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Questions arise over App Store 65,000 app claim

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jul 2009 9:52 User comments (6)

Questions arise over App Store 65,000 app claim

Yesterday, Apple announced that in one year the company had 65,000 applications available via the App Store, with a total download count of 1.5 billion.
Critics today have come out swinging however, asking whether the number is inflated because some of the apps are built on templates. Known as "bulk apps," the collection of apps are offered "at the same price point and have the same look and feel, but swap out the content," says the Washington Post.

Skyhook Wireless, a company which provides location-based info to app developers, said that there are thousands of "Bulk Apps" including one developer who sells 850 travel applications all based on the same template but changing the content for different locations.



Om Malik of GigaOm is calling the trick Apple's "Dirty Little Secret" and believes that all the template-based apps should only count as one.

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6 user comments

116.7.2009 23:41

Tell that to all of the Satellite TV providers that include PPV, VOD, and RSNs in their total HD count...

217.7.2009 00:35

oh boo hoo!! im seriously, is this even news-worthy? inflated numbers... so what?

317.7.2009 06:26

Slow news day for AD, I guess!

417.7.2009 22:50

go to www.maximumpc.com or www.tomshardware.com they have a lot more technology news.

518.7.2009 02:08

Who cares? Everyone knows that there are probably less than 100 useful apps, and most people would never get that many, even if they were free.

The real story here is that the iStore is full of more trash than the local landfill...and Apple is actualy proud of this!

619.7.2009 04:58

Who listens to critics these days

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