Apple Settles with Developer in App Store Rejections Lawsuit

As revealed by court filings, Apple has settled with app developer and former Pinterest engineer Kosta Eleftheriou in a lawsuit over App Store rejections, scams, and fraud, TechCrunch is reporting.

Apple App Store Awards 2021

The lawsuit was filed in California’s Superior Court in Santa Clara County in March 2021, where Eleftheriou alleged his own app had been unfairly rejected from the App Store and then later targeted by scammers, leading to lost revenues.

Eleftheriou claimed that Apple rejected his FlickType Apple Watch keyboard app from the App Store, but then approved competitor keyboard apps and others that used an integrated version of FlickType keyboard to publish to the App Store.

In addition, when the keyboard app was allowed to reenter the App Store, its early success made it a target for App Store scammers who launched less usable competitors boosted by fake ratings and reviews.

As a result, FlickType’s own revenue dropped from $130,000 in its first month to just $20,000 as consumers went for the “better-rated” alternatives, the developer said.

The two parties have been participating in court calls with a judge since last year, including as recently as this spring. A request for dismissal of the lawsuit was subsequently filed on July 21, 2022, after Apple and Eleftheriou came to an agreement.

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