Removed from the App Store · July 2026
What Happened to Sherlock: AI Face Search?
In July 2026, Sherlock: AI Face Search disappeared from the Apple App Store. TLDR; It was an AI clone of our app, Facial Recognition, and Apple Legal took them down. Here is the full story, and what the removal means if you used Sherlock.
Sherlock: AI Face Search Is Gone from the App Store
If you search the App Store for Sherlock: AI Face Search today, you will not find it.
We build Facial Recognition, an AI face search app that has been on the App Store and Google Play since early 2024. You upload a photo of a face, and the app searches more than 1 billion indexed faces to find the public social profiles behind it. Over two years it has earned a 4.4-star rating from more than 2,500 reviews.
In January 2026, Sherlock: AI Face Search launched on the App Store. When we compared it side by side with our own app, the overlap went far beyond a shared idea: substantial parts of the product were copied directly from Facial Recognition. This included the App Store description, screenshot text, and in-app screens. It was very clear they had used AI to create a clone and had barely bothered to change anything.
We documented the copying and filed a formal complaint with Apple through its official process for reporting infringing apps, with side-by-side evidence. Apple reviewed the complaint and, in July 2026, Sherlock: AI Face Search was removed from the App Store worldwide.
AI Made Copying Cheap. It Did Not Make It Consequence-Free.
The Sherlock story is bigger than one app. AI-assisted development has collapsed the cost of shipping software. In 2023, designing screens, writing store copy, wiring up a backend, and surviving App Review took a funded team the better part of a year. That same work can now be assembled in a few weekends with AI coding tools. Mostly, that is a wonderful thing. More people can build more products than ever before.
But the same tools that make it easy to build something new make it even easier to rebuild something that already works. Point an AI tool at a successful app and it will happily reproduce the screens, restyle the branding, and paraphrase the marketing. The output looks like a product. Every successful app category now attracts a wave of these lookalikes, and face search is no exception: we watch new ones appear every month.
What AI did not change is the rules. Apple's review guidelines still prohibit copycat apps, and intellectual property law did not get repealed by a code generator. You can create almost anything you want now. You are not free of the consequences of creating it. Sherlock: AI Face Search is the case study: it launched in January 2026, and by July 2026 it was gone, along with its listing, its ratings, and its ranking. Six months of growth, erased in a day.
There is a lesson in this for users too. Because AI makes surface polish cheap, polish is no longer a signal of quality or trustworthiness. Track record is. A rating built from thousands of reviews over years, a developer name that stays the same, a face database you can verify: none of that can be generated in a weekend, and none of it disappears when Apple takes a clone down.
The Timeline
From launch to removal in four steps.
Early 2024
Facial Recognition launches on the App Store and Google Play: upload a photo of a face, and the app searches over 1 billion indexed faces to find the public social profiles behind it.
January 2026
A new app called Sherlock: AI Face Search appears on the App Store, offering the same kind of face search.
June 2026
We compare Sherlock side by side with our own app and find that it goes well beyond healthy competition: substantial parts of it are copied directly from Facial Recognition. We document the overlap and file a formal complaint with Apple through its official process for reporting infringing apps.
July 2026
Sherlock: AI Face Search is removed from the App Store. Its listing now returns a “page not found” error, and the app no longer appears in Apple’s catalogue in any country.
What the Removal Means If You Used Sherlock
Three practical things to know, especially if you paid for a subscription.
The app is frozen on your device
If you already have Sherlock installed, it stays on your phone, but it can no longer receive updates or bug fixes through the App Store. If the servers behind it ever go offline, its searches will stop working with no way to fix it.
Subscriptions do not cancel themselves
An App Store removal does not cancel an active subscription. If you subscribed to Sherlock, check Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, and cancel it there. You can request a refund for a recent charge at reportaproblem.apple.com.
You cannot download it again
The listing is gone, so the app cannot be found or newly downloaded from the App Store. If you still need face search, our Sherlock AI Face Search alternative page compares Sherlock with Facial Recognition side by side.
Watch Out for Lookalike Listings
The Sherlock name has not entirely vanished from the app stores, which is where confusion starts. As of this writing, the App Store still carries a separate app with a nearly identical name, “Sherlock AI: Face Search”, from a different developer. It launched around the same time in January 2026 and has only a handful of ratings. On Google Play, a “Sherlock: AI Face Search” listing from yet another developer remains live.
None of these is the app that was removed, and none of them is related to us. Sharing a name is not the same as sharing a developer, a face database, or a privacy policy.
Whatever app you choose, you are uploading photos of faces to it, so it is worth thirty seconds of diligence: check the developer name on the listing, how long the app has existed, what its reviews say over time, and whether it states which face database powers its results. Our guide to the best face recognition apps covers what to look for.
Looking for a Sherlock Replacement?
Facial Recognition is the app Sherlock copied: the same AI face search, from the original developer, trusted since early 2024. Upload a photo and find the profiles behind any face.
Trusted by Users
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Sherlock: AI Face Search?
Sherlock: AI Face Search was removed from the Apple App Store in July 2026. The removal followed a formal complaint we filed with Apple after finding that the app copied our own app, Facial Recognition. Its App Store listing now returns an error, and the app can no longer be downloaded.
Why was Sherlock AI Face Search removed from the App Store?
We, the developers of Facial Recognition, reported Sherlock to Apple for copying our app and provided evidence of the overlap. Apple reviewed the complaint, and the app was subsequently removed from sale worldwide.
Is Sherlock: AI Face Search coming back?
No. Be careful not to confuse it with similarly named apps from other developers, which are separate products and not the app that was removed.
I subscribed to Sherlock. Will it keep charging me?
It can. An App Store removal does not cancel existing subscriptions. On your iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions, and cancel it there. For a recent charge you believe you should not have paid, you can request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com.
Is the Sherlock app on Google Play the same app?
No. The Sherlock: AI Face Search listing on Google Play is published by a different, unrelated developer and is a separate app. As of this writing it is still available on Google Play. The App Store removal described here applies to the iOS app.
Why are so many copycat face search apps appearing?
AI development tools have made it fast and cheap to reproduce an existing app's screens, store listing, and marketing, which has led to waves of lookalike apps in every successful category, face search included. The rules have not changed, though: copying another developer's work still violates App Store guidelines and intellectual property law, as the removal of Sherlock: AI Face Search shows. When choosing a face search app, weigh track record over polish.
What is the best alternative to Sherlock AI Face Search?
Facial Recognition does the same job with a longer track record. It has been on the App Store and Google Play since early 2024, holds a 4.4-star rating from over 2,500 reviews, and searches more than 1 billion indexed faces to find the social profiles behind a photo.
Related pages: Sherlock AI Face Search alternative, best face recognition apps, and FaceCheck ID alternative.