Apple And Google Have Had It With 'Flappy Bird' Clones And They're Denying Games With Similar Names

Google and Apple seem to be tired of Flappy Bird clones. They're reportedly rejecting and yanking games with similar titles from their mobile stores, TechCrunch's Sarah Perez reports.

Flappy Bird was a popular mobile game that was yanked by its creator, Dong Nguyen, from app stores a few weeks ago. He says the app grew too "addictive." In its wake, apps such as "Flappy Flyer" and "Splashy Fish" have emerged with similar names and concepts.

One designer, Ken Carpenter, was disheartened when his app "Flappy Dragon" was rejected by both the Google Play and Apple App Stores.

Carpenter says Apple sent him an email stating, "We found your app name attempts to leverage a popular app."

Google implied his game was "spam."

"The message [Google] sent me simply referenced the 'spam' provision of the Google Play terms and did not specifically call out what my transgression was," Carpenter told TechCrunch's Sarah Perez.

Other app developers on Twitter say Carpenter's experience is becoming common. One told Carpenter the same thing happened to three other developers he knew.

Apps that were previously approved are suddenly changing their names to flappy synonyms. In some cases, it's hurting their rankings.

Former venture capitalist Ouriel Ohayon points out that "Flappy Bee" is now "Jumpy Bee" and that another app fell from the top ten once it changed its name.

Boom! one more Flappy app just axed by Apple. Flappy removed from title. Ranks crashes out of top 10 instantly. pic.twitter.com/d9jUsgeXFG

- Ouriel Ohayon (@OurielOhayon) February 16, 2014