Timeline: Two years of Apple’s App Store

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This weekend, Apple’s App Store turned two.

We celebrate the store’s second birthday, remembering how it was “just the other day” when it had a mere 500 available applications.

1. July 2008 – The App Store is opened as part of the iPhone 3G launch.

2. July 2008 – 10 million apps are downloaded the first weekend.

3. Feb 2009 – Competitor Nokia’s app store, Ovi Store, is announced.

4. April 2009 – RIM starts to challenge the App Store by launching one of its own, dubbed Blackberry App World.

5. September 2009 – Apple celebrates two billion downloads from the store.

6. December 2009 – More specific feedback is given – rather than just listing “Waiting for Approval,” “Approved,” or Rejected” – to those who submit a request for an app.

7. December 2009 – Journalist Mark Fiore’s satirical political cartoon iPhone app is rejected by Apple and the stir later allows him to become the first online cartoonist to win a Pulitzer Prize.

8. January 2010 – Reports claim piracy had cost the App Store around $450 million in revenue.

9. May 2010 – Apple’s iPad is introduced to the UK, providing a new device for app use.

10. July 2010 – Apple celebrates the App Store’s second birthday.

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