Divergent deceptions: comparative analysis of Deceptive Patterns in iOS and Android apps

Wanda Li, David R. Flatla and Felix Arndt

Behaviour and Information Technology, 2025, vol. 44, issue 16, 3879-3908

Abstract: Deceptive Patterns (also known as Dark Patterns) are manipulative interface elements that can cause users to experience financial, temporal, and privacy-related losses. While Deceptive Patterns have been extensively studied in Android applications, their prevalence in iOS apps remains largely unexplored, despite significant ecosystem differences and iOS's growing popularity among younger users. Notably, Apple's tight control over its ecosystem has fostered public perception of iOS being the safer platform and as a byproduct, iOS users may be less vigilant towards app-related risks. To investigate how the prevalence of Deceptive Patterns on iOS compares to Android, we conducted a review of the same 143 mobile apps across both platforms. Our analysis reveals statistically significant differences between Deceptive Patterns on iOS and Android, with iOS apps exhibiting more instances overall (1477 vs. 1398). The findings suggest that iOS users may be more vulnerable to the risks posed by Deceptive Patterns. Furthermore, our analysis identified four specific types of Deceptive Patterns with notable discrepancies between the mobile platforms, indicating potential influences by app store guidelines and developer tools, and the rise of A/B testing Deceptive Patterns. These findings highlight the need to further explore different digital platforms and user protections on mobile devices.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/0144929X.2025.2452359

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