Over the past week, an app called Kimi has bizarrely overtaken well-known streaming services, like Netflix and Prime Video, on the App Store's list of top free entertainment apps. Now, Apple has pulled the app…most likely because it gave users access to pirated movies. holes Wired According to reports, Kimi is disguised as an app that tests your eyesight by making you spot the difference in similar images. In fact, this was not the case, but instead contained bootleg shows and movies, including the latest blockbusters and award-winning films.
However, its offerings have varied in quality in a way familiar to those who used to search for shows and movies online before the advent of streaming services. Kimmy's version starring Emma Stone Bad things It was apparently grainy and pixelated, while other movies available in high-quality copies had ads blocking the display across the top of the screen. The app was incredibly easy to use: viewers simply had to download and launch it to start watching. It was similar to the now-defunct Popcorn Time service, in that it made pirating movies as easy as watching Netflix. Popcorn Time will close for good in 2022.
Apple prides itself on privacy, security, and making sure the apps it makes available for download are up to scratch. When it revealed how it would comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA), for example, it said that any alternative app store that made its way onto the company's platforms would need strict rules and oversight tools similar to its own. However, Apple itself may have to start monitoring its App Store more closely. Viewers have expressed their frustration online about having to pay for too many streaming services to be able to watch what they want, and it seems more and more people are turning to piracy again.