Apple Settles 'FlickType' Developer Lawsuit Over App Store Treatment
Prominent developer Kosta Eleftheriou has settled his 2021 lawsuit against Apple over its App Store review actions that he said hindered his ability to distribute apps on the platform while allowing copycat competitors to flourish, reports TechCrunch.
In his lawsuit, Eleftheriou complained that Apple repeatedly threw up "roadblock after roadblock" against his FlickType keyboard app for the Apple Watch, only to then allow copycat apps from other developers onto the store. Eleftheriou said that he had been in discussions with Apple about the company acquiring FlickType, and he believes Apple was intentionally targeting his app in the review process to try to force him to sell it at a discount.
Following the filing of the case last year, the two parties participated in court calls with a judge, the court docket shows, including as recently as this spring. A request for dismissal of the lawsuit was subsequently filed on July 21, 2022, after Apple and Kpaw (Eleftheriou’s business) came to an agreement.
Eleftheriou was unable to comment on the terms of the settlement. Apple was not immediately able to comment on the dismissal either.
Eleftheriou has been one of the higher-profile critics of Apple's App Store policies, repeatedly pointing out App Store scams that have slipped through the review process and even into the store's charts of top-performing apps without Apple taking action.
Apple has taken some steps to improve the ability for users to flag problematic apps, such as by bringing back the "Report a Problem" button on App Store listings, but Eleftheriou says he continues to find scam and copycat apps with only minimal effort.
Popular Stories
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices from credible sources.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X...
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve).
The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Apple provided developers with the second beta of iOS 26, introducing the first changes and refinements to the new operating system since it debuted after the WWDC keynote. Because we're early in the beta testing process, there are quite a few tweaks to iOS 26, which we've rounded up below.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Control Center
The background behind the...
Apple has long been working towards an iPhone with an all-screen design, and it might finally achieve the feat in a few more years from now.
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple will shrink the size of the Dynamic Island on new iPhone models released next year. A year after that, he expects Apple to release a redesigned 20th-anniversary iPhone model....
Apple is facing mounting resistance from automakers over CarPlay Ultra, the next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles that was announced last month.
A new (paywalled) Financial Times report claims several major brands are walking back their earlier commitments to support the upgraded dashboard software. German luxury manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and Audi have both...
With the second beta of iOS 26 that Apple provided to developers today, Apple addressed one of the major complaints that people have had with Liquid Glass.
iOS 26 beta 1 on left, iOS 26 beta 2 on right
The Control Center buttons are now slightly more opaque, making it easier to see the different control options even on a multicolored background. The new, more opaque look is apparent with the ...
watchOS 26 is adding a new "Show Data When Locked" setting to the Apple Watch.
MacRumors contributor Steve Moser discovered the new setting within the code for the first watchOS 26 beta, and a Reddit user has seemingly found it in action, but we have yet to figure out where it is exactly. Leave a comment if you know.
The new privacy setting allows you to toggle on or off the ability to...
Last week, we reported that iOS 26 introduces an opt-in Adaptive Power Mode on the iPhone, alongside the existing Low Power Mode.
Apple says that Adaptive Power Mode can make "small performance adjustments" when necessary to extend an iPhone's battery life, including slightly lowering the display brightness or allowing some activities to "take a little longer."
The full description of...
In macOS Tahoe Beta 2, Apple included a new option to add a background to the menu bar, making it possible to have a menu bar design that’s similar to the menu bar in macOS Sequoia.
As part of macOS Tahoe’s Liquid Glass design, Apple removed the background of the menu bar, so it blends into the wallpaper or background behind it. The icons of the menu bar are more free floating with the...
