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Apple has reached a settlement with Kosta Eleftheriou, a developer who sued the company for App Store scams and copied keyboards.
Eleftheriou is known for highlighting fake reviews on the App Store, as well as the prevalence of scam apps. He developed FlickType, an Apple Watch keyboard.
He found an abundance of apps that copied FlickType, with those competitors even stealing his promotional videos. Eleftheriou expressed frustration with the App Store review team over copy-and-paste reviews of apps with five-star ratings.
He sued Apple in 2021 after Apple released the Apple Watch Series 7. Thanks to the device’s larger screen, the company released a full keyboard with swiping capabilities.
Apple has rejected FlickType several times in the past, but hasn’t removed copycat apps, and Eleftheriou said it lost revenue as a result. Eleftheriou said he was in talks with Apple about a potential acquisition and filed a lawsuit when he found the Apple Watch Series 7 keyboard similar to FlickType.
The lawsuit further alleged that Apple did little to control the App Store because it benefited from developers offering high-priced subscriptions to users.
According a report On Thursday, Apple settled the lawsuit with Eleftheriou. A request to dismiss the lawsuit was filed on July 21, 2022 after Apple and Kpaw, Inc, Eleftheriou’s company, finalized a settlement.
The terms of the settlement are unclear.
Users can report scam apps in the App Store after Apple brought back a tool called “Report a problem” in 2021. It is listed in the Information section, with details such as age rating, category, etc
