Apple has apparently removed most of the unlicensed Wordle games that had been plaguing the App Store. The move comes after an outcry over the popular free word-guessing game being cloned to make a profit by various developers.
The majority of the “clones” have apparently been removed from the App Store. Google has also reportedly removed multiple clones of Wordle from the Google Play Store.
The apps have been downloaded tens of thousands of times, likely spurring the house cleaning in both app stores. Apps removed include such blatant ripoffs as “Wordle – the App,” by Zach Shakked, which cloned creator Josh Wardle’s free web game and charged users $30 per month to play.
Shakked publicly boasted about how well his clone was doing. The actual Wordle game exists only as a browser-based game and is not available in the App Store.
Although Apple’s App Store guidelines specifically outlaw such clones, each clone app was originally approved for the App Store by Apple curators. Apple has in the past been criticized for allowing copycat apps and not taking enough action to prevent the inclusion of such apps in the store. Hopefully, the move to remove the Wordle clones indicates Apple will begin taking action when needed.
(Via AppleInsider)