app store this article is about the concept for the store for apple ios apps see app store ios for the store for apple mac apps see app store macos an app store or app marketplace is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software often in a mobile context apps provide a specific set of functions which by definition do not include the running of the computer itself complex software designed for use on a personal computer for example may have a related app designed for use on a mobile device today apps are normally designed to run on a specific operating system such as the contemporary ios macos windows or android but in the past mobile carriers had their own portals for apps and related media content for example vodafone live or tzones basic concept app stores typically organize the apps they offer based on the functions 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 online store where users can browse through these different app categories view information about each app such as reviews or ratings and acquire the app including app purchase if necessary many apps are offered at no cost the selected app is offered as an automatic download after which the app installs some app stores may also include a system to automatically remove an installed program from devices under certain conditions with the goal of protecting the user against malicious software 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 provides feedback to developers number of installations issues in the field latency crash etc researchers have proposed new features for app stores for instance the app store can deliver a unique diversified version of the app for sake of security history precursors the electronic appwrapper a screen shot of stone designs 3dreality running on the electronic appwrapper the first app store many linux distributions and other unixlike systems provide a tool known as a package manager which allows a user to automatically manage the software installed on their systems including both operating system components and thirdparty software using command line toolsnew software and the packages required for its proper operation can be retrieved from local or remote mirrors and automatically installed in a single process notable package managers in unixlike operating systems have included pkgsrc 1997 debians apt 1998 yum and gentoos portage which unlike most package managers distributes packages containing source code that is automatically compiled instead of executables some package managers have graphical frontend software which can be used to browse available packages and perform operations such as synaptic which is often used as a frontend for apt in 1996 the suse linux distribution has yast as frontend for its own app repository mandriva linux has urpmi with gui frontend called rpmdrake fedora and red hat enterprise linux has yum in 2003 as a successor of yup developed at duke university for red hat linux in 1997 bedepot a thirdparty app store and package manager software valet for beos was launched which operated until 2001 it was eventually acquired by be inc bedepot allowed for both commercial and free apps as well as handling updates 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 in 1999 ntt docomo launched imode the first integrated online app store for mobile phones gaining nationwide popularity in japanese mobile phone culture docomo used a revenuesharing business model allowing content creators and app providers to keep up to 91 of revenue in december 2001 sprint pcs launched the ringers more wireless download service for their thennew 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 in 2002 the commercial linux distribution linspire then known as lindowsoswhich was founded by michael robertson founder of mp3com introduced an app store known as clicknrun cnr for an annual subscription fee users could perform oneclick installation of free and paid apps through the cnr software doc searls believed that the easeofuse of cnr could help make desktop linux a feasible reality in 2003 handango introduced the first ondevice app store for finding installing and buying software for smartphones 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 2005 nokia 770 internet tablet has graphical frontend for its app repository to easily install app its maemo was based on debian later nokia also introduced nokia catalogs later known as nokia download for symbian smartphones which had access to downloadable apps originally via thirdparties like handango or jamba the popular linux distribution ubuntu also based on debian introduced its own graphical software manager known as the ubuntu software center on version 910 as a replacement for synaptic apple released iphone os 20 in july 2008 for the iphone together with the app store officially introducing thirdparty app development and distribution to the platform the service allows users to purchase and download new apps for their device through either the app store on the device or through the itunes store on the itunes desktop software app store trademark see also apple inc litigation amazon app store due to its popularity the term app store first used by the electronic appwrapper in january 2013 apples claims were rejected by a us district judge who argued that the company presented no evidence that amazon had electronic commerce digital distribution in video games comparison of mobile operating systems list of mobile software distribution platforms app store ios google play microsoft store digital desktop software distribution platforms appstream chrome web store app store macos microsoft store digital setapp steam ubuntu software center vtesoftware distribution platforms and content delivery networks app store cloud gaming digital library online game store package manager software distribution streaming media activepersonalcomputer allmyapps amazon digital game store battlenet big fish games chrome web store digital river direct2drive dotemu gogcom gamehouse gameshadow gamersgate game jolt gnome software green man gaming humble store mac games arcade itchio mac app store macupdate metaboligamesplanet microsoft store msn games origin playism playster pogocom pokki steam uplay wildtangent video gameconsoles gamefly microsoft store nintendo eshop playstation now playstation store wii shop channel xbox store xbox live arcade mobile amazon appstore apple app store aptoide blackberry world cafe bazaar cydia fdroid gamersgate getjar google play handango microsoft store samsung galaxy apps slideme opera mobile store playster arcade allnet nesicaxlive eamusement discontinued club nokia desura gameagent gametap games for windows live games for windows marketplace impulse intel appup jumboplay kazaa ngage nokia download nokia ovi store onlive playnow arena stardock central triton ubuntu software center ubuntu app store vodafone live windows marketplace windows marketplace for mobile windows phone store yahoo games zune marketplace zylom 