After mysterious absence, Bitdefender’s Clueful app returns to Apple’s App Store

Following an auspicious debut and untimely retraction from the Apple App Store, Bitdefender’s Clueful app saga has come to a conclusion.

Fortunately for the security vendor, it ends on a happy note with the app returning to the App Store.

Bitdefender chief security researcher, Catalin Cosoi, was unable to shed light on the removal of the app back then, citing Apple’s tight policy on its evaluation process, and he is still unable to provide an insight now.

“We submitted Clueful again and this is a supplementary reason that we cannot make statements,” he said.

“Apple is very strict when disclosing their policies regarding app development, submission process and conditions to accomplish.”

However, while Cosoi can not outline Apple’s stance on the issue, he is able to highlight the modifications made into the current app compared to the previous version that was pulled from the App Store.

The big change is that current version of Clueful is now free and available as a web based service.

“Users can now search for information about an application prior to installing it or just because they are curious,” he said.

Cosoi adds that it is not mandatory to have the app installed to check it with Clueful.

During the time that Clueful has been absent from the App Store, Bitdefender also used it as an opportunity to improve the search function of the app.

“The searching is now a lot better, so if you search for ‘Facebook’ you'll get the Facebook app first,” he said.

“This is a huge usability improvement, since the app is now search-based.” The absence of Clueful from the App Store was noticed by many, and Cosoi says that the app’s return has been awaited by the user community.

“People were keen to have access to this kind of service and this was the reason to make this technology available as a website,” he said.

Based on the experience the vendor has had with Clueful and Apple’s App Store, Cosoi says that Bitdefender will “continue developing in this direction” and plans to expand on this concept with “further products in the near future.”

Clueful is available for free at http://www.cluefulapp.com via iPhones, iPads and PCs.

Register now for the ARN Security Forum 2013 on June 4 at the Sydney Mint

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