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Verizon To Shut Down App Store By January

Posted by timothy on from the dog-won't-hunt dept.

alphadogg writes "Verizon Wireless is closing down its app store by January next year, it said in a notice on its developer community portal. The operator said it will start removing in January the Verizon Apps application from all compatible Android and Research In Motion devices. It anticipates completing the process by March 27. The carrier's app store, launched in March 2010, has been overtaken by popular online app stores from tech companies like Google and RIM."

13 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Yay! by UninformedCoward · · Score: 2

    And there was much rejoicing.

  2. The new weakness of App Stores? by TaoPhoenix · · Score: 2

    In the old days you just downloaded programs. Now they want to tie programs to App Stores. Except when they get grumpy because they're only 4th best, they shut down the App Stores leaving you with all the hardware locks and nowhere to go.

    --
    My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
    1. Re:The new weakness of App Stores? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      The most popular app in the Verizon app store was the "App Store Map" which helped you find a different app store to shop in.

    2. Re:The new weakness of App Stores? by Nerdfest · · Score: 3, Informative

      On Android, you can still manually download and install software. Blackberry too, I believe.

    3. Re:The new weakness of App Stores? by Duhavid · · Score: 2

      And we liked it!

      --
      emt 377 emt 4
    4. Re:The new weakness of App Stores? by zlives · · Score: 3, Funny

      in the snow, uphill both ways?

    5. Re:The new weakness of App Stores? by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Welcome to the future, or as we old greybeards call it "Hey remember when everything was locked down black boxes?" because we are doomed to repeat our history. Whether we like it or not, whether we protest it or not, the big megacorps have decided the days of standards and compatibility are OVER friends, its gonna be black boxes tied to appstores. Oh its gonna be great....for them. They control the hardware, they control the software, you are just a walking wallet and every single thing can have a dollar sign attached.

      And who do we have to blame for this? YOU, Apple fanboys I'm pointing a big fat finger right in your hipster faces. It is YOU that made Apple the biggest corp on the planet,even without the tax dodging, it is YOU that stood in lines like tickets to a rock concert just to get assraped on memory prices and peripherals, it is YOU that happily spent insane amounts of money in a locked down appstore. Thanks to YOU now every corp on the planet is gonna follow the Apple gameplan, so all we have is Apple and ersatz Apple, with everything locked down tighter than a nun's thighs.

      So when you complain about how all your devices are throwaway black boxes and appstores please be sure to bitchslap the hipster douche sitting next to you using the iPhone, because they ARE the ones to blame for this mess. Sorry if this is a little ranty but after living through the days of proprietary power supplies and RAM I really really REALLY hoped we would see an era of standards come about, instead the iSheep are gonna fuck us all, great job guys.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    6. Re:The new weakness of App Stores? by wannabegeek2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Right now I could use some Mod points. Mod hairyfeet up and Insightful ladies and gentlemen.

      You might not like what he's saying, but he's right, and computer technology is not the only industry going this way. Aviation is too.

      --
      Never ascribe to malice or conspiracy that which can be adequately explained by ignorance or stupidity.
    7. Re:The new weakness of App Stores? by EdIII · · Score: 2

      Well Pete, enjoy your world while you have it.

      That world with disappearing freedoms. All of that convenience you have obtained was paid for in your freedom, and the freedom of the next generation.

      If you have been programming since 1979, you should realize that people have a poor understanding of what cyberspace is, and how progressively, it affects us more and more in real life, and soon freedom in cyberspace will be indistinguishable from freedom in real life.

      People will understand that far too late. They would never, ever, allow government or corporations to tell them what groceries they can buy, or what food they can cook in their kitchen, or what clothes they can wear, or what colors they can paint their bathroom walls.

      Telling them what to do on a device, and in cyberspace, is proving to be so much easier though isn't it?

      Old people like you rolling over and just letting it happen, and even worse, championing it, is an anathemato me. Sorry, but you should know better. A 19 year kid I can understand, but man that has been programming since 1979? Come on Pete. You have to do better than touting how shiny and nice the cage is.

  3. Good, Now Remove The App by RapidEye · · Score: 2

    Hopefully they'll pull the app ASAP from our phones! I hate that Motorola and Verizon force their crapware on our phones.
    Yeah, I know, root your phone, blah blah blah....

    --
    "Murderer? Well, that's a harsh word. I prefer to think of myself as a Mortality Technician."
  4. Maybe they'll remove some of the bloatware... by Kincaidia · · Score: 2

    Half the apps are not removable without rooting. No, I don't want a Blockbuster app, Let's Golf 2(barbie?), NFL Mobile, Verizon's inferior Navigaor, or any of the other 8 apps you're forcing me to look at!

    1. Re:Maybe they'll remove some of the bloatware... by kryliss · · Score: 2

      When I upgraded to ICS I was able to remove NFL Mobile, Let's Golf and Blockbuster.. I believe I had to remove updates first though.

      --
      --- If the bible proves the existence of God, then Superman comics prove the existence of Superman.
  5. Verizon has an app store? by dsvick · · Score: 2

    I didn't even know they had an app store, I guess that's because "store" implies buying and I wouldn't pay for the crap they offer.

    One of the first things I tried to do with my phone was get rid of the preloaded stuff they put on it, I didn't want to root it so they had to stay. I can't think of one of them is even half as good as the Google default ones or the vast majority of the ones available in play store.

    I don't need the space, but I'd love to see these disappear from my phone, even if I have to take it in to the Verizon store, I'd go in a heartbeat