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Apple's crusade against third party app promotion continues as it pulls AppGratis

No other god but App Store promotion

Apple's crusade against third party app promotion continues as it pulls AppGratis
The App Store can never be pure enough for Apple.

All it wants is for iOS users to follow its featured titles and iAd adverts, and download those apps.

But all app developers want is an app discovery and marketing system that works: search that worked properly would be a start.

And so there's an ever growing ecosystem of companies coming up with clever ways to connect users with apps.

One way

Sounds good, right?

No. Apple doesn't like this one bit, because these companies are performing their smarts (and making their money) outside of the App Store; merely using it as dumb pipe for distribution.

And that's why despite the ever increasing popping up of such schemes, Apple continues its whack-a-mole attitude and keeps bashing them down.

The latest company to feel Cupertino's wrath is French outfit AppGratis, which has had its AppGratis app pulled from the App Store.

It's been available for years, but recently launched on the US App Store, following the company's $13.5 million funding round.

No doubt both events made Apple sit up and take notice.

The rules

In terms of what AppGratis did to get its app pulled, no-one's yet sure.

It's highly likely to have something to do with Apple's now notorious regulation 2.25, concerning "Apps that display Apps other than your own..." - the so-called 'app store within an app' clause.

This has previously hit apps like AppShopper, which was pulled from the App Store in December 2012, and hasn't been seen since.

PocketGamer.biz editor Keith Andrew had plenty to say on the subject then, but it looks like Apple's attitude has changed not one jot.

Ironically, AppGratis CEO Simon Dawlat supported the move at the time, saying he thought Apple was removing low quality experiences.

"We believe we're adding significant value to the Apple ecosystem by sending close to 100 million visits to the App Store yearly," he commented.

Apple clearly disagrees.
Contributing Editor

A Pocket Gamer co-founder, Jon is Contributing Editor at PG.biz which means he acts like a slightly confused uncle who's forgotten where he's left his glasses. As well as letters and cameras, he likes imaginary numbers and legumes.