14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has quietly removed iOS app discovery service AppGratis from its App Store listings, while the developers of the service are yet to provide an official statement as to what has happened.
No one knows why AppGratis was pulled from the App Store, but TechCrunch suggests the move might have something to do with a new guideline instated by Apple recently.
The rule states that “Apps that display Apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected.”
AppGratis offers free & paid-to-free apps, huge discounts on paid apps, while every single title is handpicked and tested thoroughly. In other words, it’s a curation service, much like the App Store itself.
However, it isn’t very likely that this is the reason why it got pulled. The company has 7 million users and can generate up to 500,000 downloads for a single application.
The service had been left intact for a great deal of time, and was the source of a solid revenue stream.
It’s worth noting that the AppShopper app was also removed from the App Store a while back, and has yet to be relaunched on iOS platforms.
Apple removes applications based on a flurry of criteria, including even minor bugs.
If an application exhibits crashes or freezes on certain devices or iOS versions and the developer fails to patch it quickly, the company will remove the binary from its servers in order to avoid bad reviews and few-star ratings.
However, had this been the case with AppGratis, the developer would have at least made a short blog entry to notify customers that the iOS app is making a comeback after the right fixes are implemented.
It is also unclear whether the service is still working on devices with AppGratis still installed. Readers who rely on the service are encouraged to leave a comment sharing their impressions.