App Store Reaches Milestone: One Billion Apps Downloaded

[mackensteff]

Anybody could win this thing. You didn't even need to download an app.

It's like drawing a number out of a huge hat.

I thought this was sorted when the contest was announced.

THE WINNER IS THE PERSON THAT DOWNLOAD THE APP AFTER THE 999,999,999 APP WAS DOWNLOADED OR THE PERSON THAT SUBMITTED THE NON-PURCHASE FORM AFTER THE 999,999,999 APP WAS DOWNLOADED

No lucky draw. The winner had to be the 1 B person to download an app or submit the form after the 999,999,999th app was downloaded.

Please don't try to argue, this is the way it is stated in the rules, and any other statement is ignorant.

 

[Watabou]

I thought this was sorted when the contest was announced.

THE WINNER IS THE PERSON THAT DOWNLOAD THE APP AFTER THE 999,999,999 APP WAS DOWNLOADED OR THE PERSON THAT SUBMITTED THE NON-PURCHASE FORM AFTER THE 999,999,999 APP WAS DOWNLOADED

No lucky draw. The winner had to be the 1 B person to download an app or submit the form after the 999,999,999th app was downloaded.

Please don't try to argue, this is the way it is stated in the rules, and any other statement is ignorant.

Um, no.

Where does it say that? You didn't have to be the billionth app downloader.
You just had to download an app in the timeframe that was provided.

As it states in the official rules:

#3 Timing. The Promotion shall run from 12:01 a.m. EDT on April 10, 2009 and ends with the downloading of the 1 billionth app (“Promotion Period”). For purposes of the Promotion, the downloading of the 1 billionth app is considered to be either the downloading of the 1 billionth app from iTunes or the receipt of the non-purchase entry after the download of the 999,999,999th app, whichever comes first. Only entries submitted in this time period will be accepted. Sponsor’s computer is the official time keeping device for this promotion.

Don't call others ignorant.

 

[Blackforge]

Um, no.

Where does it say that? You didn't have to be the billionth app downloader.
You just had to download an app in the timeframe that was provided.

As it states in the official rules:



Don't call others ignorant.

Unfortunately then you go down to 5 and it seems contradictory:

5. Sweepstakes. Sponsor is the sole judging organization whose decisions as to the operation of the Sweepstakes and the selection of the potential winner are final and binding in all matters related to the Promotion. The prize will be awarded for the entry (either through an app download or through the non-purchase online entry) sent immediately following the download of the 999,999,999th app. The potential winner will be determined by the order of the entries received. In the event that more than one entrant would be a winner based on the simultaneous timing of entries, one entrant will be randomly selected from those entrants as the winner. Each entrant’s chances of winning are dependent upon the number of eligible entries received.

 

[sammich]

Um, no.

Where does it say that? You didn't have to be the billionth app downloader.
You just had to download an app in the timeframe that was provided.

As it states in the official rules:



Don't call others ignorant.

This has been discussed to death. Only the people who submitted purchases immediately after the (Billion-1)th who have the same timestamp as the billionth download go into a random draw.

 

[fonzy91]

Excuse me, does anyone know the exact time when the rollover came to 1 Billion?!? I think it should have been around 4:51pm of the East Cost time... what do u say?

P.S. I really hope i won... I purchased some apps at 4:51pm and 4:52pm...

 

[jpotisch]

1 billion apps on 37 million iPhones/iPod touches?

Was anyone else surprised by this ratio? It means an average of 27 downloaded apps on every single iPhone and iPod Touch ever sold. I know some people go nuts installing stuff, but plenty of people never install anything, and lots of 1.0 iPhone/iPod Touches never even got upgraded to 2.0 OS, and therefore CAN'T install anything.

I almost believe there are a few people out there with 1,000,000 apps on their iPhones skewing the curve for everyone else.

 

[Jayomat]

why wouldn't you upgrade to 2.0 (on an iphone) if it is for free?

 

[Watabou]

This has been discussed to death. Only the people who submitted purchases immediately after the (Billion-1)th who have the same timestamp as the billionth download go into a random draw.

This is confusing. Why did Apple put a limit of 25 apps then?

 

[itsmenyc]

Must Be People Like Me, Lol

Was anyone else surprised by this ratio? It means an average of 27 downloaded apps on every single iPhone and iPod Touch ever sold. I know some people go nuts installing stuff, but plenty of people never install anything, and lots of 1.0 iPhone/iPod Touches never even got upgraded to 2.0 OS, and therefore CAN'T install anything.

I almost believe there are a few people out there with 1,000,000 apps on their iPhones skewing the curve for everyone else.

My bad! i have 240 apps, almost 10 times the 27 you're talking about! Sorry for skewing the curve for you! LOL

 

[hexor]

35,000 apps

It will be nice when iPhone OS 3.0 comes out and we can start having one app instead of multiple for any time a developer wants to charge more for extra content. Its crazy when you basically have dozens of apps that are all EXACTLY the same except each one has different content depending on what you want. I'm guessing that will cut the number of apps in the store by at least half.

 

[kasei]

Damn that fast...! I though it would have least extended to the end of may. The powers of marketing and advertising were definitely at work here. Sweet! Congratulation Apple.

 

[atticuslynch]

Excuse me, does anyone know the exact time when the rollover came to 1 Billion?!? I think it should have been around 4:51pm of the East Cost time... what do u say?

P.S. I really hope i won... I purchased some apps at 4:51pm and 4:52pm...

Hi! I start recording the video u see at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgUaQtDqCeM at spain 22:40h. That is 13:40h (West Cost) and the change is exactly 18:02 after, so unless there´s something wrong that i dont see, it was at 13:58h.

Cheers!

 

[akacaj]

I know that I did not win since I haven't purchased any apps recently. But I do wish that my app was the billionth app purchased.

 

[TuffLuffJimmy]

How is it that people still don't get that this isn't a drawing?? It's the person who downloaded the billionth app. No drawing and not random.

 

[Skipper]

Counter

Wasn't the counter just a countdown clock and didn't really reflect the number of Apps downloaded? During the Earning call Apple said they expected to pass the Billion mark that night.

 

[crossifixio]

I was downloadin' apps like crazy even though I don't currently own an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Lol nice

 

[rockosmodurnlif]

1 billion apps downloaded, 900 million of them uninstalled.

 

[appledyl]

same sourpuss attitude as your icon and sig, LOL

heehee.

 

[yossim]

Well, you probably won't do anything with it because I'm probably the winner.

Well if you are, please tell us when you get the confirmation email.

 

[sammich]

This is confusing. Why did Apple put a limit of 25 apps then?

So you can't spam and win, or everyone spams and kills the server.

Well if you are, please tell us when you get the confirmation email.

Would be funny if my sister gets it...I used her account as an extra 25 entries

Wasn't the counter just a countdown clock and didn't really reflect the number of Apps downloaded? During the Earning call Apple said they expected to pass the Billion mark that night.

As the billion drew closer the download rate shot up like crazy. The billionth download passed in the hour from 1pm to 2pm (the last data points). There was no way that the counter or any algorithm could've predicted what the acceleration would be.

Here's a chart I made. The green line is the data shifted forward 24 hours. X-axis is Cupertino time.

 

[retroneo]

Was anyone else surprised by this ratio? It means an average of 27 downloaded apps on every single iPhone and iPod Touch ever sold. I know some people go nuts installing stuff, but plenty of people never install anything, and lots of 1.0 iPhone/iPod Touches never even got upgraded to 2.0 OS, and therefore CAN'T install anything.

I almost believe there are a few people out there with 1,000,000 apps on their iPhones skewing the curve for everyone else.

Yeah but some apps have been updated a few times and people will download the newer versions of apps eventually as they give the badge...

That'll give a reasonable boost to the numbers...

 

[crisss1205]

Is Apples counter even correct. I had a web clip in the dashboard and refreshed the Safari page but it is 1,800 apps behind.

 

[adamgalas]

Counter still works

I checked the apple apps download push URL, the one that says how many downloads they have and how many in the last hour, it still works.

I have it stored in my Ipod Touch memory and look forward to seeing how long it takes apple to get to 2 billion downloads.

My theory: 8 months

With a new Iphone coming out in June a new Touch based off of it in september, a couple million to be sold in the 2nd quarter and the roll out of the Iphone in China, I think it fair to say there will be 60 million Iphone/Touchs sold by the end of the year.

As the market for apps grows the number of apps will grow, possibly hitting 100,000 by years end.

Granted 90% of these are crappy and superfluous copies of other apps. But 10% of those apps are cool, most are free and 1% of the apps are pure gold.

Like some of the games by gameloft.

Assasin's Creed by Gameloft is a $10 game that is freaking amazing.

The 3rd gen Iphone will be more powerful gaming platform, so developers will make better and better apps.

All this will spur Iphone/touch sales and we should continue to see exponential growth in apps sales.

Then don't forget China and India in 2011 and in 2011 or 2012 the Iphone will become available on all carriers except for Sprint and all these things will drive Iphone/Touch sales, which should keep the apps store growing like gangbusters.

Any other predictions for when Apple hits 2 billion?

I officially say by the end of the year, meaning before new years 2010, Apple will hit their next billion.

Kind of nice, as the world rings in the new year, apple rings in 2 billion apps downloads.

 

[NT1440]

Is Apples counter even correct. I had a web clip in the dashboard and refreshed the Safari page but it is 1,800 apps behind.

Does anyone really beleive that Apple had a live counter that is directly linked up with app purchases?

It was a count-up animation, thats all. When apple actually got their billionth is when it was over, not when that animation hit 1000000000

 

[sammich]

Does anyone really beleive that Apple had a live counter that is directly linked up with app purchases?

It was a count-up animation, thats all. When apple actually got their billionth is when it was over, not when that animation hit 1000000000

Imagine...it'd be like MR Spy, but App Downloads (EDIT: yes, vastly simplified: App Spy, but like 65 new posts every second )