The AppGratis story is three days old, but bears re-examination in light of the "Saga Saga":
Over this past weekend, Apple pulled AppGratis from the App Store, explaining on Monday that the app discovery software violated two App Store regulations in particular: one banning apps that promote other apps in a manner similar to the App Store, and another forbidding apps using push notifications to send advertising, promotions, or direct marketing of any kind.
As the piece goes on to say, that the app was approved mutliple times and then suddenly got yanked is interesting, to say the least.
The behavior they're objecting to is technically the sort of thing that apps like ComiXology and other content storefronts could engage in as part of their core business. Some do. Many games actively engage in push notification behaviors like those described. If you want to read it a certain way, many in-app purchases could make that inventory considered a secondary storefront, whether in games or other apps.
This case makes you wonder whether Apple even gives content providers the level of attention or responsiveness they need to keep publishing, and instead pay more attention to what needs to be shut down (for their needs) like this.
