Apple Stops App Store Cheating
July 17, 2008
Last weekend a few enterprising developers caused a mild controversy in the App Store when they decided to rename their applications. Preceding their app name with spaces, symbols, and numbers, some developers schemed to 'cheat' the alphabetical sort list by artificially appearing at the top.
Did this extra exposure lead to fame & fortune for said developers, or just leave a bad taste in the mouths of honest app makers and store users? We're not sure, but what is clear: Apple putting an end to this sort of shenanigans.
Some users reported the problem was corrected yesterday or the day before, but since it was tucked into the system without any official word from Apple we're not quite sure when the fix was implemented. Even as of today some app names are still preceded with spaces & symbols, though such gaming no longer affects their sort order.
Kudos to Apple for quickly (and quietly) setting things right...