Apple takes pride in its App Store, especially in light of regulations forcing it to accept third-party app stores. Apple claims that due to its strict controls, the App Store is the best and most secure way to download iPhone apps. But even Apple is not perfect, as exemplified by the fact that clandestine piracy slipped through and went undetected for months.

As reported by The Verge, there used to be an app in the App Store called Kimi. Billed as a simple vision screening app, Kimi was just a front for this. In reality, it was an app for watching pirated movies, which would explain why Kimi rose to #8 on the App Store's list of top free entertainment apps.

Not surprisingly, Kimi was subsequently removed from the App Store. Perhaps someone at Apple found out about the blunder. Funny thing is, Kimi didn't seem to be hiding its true intentions very well; The Verge noted that the app looked fraudulent at best, but once it was actually installed, users quickly came across a page offering free movies and TV shows.

There was no need to tap on specific things or click on secret menu combinations; everything was just... It was there. Everything was just... It was there.

Kimi's reviews also reportedly included comments from people expressing their delight at being able to watch movies for free. Some of these reviews can also be read in the archived version of Kimi's App Store page. The identity of this app is shockingly blatant, and if you are one of these people, please do not ever entrust them with your secrets.

Apparently, Kimi was not such a bad service; The Verge wrote that it was "a bit decent" and more or less easy. The app allows users to search for specific shows and movies, with filters to narrow down and a "rankings" tab that shows what others are watching. The quality may be hit or miss, but the experience seems to be as good as one would get from a legitimate streaming service or digital store.

Apple apparently didn't take long to remove "Kimi" from the App Store, removing it within two hours of The Verge's initial story being published. According to Apple, Kimi was removed after it was discovered that the app was a bait-and-switch, a violation of App Store rules.

It is not clear if this removal was in response to The Verge article or if Apple already had its eye on Kimi. After all, it was trending at the time and the app did not do a good job of covering its tracks.

But this happened shortly after Apple made a big deal about being forced to allow third-party app stores on iOS in the EU and told Tom's Guide that it was committed to keeping the App Store safe from deceptive and fraudulent apps is ironic in a way.

Services like Google Play have far greater problems with dodgy and fraudulent apps than Apple's App Store, but it is clear that even Apple's process is far from perfect.