App store
An app store, also called an app marketplace or app catalog, is a type of
Basic concept
An app store is any digital storefront intended to allow search and review of software titles or other media offered for sale electronically. Critically, the application storefront itself provides a secure, uniform experience that automates the electronic purchase, decryption and installation of software applications or other digital media.
App stores typically organize the apps they offer based on: the function(s) provided by the app (including games, multimedia or productivity), the device for which the app was designed, and the operating system on which the app will run.
App stores typically take the form of an
App stores typically provide a way for users to give reviews and ratings. Those reviews are useful for other users, for developers and for app store owners. Users can select the best apps based on ratings, developers get feedback on what features are praised or disliked, and finally, app store owners can detect bad apps and malicious developers by automatically analyzing the reviews with data mining techniques.
Many app stores are curated by their owners, requiring that submissions of prospective apps go through an approval process. These apps are inspected for compliance with certain guidelines (such as those for quality control and censorship), including the requirement that a commission be collected on each sale of a paid app. Some app stores provide feedback to developers: number of installations, issues in the field (latency, crash, etc.).
History
Precursors
Commercial Bulletin board services appeared in the early 1980s, such as Micronet 800 (1983), that permitted registered subscribers to browse, purchase, and download software for a variety of propriety operating systems, then offered by manufacturers such as Acorn, Apple, Commodore, Dragon, IBM, RML, Sinclair and Tandy. Some programs being included in the monthly subscription charge, the user only paying the per minute connection / data charges for a download, while other programs resulted in the user being additionally billed per purchase.[3][4]
The Electronic AppWrapper[5] was the first commercial electronic software distribution catalog to collectively manage encryption and provide digital rights for apps and digital media[6] (issue #3 was the app store originally demonstrated to Steve Jobs at NeXTWorld EXPO).[7] While a Senior Editor at NeXTWORLD Magazine, Simson Garfinkel, rated The Electronic AppWrapper 4 3/4 Cubes (out of 5), in his formal review. Paget's Electronic AppWrapper was named a finalist in the highly competitive InVision Multimedia '93 awards in January, 1993 and won the Best of Breed award for Content and Information at NeXTWORLD Expo in May, 1993.[8]
Prior to the Electronic AppWrapper which first shipped in 1992 people were used to software distributed via floppy disks or CD-ROMs, one could even download software using a web browser or command-line tools. Many
In 1996, the SUSE Linux distribution has
In 1997, BeDepot a third-party app store and package manager (
In 1998, Information Technologies India Ltd (ITIL) launched Palmix, a web based app store exclusively for mobile and handheld devices. Palmix sold apps for the three major PDA platforms of the time: the Palm OS based Palm Pilots, Windows CE based devices, and Psion Epoc handhelds.[9]
In 1999,
In December 2001, Sprint PCS launched the Ringers & More Wireless Download Service for their then-new 3G wireless network. This allowed subscribers to the Sprint PCS mobile phone network to download ringtones, wallpaper, J2ME applications and later full music tracks to certain phones. The user interface worked through a web browser on the desktop computer, and a version was available through the handset.[13]
In 2002, the commercial Linux distribution
Smartphone app stores
In September 2003, Danger Inc. released an over-the-air update for T-Mobile Sidekick devices which included a new catalog application called Download Fun, also known as the Catalog or Premium Download Manager(PDM). This was one of the first modern app stores on a smartphone with a framework similar to what we see today with the other App Stores. The Download Fun catalog allowed users to download ringtones and applications directly to their device and be billed through their wireless carrier.[15] Third party developers could develop native Java based applications using Danger's free SDK and submit them for distribution in the Catalog.
In October 2003, Handango introduced an on-device app store for finding, installing and buying software for Sony Ericsson P800 and P900 devices.[16] App download and purchasing are completed directly on the device so sync with a computer is not necessary. Description, rating and screenshot are available for any app.
In 2006, Nokia introduced
Other app stores
The popular Linux distribution
"App Store" trademark
Due to its popularity, the term "app store" (first used by the Electronic AppWrapper
In January 2013, a United States district court rejected Apple's trademark claims against Amazon[citation needed]. The judge ruled that Apple had presented no evidence that Amazon had attempted "to mimic Apple's site or advertising" or communicated that its service "possesses the characteristics and qualities that the public has come to expect from the Apple APP STORE and/or Apple products".[33] In July 2013, Apple dropped its case.[34]
See also
- Software repository
- E-commerce
- Digital distribution of video games
- Comparison of mobile operating systems
- App store optimization
- List of Android app stores
- List of mobile app distribution platforms
- App Store (iOS/iPadOS), iOS app approvals
- Cydia
- Google Play
- Amazon Appstore
- Aptoide
- Cafe Bazaar
- F-Droid
- GetJar
- Huawei AppGallery
- Itch.io
- Opera Mobile Store
- MiKandi
- XDA Labs
- Microsoft Store
- Desktop software distribution platforms
- AppStream
- Chrome Web Store
- GNOME Software
- Apple TV App Store
- Microsoft Store
- Setapp
- Steam
- Synaptic
References
- ^ "The Economics of Mobile Application Store (Wayback Machine version)". 2009-05-17. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012.
- ^ "Microsoft: We can remotely delete Windows 8 apps". Computerworld. IDG. 2011-12-08. Archived from the original on 2014-07-17. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
- ^ "Prestel::Micronet 800::Celebrating the Viewdata Revolution". www.viewdata.org.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ^ "Micronet advert: Micronet 800: Nice password, shame about the identity". nosher.net. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ^ a b Electronic AppWrapper Archived 2017-07-27 at the Wayback Machine. Kevra.org. Retrieved on 2013-11-22.
- ^ AppWrapper Volume1 Issue 3 Ships. Groups.google.com. Retrieved on 2013-11-22.
- ^ Carey, Richard (2015-07-17). "Electronic Recollections, By Ricard Carey". AppStorey. Richard Carey. Archived from the original on 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
- ^ Ruby, Dan (August 1993) Our First Annual Awards for NEXTSTEP Product Excellence Archived 2013-12-03 at the Wayback Machine. NeXTWORLD.
- ^ "A one stop shop for so-oft-ware for Palmtops and Handhelds". Archived from the original on August 18, 2000.
- ^ Mary J. Cronin (2010), Smart Products, Smarter Services: Strategies for Embedded Control, p. 135, Cambridge University Press
- ^ "Vodafone calls on mobiles to go Live!". Archived from the original on 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ Newswires, Buster Kantrowdow Jones (2001-05-23). "'Club Nokia' Service Could Put Firm in Awkward Position with Operators". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "PRS Newswire: Sprint Customers Will Soon Personalize their Wireless Phones with New Sprint PCS Ringers & More(SM) Wireless Download Service". Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ^ "Click-N-Run: an Easier Future for Customers?". Linux Journal. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ^ "T-Mobile Sidekick Updates". T-Mobile. Archived from the original on September 20, 2003. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ "Handango and SE provide OTA store for P800 and P900". All About Symbian. October 22, 2003. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
- ^ "Nokia S60 News and Reviews". Archived from the original on 2018-10-23. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ "Nokia Content Discoverer | GeoConnexion". Archived from the original on 2019-02-06. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ^ Beckman, Mel (May 16, 2011). "What the App Store Future Means for Developers and Users". PC World.
- ^ Yukari Iwatani Kane (March 6, 2009). "Breaking Apple's Grip on the iPhone". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
- ^ "App Store Tops 40 Billion Downloads with Almost Half in 2012". Apple. 2013-01-07. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2017-09-08.
- ^ Reardon, Marguerite (September 16, 2008). "Hype builds for Android phone launch". CNET. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
- ^ Cha, Bonnie (2009-03-04). "RIM store crowned BlackBerry App World". CNET News. Archived from the original on 2012-08-10. Retrieved 2009-03-09.
- ^ "Apple Releases iPhone OS 2.0 Update". PC World. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ZDNet. Archivedfrom the original on 2016-02-08. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- ^ "Ubuntu 9.10 review: Karmic Koala". ITPro.com. Archived from the original on 27 May 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ "Review: Ubuntu 10.10 builds on app store, cloud service strengths". DesktopLinux.com. Archived from the original on 9 January 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
- ^ "Has appstore become a generic trademark?". genericides.org. 12 January 2020. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
- ^ "GetJar responds to Apple's cease-and-desist letter over 'App Store' name". BGR. 2011-07-11. Archived from the original on 2013-03-17. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
- ^ Yin, Sara (March 30, 2011). "Microsoft Files Another Objection in Apple's 'App Store' Trademark Case". PC Magazine.
- ^ "No app for that: Apple's false ad suit over Amazon Appstore thrown out". Ars Technica. 2 January 2013. Archived from the original on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
- ^ Bostic, Kevin (2013-07-09). "Apple drops 'App Store' lawsuit against Amazon, says no need to pursue case". Appleinsider.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-02.