14 DAY TRIAL // The pulling of AppGratis was not a mistake, nor was it an isolated case of an app getting rejected for App Store violations. Apple is determined to kick off a crackdown that will ultimately rid the iTunes Store of all app discovery services.
Sources familiar with the matter are telling AllThingsD that “AppGratis’ ouster was a first step in a broader enforcement action generally targeted at app discovery apps that run afoul of clauses 2.25 and 5.6.”
Apple reportedly doesn’t want apps that “threaten the legitimacy of the App Store charts by providing a way for developers to spend their way to a high ranking.”
Which is exactly what AppGratis did. Problem is, there are a lot more other apps that are doing exactly the same thing.
One such example is Free App Tracker, which we just pointed out to our readers as an alternative to AppGratis. We don’t expect it to stay alive for much longer if it goes against the respective clauses.