Cydia Dev: Apple Stole Both My Idea And My Icon For WiFi Sync

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Greg Hughes' WIFi Sync app icon is on the left, Apple's official WiFi Sync icon is on the right.
Greg Hughes' WIFi Sync app icon is on the left, Apple's official WiFi Sync icon is on the right.

When UK student and programmer Greg Hughes watched Monday’s WWDC keynote, he was surprised to see Apple rip off his ideas twice in the same feature. Not only had they taken his WiFi Sync Cydia app and baked it right into iTunes… they even stole his icon design.

You might remember Hughes’ WiFi Sync app from last year, when it was rejected by the App Store for using private API calls. After having a talk with Apple about WiFi Sync, during which exchange he was asked for a resume,Hughes proceeded to release the app on Cydia, where it’s sold more than 50,000 copies for $9.99 a pop.

I think we can all probably agree that WiFi Syncing isn’t the most original idea in the world, and if it belongs anywhere, it’s probably built right into iOS and iTunes. What’s more shocking, though, is that Apple basically just recolored Hughes’ design for their own official WiFi Sync icon.

Seems pretty shameless to me, especially considering that Apple is actually in the midst of suing one of their business partners expressly for ripping off iOS’s icon design! What do you think?

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