Want a $10,000 app gift card? Be the one to download Apple’s 50 billionth app

By Joshua Pramis May 3, 2013

apple-50-billion-app-store-630x305 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The iPhone and iPad App Store is the most vibrant mobile software store around, and as Apple recently posted, its about to hit a major milestone: It’s getting pretty darn close to reaching its 50 billionth app download.

Read that again: 50 billion.

To celebrate, it has set up a live counter of app downloads on its website, which, when we took a look, jumps up 1,000 every two or so seconds. At that rate, it’ll reach fifty billion in no time. But the Cupertino company isn’t just posting a counter, it’s offering a whopping $10,000 reward to whomever downloads the fifty billionth app. Of course, this isn’t going to just be a check you can cash; it will be a $10,000 gift card to the App Store.

That’s a whole heck of a lot of app downloads. We can only imagine just how many years that would take to actually spend.

Apple isn’t stopping there. Those who download the first 50 apps after the landmark will be awarded $500 App Store gift cards. Sure, it’s a far cry from $10,000, but it’ll still go a long way.

There are still a few hundred million more downloads to go, so no need to rush to the store now to try to snag that prize, but if you really want a shot at the grand prize, be sure to keep checking the counter to see where it’s at. Check the countdown here. Good luck!

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Spending a childhood engrossed in such technologically inspiring television shows like Voltron, Small Wonder, and Power…

Mobile

The ugly side to Apple’s embrace of third-party App Store payments

apple app store third party payment allow ugly side reality render

Apple says it will allow app developers in South Korea to enable third-party payment systems in their apps. In doing so, developers will no longer be forced to pay a 30% cut of their gross app revenue for using the App Store's own in-app payment system.

Despite years of developer backlash, Apple has been adamant about forcing developers to use its in-house payments system for handling in-app purchases and subscription payments. Apple's grip was so tight that the company didn't hesitate before kicking a bonafide money-making machine like Fortnite off the App Store because Epic tried to avoid the Apple tax with its own payment system.

Mobile

Apple seems to have embarked on new purge of neglected apps

An Apple iPhone 13 Pro being held in a person's hand.

Apple appears to have embarked on a new round of purging apps from its App Store, specifically those that have been left untouched by developers for a long period of time

In a message sent to affected developers, Apple said: “This app has not been updated in a significant amount of time and is scheduled to be removed from sale in 30 days. No action is required for the app to remain available to users who have already downloaded the app.”

Mobile

Gmail app hits 10 billion Play Store downloads, holds 53% of U.S. email market

Close up of various Google app icons including Google, Gmail, and Maps.

Google launched Gmail on April 1, 2004, and in 2022, the service hit a new milestone, with 10 billion downloads on the Google Play Store -- a figure that represents 53% of the U.S. email market. This makes Gmail the fourth app on the Play Store to achieve this landmark; the first three were Google Play Services (a requirement for nearly all Android phones that use Google services), YouTube, and Google Maps.

As of January 11, the Google Play Store shows that Google Chrome and Google Search have also crossed the 10 billion downloads mark. Meanwhile, Google Photos is trailing a little behind, at over 5 billion downloads.