AppleInsider Staff
Apple's App Store rules have resulted in the removal of iOS download discovery service AppGratis, which may have violated a newly instituted restriction on promotion.
image via Numerama
AppGratis billed itself as "a friend that talks apps." Its team worked with 6,000 app developers from around the world to highlight notable software for AppGratis users. Now TechCrunch reports that the download has disappeared from the App Store, with no comment either from Apple or AppGratis.
Current speculation holds that AppGratis' promotion model may have been found to be in violation of a recently-added App Store rule forbidding "apps that display apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store." It is unknown whether or not this is exactly the case, though a number of other similar software options have been removed since Apple made that addition to its App Store rules.
According to the company blog, AppGratis served more than 10 million users before its removal. It also drove more than one million app installs per day for its app partners. In January, the company announced that it had raised $13.4 million in Series A funding from Iris Capital and the Orange Publicis fund.
Update: On Monday, Apple confirmed to AllThingsD that AppGratis had been removed for violating not only clause 2.25 of the App Store Review Guideline — the clause stipulating that apps cannot promote other apps similarly to the App Store — but also clause 5.6. Clause 5.6 states that "apps cannot use Push Notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind.
AllThingsD cites sources close to Apple as saying that Apple was "more than a little troubled that AppGratis was pushing a business model that appeared to favor developers with the financial means to pay for exposure. 'The App Store is intended as a meritocracy.'"
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
25 Comments
Apple's new rule seems perfectly reasonable to me.
What's with the "Don't Miss" section below this article that is chock-a-block full of ridiculous right-wing, scaremongering, fascist crap masquerading as "articles"???? Since when did AppleInsider get in bed with Fox News and the Conservative right? That stuff from "MoneyNews" in particular is quasi-racist reactionary bullshit. Since I'm blocking ads, let me guess ... this "news" is a "paid placement?" (i.e. - Ads)
I'm betting if the App provided results for all equally there'd be no problem. But since it appears to promote Apps from their "partners" then this makes sense.
Kind of like a google search that gives top billing to their 'partners' - companies that pay google to get to the top of the list.
Apple's new rule seems perfectly reasonable to me.
They don't make any sense to me. I've been using AppGratis for a while, and it's been a great app for discovering other apps at bargain prices (or free under promotion).
It's not like it takes you to some other app store to get the apps. You agree to be taken to the App Store, which transfers right into the App Store APP to download. If developers are getting their panties in a bunch over it, maybe they should've taken the time to participate in the program with AppGratis. If they don't want to, they don't have to.