Do an experiment: pick one category of apps, whatever category, and look at the top 10-20 apps in that category. Half of them will have misleading data disclosure (as in, they say they don't gather user data or don't track users, when in fact they do), fake reviews (easy to spot 5-star reviews with same/similar text), don't actually have the advertised functionality etc.
The same with search: do a keyword search on the App Store and see how many results actually match the query and how many are ads.
This is not just my opinion - it's fairly easy to find multiple security researchers documenting these cases.
I have spent countless hours (if not days) reporting apps to Apple - basically doing free work - when Apple touts their App Store security and review process.
Also, the parent comment I replied to mentioned the developer fees that make the App Store safer for users - that is what Apple marketing wants us to believe, the reality is very different though (and I say that with a heavy heart, as an iOS/macOS developer).
Apple could and should do better and, until they do, they have no right to pretend the App Store is safe.
I used Charles proxy (basically a "man-in-the-middle") to monitor the network requests and the data transmitted.
Also, some iOS apps support running on an Apple Silicon Mac (with M1/2) and, in a similar fashion, one can use various apps to block or inspect the network traffic.
Yes, it's a bit more work - hence my complaint about doing free work for a ~$3 trillion company - but I like to know what data the apps I'm running are sending home.
I know I'm a bit paranoid but hey, we all have issues, right ...right? :)
The same with search: do a keyword search on the App Store and see how many results actually match the query and how many are ads.
This is not just my opinion - it's fairly easy to find multiple security researchers documenting these cases.
I have spent countless hours (if not days) reporting apps to Apple - basically doing free work - when Apple touts their App Store security and review process.
Also, the parent comment I replied to mentioned the developer fees that make the App Store safer for users - that is what Apple marketing wants us to believe, the reality is very different though (and I say that with a heavy heart, as an iOS/macOS developer).
Apple could and should do better and, until they do, they have no right to pretend the App Store is safe.