While it’s waned in the overall ‘must see’ show of the year, the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is still alive and kicking. This year’s CES, held in Las Vegas has already had a notable highlight, and just on it’s opening day. The mind behind one of iPhone’s earliest hit apps, Steve Sheraton of Hottrix (iBeer), announced a fully legal iTunes app store alternative.
Titled YourAppShop, Sheraton says that the platform was created out of the frustration he, and a majority of other developers have faced in the past of Apple’s highly restrictive (and time consuming) approval process. Sheraton seeks to bypass the middle man with YourAppShop, and allow developers to ship directly to consumers.
“For years, developers of all sizes have been denied access to the world’s largest app store for a variety of reasons thanks to a lengthy and convoluted corporate process,” Sheraton said. “These policies have hampered certain labels from creating personalized, branded apps. Your App Shop is a brilliant opportunity for companies with content not allowed on iTunes or those that just want to bypass Apple completely.”
The YourAppShop platform will provide developers with a ‘one stop shop’ solution that will allow developers and companies to reach customers with specific, targeted apps. On the other end of the spectrum, users can access these apps in very much the way the do now, however, instead of going to the App Store found within iTunes, users visit yourappshop.com to access apps. Apps are then downloaded for free and are available immediately via a cloud based admin. This method will allow for both on and offline content delivery. Notably, the platform also offers a integrated micropayment system that allows users to use the similar ‘one click purchase’ method familiar to iTunes App Store users. No word yet on the availability of microtransaction monetization for developers, but if the project is a success, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this be one of the first features added to the lineup.
YourAppShop isn’t a project that’s been born overnight. It’s already been tested and based on technology used by two genre specific app shops – the Premier App Shop, and store for magic trick apps, and the Sex App Shop, do I even need to describe this one? Incidentally, the Sex App Shop has already seen 2 million downloads since it’s launch.
“It’s amazingly simple for content owners to sign up, create an app and repurpose their content with our technology,” said Maria Gara, owner of Premier App Shop LLC. “The Premier App Shop was created out of our own need to find an alternative to iTunes. This means we did all the hard work so others can enjoy the benefits of having their own licensed, branded app store with the content they want, delivered when they want it.”
While market competition is always a good thing, there IS a word to be said about Apple’s approval standards. The App Store is already an overcrowded party, with special award ceremonies and spotlight features needed to help consumers separate the wheat from the chaff. And there seems to be arguably, quite a bit of chaff in the silos already. By letting just about anyone into the iPhone party, is YourAppStore simply letting poor quality/gimmicky apps in the front door? If the safeguarded iTunes App Store is already packed with useless apps, how will YourAppStore guarantee the same experience, without the corporate bureaucracy? And if they don’t…would you want YOUR business’ app swimming in a sea of mediocrity?
