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AmpMe is not a new app that popped up to scam users out of their money. Do you see the photo atop the post? The idea of an app that can sync up a room full of phones into a single speaker with no fees was first covered in 2015. If you downloaded the app yesterday, it would immediately try to sell you a recurring subscription for $9.99 a week. If you pull it out as a party trick and then forget to cancel, it will cost you $520 a year.
The app has made $13 million in the last year.
It is easy to find a scam on Apple's App Store, just follow the money and look at the reviews. Something might be off if you see an app that charges ridiculous subscription fees, yet still has loads of five-star ratings. If the reviews look fake, and the app is barely functional, you may have spotted a scam.
It is not easy to find a company accused of scamming. When we contacted AmpMe, we got a reply from its support email address. Here is the full version.
Hi Sean.
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The majority of our users never paid for the free version of the app. AmpMe works as advertised and is a valued app.
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It's not true that our users are paying $520 per year. The average user that took advantage of our free trial paid a total average of $17 in the year 2021. The average yearly subscription revenue is about $75 if you only take paying users. This has reinforced our belief that AmpMe's pricing is transparent and easy to opt out of.
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The feedback is loud and clear. We have hired outside consultants to help us with marketing and store design. We are currently working on more oversight.
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We always follow Apple's subscription guidelines and are working to ensure their high standards are met. We value feedback from the community. A lower price version of the app has already been submitted to the App Store for review.
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The AmpMe Team.
We can not confirm AmpMe's numbers, but we will give them the benefit of the doubt. There are at least three other interesting revelations in that reply.
AmpMe hired someone to promote its brand in the App Store. It isn't promising not to do that in the future. It is simply pointing the blame at someone else. Maybe it is angry that its consultants faked the reviews. Maybe they were annoyed that they got caught.
The price of AmpMe is going to be lowered. The company's update is live on the store. It costs $260 a year now, or $4.99 a week.
The company believes that it is transparent with clear and easy opt-out procedures.
I downloaded a copy of AmpMe, but it wasn't as blatant as I had thought. While it absolutely does hit you with a subscription request the moment you open the app, it is hard to spot the little "X" to avoid that screen, and the app does at least clearly say how much it is going to charge in.
If you hit the "X" and skip the subscription, the app seems functional, if only as a way to watch music videos from YouTube while you chat with randos or friends, as the sync-multiple-phones-as-speakers function is locked behind AmpMe.
forgetfulness profiting is common now
It doesn't surprise me that Apple isn't pulling this one from the App Store, and that they are helping AmpMe clean up the fake reviews. It is not one of the worst offenders, and Apple is one of the companies that profit from the whoops, forgot to cancel my subscription phenomenon.
In September, I suggested that the most valuable and profitable company in the world, the one that sells privacy as its brand and claims to put customers first, could do a lot more to show it. It could lead here. Automatic refunds, stop auto-renewing subscriptions, and kill off the star rating system that allows review fakes to flourish are some of the things it could do. It took one suggestion and brought back a way to report App Store scam. We have more.
I wonder how much more there is to this idea. It isn't the first company that has uncovered where a seemingly legitimate app that's been around for years has a new set of fake reviews and a new screen that you have to pay or dismiss the first time you launch. Many of the screens look the same. I wouldn't be surprised if companies were shopping this exact service to old apps in exchange for a cut of the revenue. AmpMe's CEO may be the first one to cash in on an old app.
I would love to speak to you if you have been approached by such a company. I am at sean@theverge.com.
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