how an illegal streaming application disguised itself as note-taking software – Libération

The application has dethroned ChatGPT and Temu in the ranking of the most installed “free apps” in recent days on iPhone and iPad in France. Its name and description, however, do not make you dream: officially, Univer Note allows “to write down various things, whether daily tasks or trivial things in life”. The comments, rave, highlight the aspect “functional” and fun of the app, judged for example “very practical” to take lecture notes at university.

Catalog of films and series

But to understand the success of this application, you just have to install it: you then discover that it has nothing to do with taking notes, but offers a catalog of films and series in free streaming (while they appear in the catalog of paid services such as Netflix or Disney +). A 100% illegal offer therefore. Advertisements, omnipresent in the application, ensure comfortable income for Univer Note developers.

Especially since at the first start, the application asks for authorization to “track your activities in apps and on other companies’ websites”, allowing advertising targeting or potentially the resale of your data to third parties. The Android version of the app – which is not available on the official Google Play app store – also asks for permission to “make and receive phone calls” without knowing the reason.

Word of mouth

Launched at the beginning of September, the application gained popularity thanks to word of mouth and recommendation videos on TikTok or YouTube for example.

Its developer, which appears as “Richmond Zapp” in the AppStore, is nowhere to be found. On the Discord server associated with the application, the administrator appears to be a resident of the Paris region. Contacted, he did not respond.

Asked about the application validation process on its official application store, and the reason for the presence of such a fake application, Apple has not yet responded.