Android users got a bit of a surprise over the weekend when they opened up Google Play to find a number of popular Apple apps had been ported to their devices. Apps like Garageband, iMovie, iPhoto, and the iWork productivity suite were all available to download for a brief period before they were pulled again.

Those who managed to purchase them before they disappeared, however, quickly found out that they were not the real thing. Surprise, surprise.

The possibility of Apple porting any of its apps to Android seems almost as likely as Tim Cook announcing Flash Player for iPhone. Yet it seems some Android users were fooled into thinking it had actually happened. It’s unclear just how many purchased the apps, but they certainly did not get what they expected.

All of the apps were developed by “Apple Inc,” according to their descriptions, and the developer’s website redirected users to Apple’s homepage. The email for technical support was “email hidden; JavaScript is required.”

The apps were priced between $5 and $10 — certainly not the cheapest Android apps around — and amazingly, iMovie even managed to achieve a three-star rating, though we’re assuming the reviews were just as fake as the app.

Within hours of their release, the apps were pulled from Google Play.

While Apple traditionally doesn’t respond well to piracy or copyright infringement, the Cupertino company may have felt in this case that the opportunist developer of these apps did it a favor by highlighted a major flaw in Google’s uncontrolled approach to the Play Store.

Did you manage to obtain one of these apps before they were pulled? What exactly does it do?

• ViaMacworld