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

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]

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. 1 2 3 Parmy Olson. "AppGratis CEO Picks Up The Pieces After Being Dropped From The App Store". Forbes. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Parmy Olson. "5 Minutes With The Founder Of Curation Hit AppGratis". Forbes. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  3. 1 2 John Paczkowski. "Apple's Ouster of AppGratis Is Just the Start of an App Store Crackdown". All Things D. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  4. 1 2 Steve Kovach. "Leaked Document Shows AppGratis Used Lure Of App Store Rankings To Attract Cash From Developers". Business Insider. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 John Koetsier (2013-04-10). "AppGratis: Last week Apple approved our app — this week they pulled it". Venture Beat. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 John Paczkowski. "Confirmed: Apple Kicks AppGratis Out of the Store for Being Too Pushy". All Things D. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  8. 1 2 "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. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 Charles Cooper. "Apple-AppGratis flap triggers threat from French minister". CNet. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  17. 1 2 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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