A look at the lawsuit over Kosta Elefteriou's FlickType app for Apple Watch that he claims Apple had offered to buy, as Apple unveils its own swipe keyboard
In January 2019, Kosta Eleftheriou had every reason to believe Apple was about to make a deal, his lawsuit alleges.
The VergeSean Hollister
Context & Ripple Effects
Kosta Eleftheriou first made noise by publicly calling out Apple for allowing scam and copycat apps onto the App Store, then escalated in March 2021 when he sued Apple claiming fraud and unfair competition. His suit alleges a striking sequence: Apple courted him with an offer to buy FlickType in January 2019, rejected the Watch app anyway, and then approved knockoff versions of it. The new wrinkle is timing — Apple has now unveiled its own swipe keyboard for Watch, the exact category FlickType occupied.
The suit lands on a familiar Apple playbook: back in 2015 the company quietly bought the Dryft keyboard app rather than build one from scratch, so keyboard input on its devices has long been both an acquisition target and a competitive threat to independent developers.
First-order effects
Apple's own swipe-keyboard launch puts the company in direct competition with FlickType on the Watch, strengthening Eleftheriou's claim that Apple rejected a rival product while clearing space for its own.
Eleftheriou's fraud and unfair-competition allegations gain a concrete exhibit: a shipped Apple feature in the same category as the app he says was stonewalled after buyout talks.
Second-order effects
If his account of Apple approving rip-off clones holds up, the developers behind those copycat apps face exposure alongside Apple, since their businesses were built on approvals he calls fraudulent.
Other developers who went through acquisition talks followed by rejection now have a template for framing their own App Store treatment as actionable fraud rather than ordinary gatekeeping.
Third-order effects
The litigation arc points toward App Store review decisions themselves becoming legal evidence, not just business friction — a structural challenge to how much discretion platform owners can exercise over competing apps. Court filings show the dispute ultimately ended when Apple settled with Eleftheriou, which will encourage similarly situated developers to sue rather than absorb rejection quietly.
The trend: Developer grievances against Apple's App Store are shifting from public call-outs to fraud litigation that treats review rejections and acquisition talks as evidence, forcing Apple to settle rather than defend its gatekeeping in open court.
@keleftheriou God bless for your fight. It must not be easy to go against such a Giant (if not the biggest of them all) but all my kudos for u and a thx to Verge. This all “story” is a god dam shame and the saddest stain in a company that just...shouldn't! https://www.theverge.co…
You innovate on their platform. They like what they see. They change their rules to shut you down or make it very difficult to compete. Then copy and integrate deep into their ecosystem. #anticompetitive #InnovationAwards #sherlocked @keleftheriou https://www.theverge.com/...
@verge I'm not sure how the courts will see this, but - aside from the actual mechanics (ie the coding, which presumably Apple wrote from scratch), nothing about the new Watch keyboard seems innovative or non-obvious - if you're putting a keyboard on it, this is just how you'd d…
.@flicktype you are a damn hero doing work that is long overdue. Please be encouraged! Real developers everywhere (not just those chained up at giant corporations with sweetheart @apple deals) everywhere are with you. If there's any justice you will WIN! https://www.theverge.com/…
@tim_cook how come with the billions you make you have to stick the knife in the little guy and twist it? I'm as Apple as they come (2 macs, iPhone 12, iPad Pro 2021, Apple Watch) but you make me sick when you do shit like this. https://www.theverge.com/...
What a professional letter to Apple who annoyed him for years and stole his keyboard. Not one F U , or I hope you rot in hell. Original Article: https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...