Corrupt binaries in the iOS App Store meant high-profile apps such as Instagram crashed, even though Apple had to test the apps before publication. The negative, 1-star reviews that followed have since been removed by Apple.

PCWorld reported that over 100 apps were negatively affected (Instapaper creator Marco Arment published a list of known affected apps, counting 120); the developers of GoodReader published a workaround to correct issues on the iPad, while Arment managed to have his app fixed within a couple of hours of making the issue public. He publicized the issue on Twitter, and reported the problem to App Review. It's unclear whether the fix was coincidental with that report.

However, users quickly called out Arment and said he was, for example, lazy for releasing a broken app, which could have been permanently damaging for developers who rely on successful apps to make a living.

Negative reviews haven't been deleted: they're being hidden.

MacWorld's sources claimed Apple is removing 1-star reviews published due to the issues. Whether Apple removes just negative reviews, or those that were published during the period, remains to be seen. Instapaper and GoodReader aren't showing any reviews on the latest versions of the apps.

According to Arment, fixed binaries show up as updates on the App Store. Customers can re-install the update without re-downloading the app. Downloading affected apps multiple times didn't correct the issue, with some apps not even getting past the splash screen. "For Instapaper, that was just an inconvenience, since almost everything is stored and synced from the service," Arment said on his blog.

"We had a temporary issue that began yesterday with a server that generated DRM code for apps being downloaded [and] it affected a small number of users," Apple said to The Loop on June 5. The company added it doesn't expect the issue to occur again and said the apps can be re-downloaded to fix the issue.

Apple said a "small" number of users experienced app crashes, but Arment said 20,000 users had posted reviews on his broken version of Instapaper.