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TapeACall is one of the most popular call recording apps, with millions of users paying a monthly fee to be able to record a phone conversation with the click of a button.

But now the app has competition from one of the richest and most powerful companies in the world: Apple.

As part of its new iOS 18 operating system, due out this fall, Apple will offer its own recording and transcription service seamlessly integrated into iPhone phone calls. Apple’s service will have access to the back-end code that TapeACall, as a third-party application, cannot.

TapeACall annual subscription is $79.99. Apple’s new recording feature is free.

“If I were TapeACall, I’d say it’s game over,” said Philip Shoemaker, a former Apple executive who once helped oversee the company’s App Store.

TapeACall declined to comment. It wasn’t the only application that was Sherlocked, as longtime observers call it.

At its Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino earlier this month, Apple unveiled new services similar to writing assistant app Grammarly; password management app 1Password; voice transcription app Otter; AI emoji app Newji; and the Alltrails map app. Its new AI-assistant features perform functions similar to short-lived AI hardware devices like the RabbitR1 and Humanity’s AI pin.

When Shoemaker was at Apple, he said he regularly fielded complaints from small app developers angry that Apple was copying their services.

“Apple has all the data it needs. They can see which applications are being used the most by their customers and they can say, “Hey, that’s a great idea, let’s integrate it into our operating system, we can do a much better job,” he said.

Apple has long faced ‘Sherlocking’ complaints

The practice became known as “Sherlocking”.

It dates back to 1990, when Apple introduced a desktop search tool called Sherlock that was strikingly similar to another desktop search program known as Watson. The term has stuck ever since.

When NPR contacted several app analysts who said they were Sherlocked, the app companies did not express outrage. Instead, the apps issued statements saying they welcome competition and respect Apple.

For example, Grammarly spokeswoman Yuki Klotz-Burwell wrote in a statement: “We welcome Apple to this exciting and thriving space where we’ve been working for more than 15 years,” she wrote. “Every time new entrants come to our market, the reality is that we see increased demand for Grammarly.”

RabbitR1 CEO Jesse Liu told NPR, “Despite speculation and doubt from online critics, the numbers and responses we’re seeing from our users tell a very different story,” he said. “We’re excited to see Apple share a similar vision for the future of AI.”

Rick Van Meter was less optimistic. He is executive director of the Coalition for App Fairness, an advocacy group that represents more than 80 popular apps, including Spotify, Match Group and Epic Games, which has been battling Apple in court for years over what it says are anti-competitive practices.

“Many of these developers fear retaliation and are very cautious about what they say about Apple. It’s something we unfortunately see every day,” he said. “Apple is not only a competitor, but also sets the rules of the market.”

A former Apple executive says apps are afraid to speak up

That marketplace is the App Store. Apple is its keeper. Many app developers, VanMeter said, are betting it’s too risky to speak out against them, fearing possible retribution that could affect their status on the App Store.

“People are afraid of getting cut from the App Store for saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing,” Shoemaker said.

Some companies have fought back and sued Apple, but Shoemaker said the more common strategy is to say nothing. The Sherlocked app often redirects to another service or even stops working altogether, he said.

“Third-party companies don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them because they’re the only method, for the most part, of getting an app on your device,” Shoemaker said.

Apple has risen to the status of a tech titan through billions of dollars of in-house research and development, but it has also benefited from ideas inspired by other companies’ products and services.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously said, “We’ve always been shameless in stealing great ideas.”

Apple did not respond to a request for comment, but the company previously said it welcomes healthy competition and the merger improves services for everyone.

Apple Outreach Considered ‘Kiss of Death’

John Gruber, the technical writer behind the blog Daring fireball who has covered Apple for more than two decades and who often defends the company, said that Apple is simply cruel.

“The truth is that Apple, like any successful company, plays hardball,” Gruber said.

And it’s not just Apple, he said.

Smaller companies with smart and popular ideas always run the risk of their service being copied by a bigger tech company.

“It’s just the way the software industry has worked historically,” Gruber said.

Some small app developers have come to fear even Apple’s reach since medical technology company Masimo’s experience exploded into the public domain in a patent dispute.

Masimo claims that Apple has held meetings with them about potentially incorporating Masimo’s heart rate reading technology into the iPhone. When discussions broke down, Apple hired two executives from Masimo and introduced a service that Masimo claimed illegally duplicated its technology. Apple denies this.

Apple’s ambitious partners cited Masimo’s experience as a cautionary tale.

“When Apple shows interest in a company,” Masimo CEO Joe Chiani said Wall Street Journal“this is the kiss of death”.