A group of iPhone and iPad users has sued Apple Inc. alleging that certain applications (apps) were passing personal user information to third-party advertisers without consent, a court filing showed.

Along with Apple, maker of popular apps such as Textplus4, Paper Toss, Weather Channel, Dictionary.com, Talking Tom Cat and Pumpkin Maker were also named co-defendants in the lawsuit.

The Unique Device ID that Apple assigns to its devices has become an attractive feature for third-party advertisers looking for a means of reliably tracking mobile device users' online activities, the lawsuit said.

In April, Apple amended its developer agreement to ban apps from sending data to third parties except for information directly necessary for the functionality of the apps.

However, the lawsuit alleged that Apple has taken no steps to actually implement its changed developer agreement or enforce it in any meaningful way due to criticism from advertising networks.