Could Apple potentially be taken to court because of false advertising? If you visit Apple’s UK website (this), and then navigate to the App Store page for the iPhone, it lists several apps including the eBay application, Loopt, and Super Monkey Ball.
Sure, Super Monkey Ball is fun, and for £5.99 it provides plenty of entertainment if you’re in need of a game. However, that’s where it ends. Because both Loopt and the eBay app are not available on the UK App Store. Now, if Apple had one global website for the whole world, this might not be that much of an issue, but they’re advertising two things, for the UK market, on their UK website, that are not available here.
Sure, there are alternatives, such as an application called “GarageBuy”, which you can use for eBay, but Apple aren’t advertising that. They’re advertising the not-available-in-the-UK official eBay app. Now, shouldn’t this be considered false advertising, to which pretty much any company can get in serious trouble for from the government section in charge of this type of stuff? I’d be interested in seeing if someone take Apple to court over this issue, as it could very well be that Apple are doing something wrong. I know that if, say, I purchased the iPhone 3G in the UK, and I needed the eBay app for my business, and found it wasn’t available, I’d be very angry.
What do you think?
Update: Since writing this post the eBay app is now available in the UK, however Loopt still remains absent. 
They’re not advertising them for sale in the UK store, they’re just stating that there *are* applications that can take advantage of these features (unless, of course, you can point out where it says “Download eBay now!”)
:o|
How much time do you have on your hands to even notice that…
@Peppery: It’s still indicating that it’s “available” which isn’t true…
@Jamie: I only noticed it quickly when I was on the Apple site, liked the look of it, tried to find it in the App Store, and then found out it wasn’t available.
Could have been a mistake or a sign of things to come….
I understand what you’re saying, and I agree, but there is no legal requirement that they have to offer what they display on their website.
That would be like saying that car companies cannot advertise their concept cars in magazines on the basis that they’re not “available” to the consumer. It doesn’t say in text that those applications are specifically available on the iPhone you might purchase, so there’s nothing you can really do. But you’re right — they shouldn’t be displaying it, anyway.