If you were thinking of submitting your very own Wordle clone to the App Store, think again.
On Wednesday,
Apple has confirmed to Mashable that the company removed the apps that had copied the hit viral word game from its App Store.
Credit: Mashable Screenshot
An online firestorm
Credit: Mashable Screenshot
One difference? Wardle’s game exists on his website and is browser-based. Shakked essentially ported the game over into an iPhone app that was being distributed on the App Store.
On top of that, Shakked was also monetizing the game via subscriptions, something that Wardle has specifically resisted doing.
Credit: Mashable Screenshot
Credit: Mashable Screenshot
It’s important to note that Shakked’s app and the other since-removed copycat apps were not just inspired by Wordle. Other than the distribution model and monetization effort, Shakked’s iPhone app was an exact copy of Wardle’s.
These apps flat-out copied everything from the Wardle’s game’s name to its UI to its game mechanics.
As
“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,” read Apple’s guidelines to developers.
At the time that this article was published, there were a few apps called “Wordle” still in the App Store. It’s unclear if they will be removed as well.
Shakked, the “degenerate” developer, has since posted sort of a mea culpa on Twitter. He confirmed that his copycat app was removed by Apple. He also has offered an apology,
In a followup shortly after, Shakked claimed he
The morale of the story? Come up with your own ideas. Don’t flat-out copy other people’s ideas. And if you do, perhaps bragging about it online is a bad idea.