App Store

The App Store is a service for the iPhone and iPod Touch created by Apple Inc. which allows users to browse and download applications from the iTunes Store that were developed with the iPhone SDK and published through Apple. They are available to purchase or free of charge, depending on the application. The applications are downloaded directly to iPhone or iPod Touch. The App Store is also available within iTunes. While Apple has stated that they do not expect to profit from the store, it has been predicted by Piper Jaffray that the App Store could create a profitable marketplace with revenue exceeding US$1 billion annually for the company. Apple allows 70% of revenues from the store to instantly go to the seller of the app, and 30% go to Apple. The App Store opened early in the morning on July 10, 2008 via an update to iTunes. Applications were immediately available for download at that time. However, iPhone and iPod Touch software version 2.0 was not yet available through Software Update, making the applications unusable. The iPhone OS 2.0 was released on July 11, 2008, and applications were able to be transferred onto the newly updated devices. As of July 14, 2009, there are over 65,000 third-party applications officially available for the iPhone and iPod Touch on the App Store.

After the success of Apple's App Store, and the launch of similar services by its competitors, the term "app store" has appeared as a generic term referring to any similar service for mobile devices.

The App Store is accessible from the iPhone and iPod Touch via an iPhone OS application by the same name.

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