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Earlier this week, numerous media outlets that cover the mobile development industry reported that Apple had unceremoniously kicked AppGratis, an incredibly popular app-discovery app, out of the App Store. Apple provided very little rationale for the decision, other than to say AppGratis violated clauses 2.25 and 5.6 of its App Store Review Guidelines, which prohibit promoting other apps and push notifications with marketing messages.
The big question was, why did AppGratis get in trouble when other app-discovery apps offered much the same functionality?
All Things D’s John Paczkowski may have found an answer to that question. He writes, “Sources familiar with Apple’s thinking tell 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. I’m told that Apple feels that these apps threaten the legitimacy of the App Store charts by providing a way for developers to spend their way to a high ranking.”
