The original author of the email posted in this thread shortly after this comment that might add some color here. “I subsequently spoke to Phillip Shoemaker, w

The original author of the email posted in this thread shortly after this comment that might add some color here. “I subsequently spoke to Phillip Shoemaker, who confirmed that Apple executives ordered the elimination of apps that drove downloads to the App Store. He said "Your app drove download volume. Apple doesn’t want any outside sources to drive ratings. So yeah, we got rid of all app recommendation apps." He said he thought it was unfair, but this was something Apple set out to do, and even as Senior Director of App Store (person directly in charge of App Review), he could not stop it.” > https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24190694 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24190694