A developer has taken Apple to court over claims the iPhone maker promotes and profits from fake apps.

Kosta Eleftheriou, the creator of a mobile keyboard for the blind, says Apple failed to police fraudulent knockoff apps in the App Store which were marketed well but didn’t actually work, Bloomberg reports.

Eleftheriou claims the fake apps were promoted within the App Store despite being unworkable and stole 80 per cent of his revenue.

Rivals that offered ‘barely usable’ applications of Eleftheriou’s keyboard FlickType reduced the developer’s monthly revenue from $100,000 to just $20,000.

In the complaint filing, Eleftheriou says Apple advertises the App Store as a “safe and trusted source”.

“Despite possessing massive resources and technological savvy, Apple intentionally fails to police these fraudsters, costing honest developers millions, and perhaps billions, while Apple continues to amass huge profits for itself,” the filing reads.

The case was filed in the California Superior Court and is an ongoing matter. Apple has not responded to the claims.