Sure, but people aren't paying to go to prison. They are paying for a nice bed. Apple just happens to keep the bed in prison, which is where you must go if you want to use the bed.
The vast majority of apps are malware. In both Apple's and Google's app stores. It's gotten to the point that apps are assumed to harvest all information they have access to, store it permanently and sell it to anyone who asks.
It's the software ecosystem that has changed, not the definition. Spyware was always included. You can check the history of wikipedia article on malware if you don't believe me.