Hasta La Gadget!

Last week I reported that Apple had pulled AppGratis from the App Store. It was a very popular app discovery app for iOS devices though Apple believed that it violated two rules of the App Store, so they pulled it. AppGratis, which is a company based in France, believes that it doesn’t violate any rules and that the app should be listed back up on the store. They’ve now started a petition through which their users are showing their support and hope to have the removal reverted.

AppGratis has over 12 million users around the world, company’s claim, out of which some 631,552 have sent e-mails of support for the petition as of this writing. Despite that, one can not say that Apple will be pressurized by such a petition. Developers are told that they shouldn’t “run to the press and trash Apple,” and the company might not relist an app that it believes to be in violation of its guidelines. With regards to the petition, AppGratis CEO Simon Dalat says that it is just a medium for their users to cast a vote of confidence in their favor. Apple has no issued no official comment on this situation as yet.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Sharp Fall Off Expected In Spring iPhone Sales, Four Of America’s Top Five Best Paid Execs Work For Apple,

Earlier this week, we reported that Apple had pulled AppGratis from the App Store, seemingly without reason, fueling both a great deal of criticism and speculation. Following, it was revealed that the service had been pulled due to violating certain guidelines, primarily the one involving push notifications with advertisements and more. In light of this, Reuters is reporting that France will approach the European Commission to seek “tighter regulation.”

AppGratis is a massively popular network for iOS app discovery, providing a free paid app every day to its millions of users across the globe. According to reports, AppGratis is raking in approximately $1 million in revenue per month, and had secured over $13 million in funding a few months ago. Because of its popularity, the network can bring hundreds of thousands of downloads and new users to an app.

Such popularity didn’t spare it from Apple’s wrath, however. Speculation originally had it that Apple had pulled the app for violating a guideline about displaying other apps for promotion and purchase. It was revealed a couple days later that the primary reason was a tad different, instead concerning push notifications containing “advertising, promotions, or direct marketing.” In response, AppGratis’s CEO gave a lengthy response, stating that Apple is destroying value within its ecosystem.

Now France is getting involved, coming to AppGratis’ defense and saying that Apple’s removal was “extremely brutal and unilateral,” and that such a decision should not have been passed down for a company as large as AppGratis. Fleur Pellerin, a French junior minister, plans to ask the European Commission to improve regulation of Internet companies against abusive actions. Apple has a different story, however, telling Reuters that it had consulted with AppGratis about its issues, and that the company dismissed them.

[via Reuters]

France to seek digital regulation changes following AppGratis’ App Store removal is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

As expected, Google has issued a redesign to the Google Play store, and it’s starting to roll out now to Android smartphones and tablets running Android 2.2 Froyo and higher. Google says that the redesign is much more simple and clean this time around, and the new design also helps users find the things they want in a faster manner.

The new design is more heavily image based than before, which means that content will feature bigger images that “jump off the page,” not only making it appealing to look at, but to also make it easier to spot the content you’re looking for. Themed items are also grouped together, such as magazines, books, apps, games, etc.

Recommended content is definitely not absent from the redesign. Google has made sure that you’ll always see recommended content on the home page. As you scroll down, new recommendations will continue to appear, since “there is always more to see and explore.” However, for someone like me who can’t be bothered with such content, it may only come as a distraction.

However, Google says they simplified the check-out process, making apps, games, books, movies, etc. much quicker and easier to purchase. Google says they want users to start enjoying their purchase as soon as possible, but we can’t ignore the fact that a quicker check-out process is a great way for buyers to think less about putting the item back on the shelf. Android users in the US should see the update at some point today, while international users will get the redesign in the coming weeks.

Google Play rolls out new design and simpler check-out is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has recently pulled the iOS app discovery network, AppGratis, from the App Store. AppGratis was a popular service that provided a free paid app every day. It also provided some great discounts for paid apps as well. Just a couple of months ago, the service had reached $13.5 million in funding and was generating $1 million in revenue each month. It had 7 million users before it was removed.

AppGratis was a very powerful service that could drive 500,000 downloads for a single app. 300,000 new users were using the app each day. It’s very similar to the Amazon App Store for Android, which also offers a free paid app each day. Apple hasn’t released a reason about why it pulled AppGratis from the App Store. There are many speculations as to why it was removed however.

The most logical reason that AppGratis was pulled from the App Store is due to Apple’s new rule in its iOS developer guidelines. The rule was implemented back in October, and it states that a developer’s apps cannot display other Apps that aren’t their own “for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store”. Simon Dawlat, CEO of AppGratis, stated that Apple implemented that rule due to “low-quality copycats” of AppGratis who were spamming the App Store.

Siwat states that AppGratis is very different compared to those other low-grade app discovery networks, and that AppGratis “has always been about app curation at a very high level.” Siwat is working on bringing back AppGratis to the App Store. There could be other reasons that AppGratis was removed, such as its possible use of a private API, or some instability with a recent update. Other app discovery networks are still available in the App Store, so there’s still hope for AppGratis. We’re hoping that all it needs is a simple tweak in order to be re-accepted into the App Store.

[via TechCrunch]

Apple removes daily free iOS app supplier AppGratis from App Store is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

In what may be a move as a result of mature content showing on the new Vine app a while ago, Apple has updated its App Store to show age recommendations for each app. If you fire up the App Store app on your iOS device and search for an app, you’ll now notice that a hard-to-miss age rating is placed right below the name of the app.

The move could also be a response to the growing number of reports that young children keep accidentally purchasing in-app content without their parents’ permission. Either way, the new age rating system should help parents judge more accurately how appropriate a certain app is for their children, especially those who have a heavy finger for in-app purchases.

It’s not known how the age rating is calculated for each app. The developer of the app itself may choose the age that’s appropriate for the app, or Apple may also have a say as far as what age group is best suited for apps. Either way, this should eliminate any future controversies and debates over age-appropriate content for mobile apps.

If you remember, Vine was one of the biggest controversies we have seen a long time. Users kept complaining about the amount of adult content that was present on the app — something that anyone could access, even young children who get their hands on the app. However, Vine was updated to include a 17+ age warning to users who first download the app.

Apple adds age recommendations to App Store is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.