Apple Pulls $999 ‘I Am Rich’ App For iPhone

Eight iPhone owners have joined an elite clan according to a report by the Los Angeles Times: Their Apple gadget is running a program that cost nearly $1,000.

Now that the phone is affordable enough for a wider audience, The Times reported, a new status symbol has emerged: a seemingly useless application called I Am Rich.

Not to be outdone, CNBC is now offering its own useless, high-end application: Kneale Before Me. (Not really. It’s just a goof on Dennis Kneale. But what a great photo, right?)

But back to the real story: the I Am Rich function is exactly what the name implies: to alert people that you have money in the bank. I Am Rich was available for purchase from the phone’s App Store for, get this, $999.99 — the highest amount a developer can charge through the digital retailer, said Armin Heinrich, the program’s developer. Once downloaded, it doesn’t do much — a red icon sits on the iPhone home screen like any other application, with the subtext “I Am Rich.” Once activated, it treats the user to a large, glowing gem.

Apple apparently had some problems with I Am Rich, the Times reported. After initially approving it for distribution, the company has since removed it from the store.

Heinrich, a German software developer, has yet to hear back from Apple concerning the removal.

“I have no idea why they did it and am not aware of any violation of the rules to sell software on the App Store,” Heinrich said in an e-mail with The Times today.