Today was the launch of the Mac App Store, and also today, one developer falsely, and pretentiously, started selling an application in the Mac App Store under the name Weather HD; the same name of our top-selling iPhone & iPad weather application. We want to make it clear that this “Weather HD” currently in sale in the Mac App Store is not ours.

Given how successful Weather HD has been on the iPhone and iPad, and having being highlighted by Apple as the top selling weather application in 2010, Presselite, the company behind the fake application, must have thought it would be a nice pay day to steal the Weather HD name. They already have the same application for the iPhone as “Weather Live” and for the iPad as “Weather for iPad”, but when it came the Mac’s turn, they managed to steal off the “Weather HD” name.

And it played well for them. In less than 6 hours, the application shot to the Top 10 list of the Mac App Store. Not because it was any good, but because our own Weather HD has a large user base that was interested in trying it out on the Mac. However, their application was, beyond the name, all shit inside, which is why it has garnered negative reviews across the board.

Sadly, this reflects negatively on us, and on the Weather HD name. And is why we want to separate ourselves from this farce of an act from Presselite. Almost everyone on Twitter, and in virtually all the reviews on the Mac App Store, there is nothing but complaints on how bad the application is. Unfortunately, many thought it was ours. It’s not.

App Name Squatting has been an issue in the iOS App Store, and we apparently took the first bite of the issue on the Mac App Store, as some developers try to find the shortest paths to profit without regard to ethical, or even legal considerations. Digging around, we found that Presselite had already done something like this before, by creating an app that had almost the same name and icon of the London Tube Deluxe app. And according to London Tube Deluxe’s developer Malcolm Barclay, he found they have a history of leaving fake reviews, making false originality claims, and even fictitious legal claims. They make cute claims too, like right now in the description of their iPhone version, they say it was “selected by Apple to be featured in its iTunes Rewind 2010 List.” It wasn’t.

It’s pitiful that some developers resort to such tactics.

Weather HD has had a great 2010. It was the top selling iPad weather application, and was selected several times by Apple in their Staff’s Favorite and What’s Hot lists. It was loved by users across the board, and critically as well, from The Guardian, The New York Times and The Huffington Post to Mashable, Gizmodo, TUAW, Macworld, and many others.

But for our loyal users, don’t fret. We have Weather HD coming soon for the Mac, and here is a hint: it is stunning. It will be released soon after we clear away the name issue with Apple.

Filed under: App Store, Upcoming, Weather HD.