Interestingly, in 2008, while launching the App Store, Steve Jobs had no idea that this market place for apps and games would be that large. In a decade after its launch, the App Store is now offering millions of apps. With this App Store, Apple put the bases for a revolution never seen before. We here have compiled a few interesting things that you might not be knowing about this App Store.
Third-party apps for the iPhone
The App Store may be now recognized as something smashing, but Steve Jobs wasn’t initially convinced about this idea of having a third-party app store for the iPhone. Jobs wanted the developers to create web apps compatible with the iPhone, rather than to create native apps. So, they created an app to take body temperature iPhone. However, intense negotiation brought positive change and in October 2007, Apple announced that an SDK would be provided to developers. Eventually, the App Store was launched on July 10, 2008, but after that, we have seen many appstore alternatives as well providing apps that are not in the App Store.
Launched with 500 apps
Initially, when the App Store was launched in 2008, it supported only 500 apps provided to download in 62 countries. In the very first weekend, over 10 million apps were downloaded and by September, the App Store exceeded 100 million. This figure was doubled up by the next September 2009 and it owned 85,000 apps from 12,500 developers.
Facebook top downloaded iOS app
Facebook, always persisted as the most loved app on the App Store, no matter how many controversial issues popped up regarding data privacy. In 2019, market research firm App Annie, provided a list of apps that were most dominating across the Apple App Store, and of course, Facebook was ranked at the top being the most downloaded iPhone app of all time, and it has been followed by Facebook messenger. Later comes YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, Skype, WhatsApp, and Google maps.
Games – The most popular app category
With ever-growing smartphone use, mobile gaming is also growing rapidly. Research showed that ‘Games’ is the most popular category in the App Store. About 7.5 billion games were downloaded on the iOS App Store alone in just the first three quarters of the last year. This makes 30 percent of all downloads on the iOS App Store. Among these downloads, Action, Arcade, and Puzzle genres were the largest categories.
Pandora Radio was the most downloaded free app in 2008
Do you know that what was there when there was no Spotify or Apple Music? It was Pandora Radio, the pioneer that stunned the internet music streaming. At that time, it was the most downloaded free apps on the App Store in 2008. However, nowadays, Pandora Radio is struggling hard to increase its listener base.
Apple bought music discovery platform Shazam in 2017
This app is popular and had been downloaded no less than 1 billion times and encouraged 120 million active users before Apple’s acquired Shazam. Currently, it has been integrated into Siri. Siri will tell you currently what song is being played in the background. Well, this is the app that is being shared by both App Store and Android.
VIP Black is the most expensive app on the App Store
The most expensive app on the App Store is VIP black. Only ultra-rich people can afford to buy this app. It is a location-based app for luxury lifestyles for Rs. 79,990. This app uses your location to find the best restaurants, clubs, butlers, bars, and events around you.
When your partnership with the participating venues, you get special VIP treatment such as welcome packages, priority access, and also complimentary upgrades. Moreover, if you are a celebrity or a chief of any multinational company, VIP Black allows you to books a private jet or a charter yacht.