The Daily (Fake) App: Microsoft Word 2012 for iOS

So you thought you could trust Apple's App Store, eh? In what's sure to rattle some cages in the hallowed halls that house App-Store approval demigods, we've come across reports that an app calling itself Microsoft Word 2012 had appeared sometime last week offering page headers, hot keys and hyperlinks for just $9.99.

Published by Super Real Games, an apparently legit developer, the bogus Word app has since disappeared. Other apps from Super Real include File Manager, Slider Customizator and a number of cool-looking game titles such as Real Robot Attack, Fruit Defense and F1 Birdie Driver. All of the developer's apps for iPhone and iPad were posted in May and June of this year and are priced between $0.99 and $2.99; the seller is listed as Nicolay Potempkin.

As far as we can tell, the story first appeared on tech-info site BetaNews, and has since spread to other sites and the blogosphere. It also has led to speculation that Apple has adopted some sort of automated approval process for apps. We tend to think that since Super Real had posted more than a dozen other working titles, perhaps Apple had dropped its guard a bit.