Apple can’t differentiate between original and copycat? Removes original app.

Copycats of my app Custom Notch. My app is not available because Apple removed it! 3rd App “Custom Notch Lite” is free version of my app.

Custom Notch has 210k downloads of which181k is from China. Copycats started appearing after my app became №1 Top Paid Apps in China App Store.

Custom Notch becomes №.1 Paid app in China.

Then came the clones.

1. NotchX Custom Notch Wallpapers
2. Magic Notch — Custom Notch
3. Magic Notch — Custom Notch
4. Magic Custom Notch-wallpapers
5. NotchRemover -Custom Notch 去刘海
6. Custom Notch for X
7. Custom Notch — Magic wallpaper
8. Magic Custom — Notch Wallpaper
9. Custom Bangs Notch
10. Notch Pro — Customize Notch
11. Magic Custom Notch — 好奇怪
12. Cute Wallpapers For iPhone X
13. Cute Notch-Custom the notch
14. Magic Notch Styles
15. Notch Free ~ Custom & Remove
16. Notch Custom Maker
17. Magic Notch — Custom & Remove
18. Costom Notch — 耳朵壁纸
19. Custom Diverse Notch

When your app is cloned and the clones are using your app name, you can’t do much except reporting to Apple at iTunes App Store Content Dispute.

I reported the apps. They took their own time and sent out notices to all the app developers whom I reported. None of them cared. All those developers were asking “Is Custom Notch your trademark?” “Show us the proof that Custom Notch is your trademark!” I tried to explain to both the developers and the Apple Legal team that they have violated App Store Review Guideline 4.1.

4.1 Copycats

Come up with your own ideas. We know you have them, so make yours come to life. Don’t simply copy the latest popular app on the App Store, or make some minor changes to another app’s name or UI and pass it off as your own. In addition to risking an intellectual property infringement claim, it makes the App Store harder to navigate and just isn’t fair to your fellow developers.

Unfortunately, Apple cannot serve as arbiter for disputes among third parties.

So I found that it is just waste of time.

On March 13 I got a mail that my app was removed from sales.

One developer whom I reported had reported back that I have used his app name “Costom Notch”.

That is why Apple removed my app. Apple has removed an original app from App Store because another app developer who cloned it had reported it.

At the time when the app was removed it was at 65th position in China Paid app overall and 6th in utilities category.

The copycat app is having a great time now replacing our position in Top Paid Chart.

Screenshot of App Store China Top Paid Chart. “Costom Notch” ranking 63rd.

Appannie Screenshot of “Costom Notch” ranking history.

Our downloads disappearing.

Screenshot of iTunesConnect — Sales Report of our apps.

Thanks Apple!