tumblr, as well as most other well-known messengers, use the existing in the industry database of child porn images and test whether the uploaded images have the matching files from this database. If yes, the uploading image is immediately blocked. However, some of the latest images related to child porn were not present in the database and, as a result, successfully distributed among users.
While these incidents are being resolved pretty fast, Apple faces with much bigger issues related to the distribution of inappropriate content in certain countries. For example, Chinese State Media is accusing Apple of failing to filter and block illegal content related to online gambling and porn. Especially, it’s about iMessage.
China thinks that what Apple does in order to filter illegal content is not enough. They want Apple to block absolutely all porn-related private messages and other inappropriate content. Apple, in turn, is sandwiched between two issues. On the one hand, the company values the privacy of users and doesn’t monitor private messaging. On the other hand, it tries to do everything possible in order not to lose the confidence of the second-biggest market for its products in the whole world.
All in all, despite all the issues with inappropriate content, Apple still remains the greatest app-distributing companies out there and will hardly lose its reputation.