Apple Deletes App That Informed Users If Their iPhone is Hacked

Apple has removed a security App from its app store claiming it’s misleading and confusing for users — The app was developed to inform users if they are being hacked and spied by malicious actors!

The usual search keywords on Google about hacking are hacking tools, how to hack or how to know if I am hacked. Well, one can’t find answers for every question but a German IT security researcher Stefan Esser developed an app informing users if their iPhone has been secretly hacked, jailbroken or being spied by malicious actors but it looks like Apple didn’t like the idea of ”information for all” and deleted the app because according to the Apple’s review team the System and Security info app didn’t compliance with the App store review guidelines.

According to an email sent by Apple, Esser was told that his app provides inaccurate and misleading information to iOS users which may mislead or confuse users.

“We noticed that your app provides potentially inaccurate and misleading diagnostic functionally for iOS devices to users. Currently, there is no publicly available infrastructure to support iOS diagnostic analysis. Therefore, your app may report inaccurate information which could mislead or confuse users. We encourage you to review your app concept and incorporate different content and features that are in compliance with the app store review guidelines,” according to the email shared by Esser on his Twitter account.

HackRead got in touch with Mr. Esser who informed us about the app deletion on Twitter:

@Writerblues Apple killed the app. They do not want a security app on the store.

— Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) May 15, 2016

Those searching for the app can see a popup message on App Store:

Here are some tweets shared by Mr. Esser on this issue:

Here. It basically says: we do not want our users to have the impression iOS could have security holes. go away. pic.twitter.com/7II1q96ZMt

— Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) May 14, 2016

Fun fact: our app went 3 times though Apple review because of some bugfixes. Only in the 4 review it is suddenly considered unwanted.

— Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) May 14, 2016

Remember, Apple is not the only one to delete security apps from iOS store. In fact, in December 2015, Google also removed a cyber security app from Google Play store but after pressure from social media, the tech giant was forced to restore the app. However, in current scenario a smartphone carries most important and personal data of our lives including pictures, videos, location data, Google searches and financial information etc making it an easy target for cyber criminals and government-backed spies looking for money or your personal data. It’s important to know what’s going inside your device, especially for iPhone users who have been under the FBI’s eyes lately (San Bernardino Shooting Case is a good example from recent past). Hence, an app like System and Security info should be appreciated rather than censored.