AppGratis

AppGratis was an app-discovery application founded in 2008 by French engineer, Simon Dawlat.[1][2][3][4][5] AppGratis curators found and recommended apps, which the apps were then featured to download for free or at a reduced price.[6] In April 2013, AppGratis was removed from the Apple App Store for an alleged violation of App Store rules regarding third-party app promotion and marketing.[1][7] On February 15, 2017, AppGratis was shut down and discontinued.[8]

AppGratis
Founded2008 (2008) in San Francisco
DissolvedFebruary 15, 2017 (2017-02-15)
HeadquartersParis,
France
Country of originUnited States
Founder(s)Simon Dawlat
URLappgratis.com
Current statusDefunct
Native client(s) oniOS, Android

History

AppGratis started as a newsletter listing daily app deals from the App Store for Apple users in 2008.[2][6] The AppGratis mobile application was created in 2010 while still using the newsletter model.[2] A team of publishers pick and review the quality of potential apps that want to be featured on the application.[2][6] AppGratis was a bootstrapped company until January 2013, where AppGratis raised $13.5 million from Iris Capital and the Orange Publicis fund to expand the application on an international level.[2][9] In February 2013, AppGratis passed the 10 million-user mark.[10][11] Before its removal from the App Store, AppGratis had 12 million iOS users.[10] A month after its removal from the Apple App Store, AppGratis launched the Android version of the application on Google Play.[11][12][13] The Android version has obtained 1 million to 5 million downloads.[14] On February 15, 2017, AppGratis shut down its business with a post for their users entitled 'Bye AppGratis'.[8] In 2014, Simon Dawlat decided to shift to a new project, Batch.[15]

Controversy with Apple store

In November 2012, Apple approved the AppGratis iPhone application.[5] Days after receiving approval for the iPad application in 2013, Apple pulled the AppGratis application from the iOS App Store stating that the application violated clauses 2.25 and 5.6.[1][3][4][7][12][13] AppGratis was under investigation whether the application worked to inflate app rankings in the App Store charts.[5][16] The investigation of AppGratis incited French digital industry minister, Fleur Pellerin, to announce a call for closer regulation on the fairness and stability of digital distribution platforms.[16][17][18][19] AppGratis protested its ban with a user petition, which gained close to a million signatures by May 2013.[11][17][20]

See also

References
  1. Parmy Olson. "AppGratis CEO Picks Up The Pieces After Being Dropped From The App Store". Forbes. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  2. Parmy Olson. "5 Minutes With The Founder Of Curation Hit AppGratis". Forbes. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  3. John Paczkowski. "Apple's Ouster of AppGratis Is Just the Start of an App Store Crackdown". All Things D. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  4. Steve Kovach. "Leaked Document Shows AppGratis Used Lure Of App Store Rankings To Attract Cash From Developers". Business Insider. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  5. John Koetsier (2013-04-10). "AppGratis: Last week Apple approved our app — this week they pulled it". Venture Beat. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  6. John Koetsier (2012-12-08). "Mobile developers: This is how you get 500,000 installs in one day". Venture Beat. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  7. John Paczkowski. "Confirmed: Apple Kicks AppGratis Out of the Store for Being Too Pushy". All Things D. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  8. "AppGratis". bye.appgratis.com. Retrieved 2017-02-15.
  9. Steven Loeb (2013-01-17). "AppGratis raises $13.5M Series A from Iris Capital". Vator News. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  10. Romain Dillet (9 April 2013). "AppGratis Was Indeed Pulled By Apple, But "Reports Of [Its] Death Are Greatly Exaggerated"". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  11. Keith Andrew (17 May 2013). "One month after being kicked off the App Store, AppGratis launches on Android". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  12. John Koetsier (2013-06-17). "Apple, could you just be honest, sometimes, about being a little bit evil?". Venture Beat. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  13. Natasha Lomas (18 April 2013). "Apple Kills AppGratis' Push Notifications In Second Hammer Blow To Its iOS App Discovery/Promotion Business". Tech Crunch. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  14. "AppGratis". Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  15. "Batch Insights Is AppGratis' New Trick, A Benchmark Tool For Push Notifications". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  16. Charles Cooper. "Apple-AppGratis flap triggers threat from French minister". CNet. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  17. Josh Lowensohn. "AppGratis tries petition to shame Apple on app removal". CNet. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  18. "Fleur Pellerin soutient AppGratis face à Apple qui l'a déréférencée". Lemode Informatique. 11 April 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  19. "Fleur Pellerin dans les locaux AppGratis". Clubic. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  20. Jason Ankeny. "AppGratis rebounds from Apple's App Store ban with Android launch". FierceMobileContent. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
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