AppGratis was an app-discovery application founded in 2008 by French engineer, Simon Dawlat. AppGratis curators found and recommended apps, which the apps were then featured to download for free or at a reduced price. In April 2013, AppGratis was removed from the

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

for an alleged violation of App Store rules regarding third-party app promotion and marketing. On February 15, 2017, AppGratis was shut down and discontinued.

History

AppGratis started as a newsletter listing daily app deals from the App Store for

users in 2008. The AppGratis mobile application was created in 2010 while still using the newsletter model. A team of publishers pick and review the quality of potential apps that want to be featured on the application. AppGratis was a bootstrapped company until January 2013, where AppGratis raised $13.5 million from

Iris Capital Iris Capital is a venture capital firm, specialized in the digital economy, primarily active in Europe. Since its creation, the Iris Capital team has invested more than a billion Euros in over 230 innovative companies. Iris Capital is sponsored ...

and the Orange Publicis fund to expand the application on an international level. In February 2013, AppGratis passed the 10 million-user mark. Before its removal from the App Store, AppGratis had 12 million iOS users. A month after its removal from the Apple App Store, AppGratis launched the Android version of the application on

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...

. The Android version has obtained 1 million to 5 million downloads. On February 15, 2017, AppGratis shut down its business with a post for their users entitled 'Bye AppGratis'. In 2014, Simon Dawlat decided to shift to a new project, Batch.

Controversy with Apple store

In November 2012, Apple approved the AppGratis iPhone application. Days after receiving approval for the

iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...

application in 2013, Apple pulled the AppGratis application from the iOS App Store stating that the application violated clauses 2.25 and 5.6. AppGratis was under investigation whether the application worked to inflate app rankings in the App Store charts. The investigation of AppGratis incited French digital industry minister,

Fleur Pellerin Fleur Pellerin (; Birth name, née Kim Jong-sook, born 29 August 1973) is a French businesswoman, former civil servant and Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party politician who served as a Government of France, French government minister from ...

, to announce a call for closer regulation on the fairness and stability of digital distribution platforms. AppGratis protested its ban with a user petition, which gained close to a million signatures by May 2013.

References

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External links

Official Website
Mobile software IOS software Android (operating system) software 2008 establishments in France

History

Controversy with Apple store

See also

References

External links