App developers use the hype surrounding the chatbot ChatGPT to sell expensive subscriptions. In Apple’s App Store, an app called “ChatGPT Chat GPT AI With GPT-3” is currently storming the charts, which is not only plastered with advertising banners, but also wants to sell subscriptions with access to a chatbot. Among them there is also a subscription that debits 10 euros per week. A prominent reference is made to free use, but the free trial period automatically turns into a paid subscription after three days if the user nods to it.
Expensive subscriptions for “ChatGPT”
According to the app description, the GPT-3 interface from OpenAI, which is behind ChatGPT, is used for this. In addition, the OpenAI logo is apparently used as an app icon. The chatbot can currently be used free of charge in the browser; the provider does not have an in-house app. A search for ChatGPT in the App Store leads to other third-party apps that also offer expensive subscriptions to a chatbot as in-app purchases.
Providers of popular iPhone apps are angry: If Apple really wants to show regulators that “the App Store is a safe and trustworthy place, then this stuff shouldn’t exist”, wrote the co-founder of the photo app Halide, as a developer he was angry and sad about it. He only found out about it from his father, who thought the app was very cool but was annoyed that he had to pay for it, such another user – the Apple store is full of apps that put ChatGPT in a paid shell.
Nip in the App Store
Keyword spamming, fake reviews, and Apple’s in-app subscriptions continue to be the order of the day on the App Store. Users are usually lured into subscribing by cleverly designed overlays and reference to the initial free use. This can be canceled immediately, but the debits are often only noticed after weeks. Apple earns up to 30 percent commission on the subscriptions.
(lbe)
