This is going to be a long post so brace yourselves. I've been talking with smoker919 another prominent app developer about this so i'll include their insight as well.
I think @punker barbie should see this because my emails to support have fell on deaf ears as have a lot of other developers but I wouldn't consider it urgent.
As you can see here out of the 24 top rated apps 9 are by Streamersuite. If you look at the reviews for each of the apps you can see a familiar pattern. 5 star reviews from the same Models across multiple apps. In one case I found 2 Models which had rated almost of all of these apps 5 stars. This seems like pretty obvious proof that these reviews are not genuine.
The only exception to this rule is if a developer breaks the app submission guidelines. The only issue with this is the malicious developer could just create a new account and copy your work again without you knowing. There is 0 chance you will ever find out your work has been taken unless the app becomes popular enough to find and compare it to your own work.
Most importantly if you do spot an issue report it to Chaturbate support.
I would also avoid using the app directories Top Reviewed section entirely and instead looking at the Top Earning apps and popular apps. This is a much better metric for measuring app quality if fake reviews aren't being taken down.
I think @punker barbie should see this because my emails to support have fell on deaf ears as have a lot of other developers but I wouldn't consider it urgent.
The Chaturbate App Directory has some issues. Let me explain...
- The tools Chaturbate provide to develop apps are (mostly) great but...
- By submitting an app developers relinquish absolutely any control they have over their contributions since even very basic attribution is not required.
- This means their apps could be duplicated, hidden and used for malicious purposes very easily without them knowing.
- Alongside this the Top Reviewed section of the App Directory is broken since reviews don't seem to be managed. 7 out of the top 8 apps in this section are from Streamersuite.
- Streamersuite is copying other developers apps and re-packages them to promote their own services off site in a way that Chaturbate seems to be ok with.
- The rest of this article will explain this in more detail...
The Top Reviewed section
As a Model myself I would personally not recommend even glancing at the Top Reviewed section of the app directory. There seem to be no methods in place to make sure reviews are genuine and not paid for or solicited by other Models in exchange for other goods or services.As you can see here out of the 24 top rated apps 9 are by Streamersuite. If you look at the reviews for each of the apps you can see a familiar pattern. 5 star reviews from the same Models across multiple apps. In one case I found 2 Models which had rated almost of all of these apps 5 stars. This seems like pretty obvious proof that these reviews are not genuine.
Licensing Issues & limited safety for Models
Chaturbate uses a custom MIT license which doesn't require any attribution called MIT-0. https://github.com/aws/mit-0. This license isn't designed for use for any project that isn't just a template or example for other developers. It is even less restrictive than your typical open source MIT license and means anyone can copy your app, make it private on the app directory and add something malicious on-top without anyone having a clue where the original code came from. It grants complete immunity to those who want to exploit Chaturbate Apps for their own purposes with very little effort because not only do you not know if you're code is being used maliciously you can't do anything about it or even view the changes they've made to what should be considered your work.The only exception to this rule is if a developer breaks the app submission guidelines. The only issue with this is the malicious developer could just create a new account and copy your work again without you knowing. There is 0 chance you will ever find out your work has been taken unless the app becomes popular enough to find and compare it to your own work.
How Streamersuite has capitalised on this
In many ways streamersuite know exactly what they're doing. They've used the platform in a way that technically is completely fine according to Chaturbates own standards but has some pretty bad implications for Models who just want to find the best quality apps for their own rooms.- As mentioned before Streamersuite seem to be including fake reviews. Coupled with this they include a ridiculous number of keywords into their app descriptions to boost visibility on the platform.
- They advertise their other services by using brand recognition without including direct links instead only naming their product such as Designurbate which has other sketchy tactics like encouraging Models to include their affiliate links on their own room pages.
- They do this easily by duplicating good quality apps by trusted developers, hiding the code from the app directory and then pushing their way to the front of the directory. I spoke with smoker919 and they identified at least 3 apps which have very obviously been duplicated in this way.
- At this point the main consideration must be. Does this app developer have my best intentions in mind? I think the final example I have of them spamming messages to their other apps the moment a Model apps even 1 of their apps solidifies they don't. This kind of disruption should not be tolerated but seems to be allowed at the moment.
What can I do as a Developer?
I wouldn't recommend making the code public for your app in the app directory. Open source projects are great but without the requirement for attribution anyone could copy your work for the wrong reasons. Let Models know about these issues and help them steer clear of bad actors if you can.What can I do as a Model?
Ask other broadcasters what apps they use and trusted developers what apps they would recommend. Understand that whilst the Chaturbate app development platform is Sandboxed there are still ways app developers could exploit your trust like providing links to other sites to steal your info. Don't use the quality of an app as a litmus test for if you can trust it or not because it may have been made by a different developer and copied.Most importantly if you do spot an issue report it to Chaturbate support.
I would also avoid using the app directories Top Reviewed section entirely and instead looking at the Top Earning apps and popular apps. This is a much better metric for measuring app quality if fake reviews aren't being taken down.
