Android users have been cautioned about a popular new app which could be costing users a small fortune. Dubbed Miniplexy, it’s currently ranked as the most-downloaded free app available in the UK on the Google Play Store – the default repository for new applications on most Android-powered smartphones and tablets. Not only that, but there’s a swathe of similar apps – like Wallpaper 4D, for example – dominating the charts, topping the likes of Amazon Alexa, Facebook, and others.
Despite reassurances from Google that it’s working to strengthen the defences found within its Play Store, including the recent confirmation that it will create an App Defense Alliance to strengthen its Play Protect Scanner to sniff out problematic apps before they can cause havoc with Android smartphone and tablet owners… these apps still seem to be trickling into the Play Store on a regular basis. And not only gain entry into the Play Store, but gain some serious traction with the charts!
Miniplexy, which has now been installed on more than a million devices worldwide, is by far the most popular of the latest slew of apps. Others, like Plexify HD, Plexyvideo, and Vidy Videos, have racked-up more than 100,000 installs. All of these apps charge subscription fees to users, which can quickly add up.
According to those who have downloaded the apps, a pop-up appears as soon as you launch them asking you to input your phone number. Hidden behind the pop-up is a note informing users they will be charging a rolling subscription of £4.50 a week via your mobile contract. According to the developers, users can text STOP to 87066 to end their subscription – but all of this is hidden under the pop-up initially.
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That mobile number is registered to a company called Moonlight Mobile, the sharp team at Android Authority – who first spotted it doing the rounds – has discovered. According to the UK Phone-paid Services Authority, the number charges £4.50 per week “for unlimited access to the premium features and videos.” Given this is a weekly subscription, costs could soon spiral.
If you installed the app on your Android smartphone or tablet and forgot about, you could easily find yourself charged £234 over the course of the year.
Reviews for the apps are pretty damning – with users blasting the developers for obscuring the subscription charges found within it.
“Worthless app, I hate apps that to be able to use it you need to pay a price. Why don’t you just make it cost to download instead of ripping people off £4.50 every week,” one review lists. Another adds, “RIP off £5 a week I wouldn’t pay a month yes not a week £20 per month can get a mobile contract for that price.”
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These apps are known as fleeceware since they leverage the ability for applications on the Play Store to charge subscriptions to users – which is a legitimate function that enables services like Netflix, LastPass, Tinder and others to thrive on the immensely-popular platform – to take payments from users who aren’t actually benefitting from the app, weren’t aware they had to pay for the service, or perhaps most worrying of all, didn’t realise their free subscription expired soon after opening the app for the first time.