Posted by ksec 1/19/2026
How the hell Apple does not see this is beyond me. All of their fancy security in iOS is worthless if they allow people to be tricked into installing scam-ware.
> This means the only differentiator between organic results and the promoted ad is the presence of the small ‘Ad’ banner next to the app icon.
If it's that easy to fail to notice a paragraph, how much easier would it be to miss just the word 'Ad'?
That's the exact kind of attitude that will make people miss an "obvious" marker.
And I wouldn't call that tiny thing on the third row of text obvious. Even knowing it said 'ad' somewhere, it took me several tries to find it.
Apparently not though, I saw it said ad. Maybe you missed it because you were focused on the wall of text instead of the UI.
It's not like it's a guarantee. And being the "kind" of attitude doesn't mean you miss the exact same things in each situation. It didn't bite you here but it's a risk elsewhere.
> Maybe you missed it because you were focused on the wall of text instead of the UI.
I was looking at the ads the whole time, but I was intuitively focusing edges and the corners and the fine print at the bottom but the actual marker was tucked into the middle very small.
So why remove the blue background then? It just feels deceptive, does it not feel deceptive to you?
Apple might take user privacy seriously now, but don’t assume that will be the case forever.
They dont and never have, its all marketing.
How do you think those app store adds are displayed to you? They profile you like any other ad company to figure out which ads you are most likely to click on to generate them more revenue.
(Check out nice and simple it was in 2008: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo9cKe_Fch8 )
So much for the so called "safety" of the appstore.
In fact, they had so many ChatGPT fake apps showing as top results that they had to do something as users couldn't find the real one and it reached the news.
This is after claiming for many years that the walled garden is a necessity to protect users, and their app store is a safely curated utopia which justifies the 30% fee cut.
I think the situation is a lot more stark than this. Unless they're desperate, the board of directors of corporations will install an MBA as CEO. In most cases, the only time this doesn't happen is at the founding of the company, when a founder is CEO. But if the founder doesn't maintain controlling interest, the founder can be replaced.
The promotion of Steve Jobs to interim CEO of Apple in 1997 was a rare exception. Apple fired its CEO, and the company was in danger of bankruptcy. They were running out of options and feeling the aforemention desperation. Note how the situation was very different in 1985, when the board of directors chose John Sculley over Steve Jobs in a power struggle. At the time, they weren't financially desperate.
With compensation so completely tied to "did our stock go up since you joined?", it's a whole thing.
But seriously, one of the reasons why I got iPhone for my parents to replace their Androids is it's relatively safer environment. But this change increases potential spam and attack surface.
Open app store > search "food delivery app" > Read and compare the reviews of Doordash, ubereats, jimmyjohns app, pizzahut app, shawarma city app, scam app > Make a decision > download the app ???