Craig Raw works as a developer alone in South Africa. He will be launching his first product in 2020. built Sparrow Wallet — a free, open-source Bitcoin desktop wallet — because he thought the existing options weren’t good enough.
The software is free and he has been building it since 2006, believing that people want to have real control over their finances.
Sparrow It is designed for those people who have taken a drug. Bitcoin self-custody seriously — the kind of users who want to see every detail of what their wallet is doing, manage their own transaction privacy, and hold their own keys rather than trust a third party.
Raw was designed as much to inform as to perform, adding tool tips, UTXO and transactional detail, which most wallets conceal from their users. It is compatible with macOS, Windows and Linux. Raw has always been very clear that the mobile version is not available.
This last point has now become the crux of an argument with Apple, which could result in his being unable to distribute software for Mac.
More than 12 fakes were published by fraudsters in 2023. “Sparrow Wallet” Raw has a list of the top apps available on App Store.
They imitate Raw’s software. When a user enters their seed phrase — the master key to a Bitcoin wallet — the app sends it to the attacker and the funds disappear. Raw has registered US trademarks on the Sparrow logo and name.
Since early 2024, he has warned Apple about the counterfeits and alerted the public. Some users have reached out to him, after they lost all their money. Apple has taken down some of the fakes. The fakes keep coming.
Raw’s Test for Apple
Raw did something else. He submitted a placeholder app to the App Store — never published, no functionality — whose only purpose was to display a message: Sparrow is desktop-only, any mobile app claiming to be Sparrow is not his, do not trust it.
Apple refused to accept the app because it was placeholder content. Next, it got worse. Raw’s Apple Developer account has been flagged as being terminated with an expiration date of 30 June. The official reason for the termination is: “dishonest activity.”
In other words the man who tried to warn users about fraudulant apps was charged with dishonesty on the platform these apps are running.
It is the actual function of an Apple Developer Account that makes it more than bureaucratic frustration. Sparrow is not sold through the Mac App Store — Raw distributes it from his own website.
Apple Developer certificates are required for all macOS apps. Otherwise, the system may block those applications. Apple can delete the account but not its certificate. Sparrow fails to install on Mac. Users stop getting updates.
Raw posted On Monday, he wrote that X is not happy with the current situation. “confident this is an automated misclassification that Apple would reverse on review,” But he could be fired before anyone ever examines his appeal. It is only a week until June 30, the deadline.
Apple’s actions will result in users losing access to new updates and installs, as well as the opening of the doors to fakes, which Raw has been trying to prevent for two years. Raw has asked people to repost this thread.
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Source: bitcoinmagazine.com
