The Chinese service is essentially distributing the same app every time

Apr 19, 2013 12:44 GMT  ·  By

Just when you thought you’d heard it all. KuaiYong, a Chinese service that replicates the Apple App Store, “is essentially distributing the exact same app – with the same license ID – over and over again,” according to a new report.

The same team that coded a pirate iOS app store a while ago is now offering a web-based version “full of pirated iOS apps and games available for free,” according to MIC Gadget.

Basically, KuaiYong is a pirated version of the iTunes App Store where all the apps are free to download and you don’t need a jailbroken device to install them.

It just works, as Apple would put it, but we’re pretty sure they won’t.

The pirates say they have around five million users and that their service actually helps keep jailbreak rates at a minimum – as if that was Apple’s problem, not the fact that it distributes paid apps for free.

The team reportedly says they created the software because “most Chinese Apple users are not familiar with iTunes system and how to effectively manage it.”

The report appropriately points out that the pirated App Store is an ideal gateway for malware.

China is famous for ripping off pretty much everything that Apple makes but, so far, copycats in the country have focused solely on hardware products, such as the iPhone and the iPad.

Ripping off Apple’s entire iTunes App Store is nothing short of amazing. To what lengths will Chinese “entrepreneurs” go next to make a profit off Apple’s back?

And while the service may be enjoying a good dose of popularity for now, Apple will undoubtedly send in the troops to clear the matter and have the service pulled from the Internet.

Pirating the whole App Store! That’s something else alright.