Israeli iPhone app gets the boot

After only two days on Apple's App Store, iOS application SpyKey kicked out

Omer Shachnai|Published: 07.05.11 , 08:08

Last week an Israeli software developer uploaded his new iOS application, SpyKey, to Apple’s App Store.

The app instantly became the talk of the day, with many tech blogs toasting its awesome features. It also reached the 52nd spot at the top entertainment applications chart. Basically, it was doing great.

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However, the app was removed from the App Store after two days only.

Here’s the reason why.

SpyKey, the sabre app, works like this: You purchase the application from Apple for $4.99 US and download it to your device. Then, you download an additional program from the developer’s website, which you install on your “target’s” computer.

After the installation is complete, anything written on that computer (whether it is your boss’s or child’s pc) is automatically shown on your iPhone screen. Essentially, espionage for dummies.

Nevertheless, Kobi Snir, the man behind the application said that when he designed the application, he had parental control in mind.

“I wanted to give parents a way to track their kids, to see with whom they are talking and about what,” he said. “It is obvious, that certain people might find a different use for the application, but that’s not what I had in mind”.

So, why did Apple remove the application? Well, although Snir hadn’t received any official message from the company up to now, it isn’t hard to guess why the application – which acts just like a spying tool – was removed.

However, an even interesting question is how did Apple approve SpyKey in the first place.

After reading the reviews online, it is hard to see that anybody was thinking about child safety. In the mere two days the application was up, SpyKey has been the perfect app to see who your partners are chatting with on Facebook, grab all your boss’s passwords and see what your best friend actually says about you behind your back.

However, both the users who already downloaded the application and the ones who intend to download a cracked version of the app- won’t be able to use it, as Snir blocked the service and removed the desktop application from his website. Maybe now, he will have the time to think about a safer use for the app.