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[–] 69 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

I just did a search in the store and discovered there are at least 15 separate workout apps published by the same company with the same red icon theming. (men, women, abs, legs, lose weight men, lose weight women...)

Like, what the actual fuck. Its the same company. It could have just been one app.

I guess when people treat the app store like a search engine we get into this situation where apps become hyper-specific to match the hyper-specific things people are searching for, using individual app names as if they are search results.

I hate it, and I hate the human behaviour that has lead to this being a profitable tactic for app developers.

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  • [–] 16 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I doubt 98% of them have any real usage. The barrier to entry is low. The play/Apple stores are very healthy and profitable. If course a few smaller app are going to pop up to try and get a cut.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago

    It may be the same workout app just multiplied for SEO. I don't think making official dupes is an offence against the rules of said platforms, as these are not unauthorized clones, and spamming apps to appear in every potential search querry is what for-profit companies without a brand recognition would undoubtedly strive for.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 year ago

    app store search is often super bad. it ignores words etc, because they make more money by people not finding what they want and falling back to installing a few promoted apps with extra ads and tracking instead

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