Apple Is Now Locking Screenshots For Submitting Apps To Counter Scam Tactics

I would say 2012 was one of the worstyears for App Store scams in the history of the App Store. Whether it be developers ripping off people claiming they developed Cydia tweaks which were ready for distribution on the official App Store or plain rip offs of other games that end up being low quality and non-relevant.

According to MacRumors one of the ways that the developers behind these scam applications would get past Apple’s quality assurance team was to first submit their app with truthful screenshots and then switch the images with infringing images once their app was approved. This is how knockoff Minecraft and Pokemon apps made their way into the App Store.

Apple has finally caught on to this however, and has issued the following statement.

Beginning January 9, app screenshots will be locked in iTunes Connect once your app has been approved. New screenshots may be uploaded when you submit a binary for an update to an existing app or a new app.

While in the past you could change an apps screenshots without approval this will not be the case anymore. Screenshots will only be able to be changed when developers submit updates to the app, which means it will once again have to pass through quality assurance. It is definitely good to see that Apple is trying to cut back on the amount of scam applications in the App Store.