Twitter “killer” Hive Social disappears from App Store over security concerns

Once thought of as a Twitter “killer,” Hive Social has disappeared from the Apple App Store just weeks after security issues were brought to light.

Ever since Elon Musk took over Twitter on October 27, many users of the popular microblogging site have worried about it potentially being shut down by Musk, or even removed from the Apple or Google app stores.

With that, other platforms like Mastodon and Hive Social have seen insane growth from users trying to make their new homes, with the former being adopted en mass by Twitch streamers, content creators, and more.

Hive Social became aware of multiple security issues on December 1, 2022, and promptly shut down the app’s servers to fix them.

Hive Social removed from Apple App Store

On December 13, fans of the platform began noticing that the app was no longer available for download through the Apple App Store.

According to Apple’s App Store guidelines, apps should implement “appropriate security measures” to ensure proper handling of user content and “prevent its unauthorized use, disclosure, or access by third parties.”

Among hundreds of others, Twitter user Alyssa Sweetman shared her thoughts: “I predict major trouble for Hive Social — you can’t find it in the Apple store. Apple tends to scrutinize apps more severely once they have security issues revealed (as an end user, this should also be concerning to you),” she said.

“Now, If you can fix security issues fast Apple will be more willing to work with you because you’ve demonstrated you can quickly respond to critical issues,” Alyssa added. “This is going to become a problem for them even if they’re certified again for the app store.”

On top of no longer being available in the App Store, users have review-bombed the app on the Google Play Store due to its instability and issues, bringing it down to just 1.5 stars.

Hive Social security issues explained

On November 30, the German Collective known as Zerforschung revealed multiple critical security vulnerabilities in the app.

Their blog post showed that malicious users have the ability to access private messages, posts, images, and user data like phone numbers, emails, and birthdates.

In a tweet, they revealed that one of the security issues is the ability to edit posts from other accounts.

Hive shut down their servers the following day to allegedly fix these issues, but have explained in various Twitter posts that they’re working on front-end issues including the general performance of the app.

They’ve yet to make a comment regarding their removal from the App Store, but we’ll be sure to update this article if they do.