Edible Apple

With no approval process, the Android Marketplace is lauded by those who place a premium on “openness” and derided by those who place a premium on the protection of intellectual property. Indeed, while Android’s method of running its app store certainly has its positives, there is a downside as well, namely the proliferation of malware and scamware.

In the most recent example, there have been an increasing number of fake Siri apps that have been making their way into the Android Marketplace. In one particularly egregious example, an app developer completely misappropriates Apple’s Siri trademark, the Siri icon, and hell, many of Apple’s iPhone homescreen icons.

Electronista discovered two infringing apps late last week, one called Siri for Android, and the other called Speerit. Since then one has seemingly been removed, but their presence highlights a growing problem to Google’s strategy of letting all apps in through the front gate and vetting them after the fact. While Siri clones aren’t that big of a deal if removed rather quickly, the same can’t be said of malware apps which are increasingly finding a home on Android and stealing user data in the process.