App Store
lastmod 2025-12-05created 2025-12-051 edits
The App Store is a download service for application software for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, operated by Apple. The service launched on July 10, 2008, around the time the iPhone 3G was announced, as an update to iTunes.
The name "App Store" carries the meaning "Apple Application Software Store".
Software can be downloaded using iTunes on a personal computer, or directly from the menu on the iPhone and iPod touch over a 3G network or Wi-Fi (the iPod touch supports Wi-Fi only). Downloadable software comes in paid and free versions, and an iTunes Store account is required even to download free software.
Ordinary users can register application software they developed through the App Store. To do so, after signing a developer agreement with Apple, they write the software using development tools such as Xcode and the iPhone SDK on Mac OS X 10.5 or later on a Macintosh with an Intel CPU, and can then sell it worldwide through the App Store. Registering as a developer for this costs 99 dollars per year. Developers can freely set the price of paid software, and Apple takes 30% of the sales revenue as a fee and hosting cost.
The App Store requires iPhone and iPod touch operating system version 2.0 or later, and on a computer it is available from iTunes 7.7 onward. However, most applications registered after the release of iPhone OS 3.0 cannot be installed on operating system version 2.0.
It passed 10 billion downloads on January 22, 2011.