Fake Spotify app removed from Marketplace

By Daniel Rubino
last updated

Although on occasion certain apps may get by on the Marketplace, it seems once we get wind of it Microsoft acts swiftly. Such is the case with "spotify" a $0.99 app that reportedly looked like the official Spotify app.

It was unclear at the time of what the developer's motivation was here though it certainly looked suspicious. Now, Microsoft has reacted by removing the trademark-infringing app from the Marketplace. It does not appear that any action has been taken against the developer as his other apps, Stock Today and AllSportz which are legitimate and free are still available.

At least new customers won't be caught off guard by the Doppelganger anymore and hopefully this will a rare happening in our Marketplace.

Thanks, Den, for the heads up!

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

4 Comments
  • maybe he didn't even know an app named spotify existed or it was trademarked. Before recent news regarding this clone i wasnt aware of spotify and its service as it doesnt work in my country.
  • Thats impossible. He used the service's (almost)exact color and logo... Take a closer look at the icon he even left the Trademark symbol next to the name.
     
    This was simply to capitalize on the recent release and take advantage of the search engine returning his app as a result for people looking for Spotify. Theres plently of them out there, for example Bejewelled is a clone of the official Bejeweled. But a lot of people will add that extra L and they'll get his app returned in search results.
     
    Sometimes it's OK to do this stuff, but as a generic version, not a blatant rip off
  • Amazing that this got through.
  • Now how about they remove all those stupid Facebook "apps" that are essentially generic menus that link to the web version of Facebook.  They cost money and have terrible reviews because they are just there to prey on people who don't know better.