App Store's 25 Billionth Download Comes From China with 'Where's My Water? Free'

wheres my water free iconApple today announced the winner of its "25 Billion App Countdown" promotion that saw the company pass milestone late Friday. For the first time in one of Apple's countdown competitions, the winner, Chunli Fu, came from China.

Disney's Where's My Water? Free was the milestone download, and the winner will receive an iTunes Gift Card worth US$10,000.

“We’d like to thank our customers and developers for helping us achieve this historic milestone of 25 billion apps downloaded,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “When we launched the App Store less than four years ago, we never imagined that mobile apps would become the phenomenon they have, or that developers would create such an incredible selection of apps for iOS users.”

Apple notes that the App Store is currently available in 123 countries with over 550,000 applications available for download. Apps span 21 different categories, and the company has paid out over $4 billion to developers for their 70% share of revenue from paid downloads.

Top Rated Comments

bbeagle Avatar
153 months ago
I wonder if the winner will have to pay taxes on that gift card or if Apple will cover those?
In the United States, yes. The winner will not pay taxes upon receipt of the gift card (because gift cards are untaxed), but only pay taxes after purchases occur with said gift card.

For example, you buy an Olive Garden gift card for $25. You pay exactly $25 to get the gift card. If you use this gift card to buy something later at Olive Garden for $25.00, tax is added, making it, say, $26.25 (with 5% tax rate). You give Olive Garden your gift card, and pay an additional $1.25 in cash.

I doubt I would even accept that prize if I had to pay taxes on it unless I could get the gift card broken up into numerous $100 cards to sell on one of those gift card buying sites.
Wow. Entitlement mentality at it's best.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
applefan289 Avatar
153 months ago
Congratulations Chunli!

Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gemütlichkeit Avatar
153 months ago
Congrats Chunli Fu if you read MR!

Let's hope her Government lets her view it :p
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
flottenheimer Avatar
153 months ago
Congrats, Chunli Fu.
(Wondering how many visits MacRumors gets from China every day? ... @Arn ?)
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
niuniu Avatar
153 months ago
Congrats Chunli Fu if you read MR!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MonkeySee.... Avatar
153 months ago
$10,000 - that's a lot of music!

And TV Shows and Movies and Apps etc.

iTunes is pretty good. :cool:
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

iOS 17.2 Will Add These 12 New Features to Your iPhone

Friday December 1, 2023 12:19 pm PST by
iOS 17.2 has been in beta testing for over a month, and it should be released to all users in a few more weeks. The software update includes many new features and changes for iPhones, including the dozen that we have highlighted below. iOS 17.2 is expected to be released to the public in mid-December. To learn about even more features coming in the update, check out our full list. Journal ...
anker new xmas 1

Anker's Cyber Week Sale Enters Final Days With Up to 60% Off Sitewide

Friday December 1, 2023 12:05 pm PST by
Anker's Black Friday/Cyber Week event is entering its final days this weekend, and it's still offering up to 60 percent off sitewide. There are also a few "mystery boxes" that can include hundreds of dollars in savings, if you're willing to risk not knowing what you're buying ahead of time. All of these sales will end on December 3. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Anker. When you...
General Apps Messages

Green Bubbles on iPhone to Gain These 7 New Features Next Year

Thursday November 30, 2023 9:00 am PST by
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it will finally support RCS in the Messages app on the iPhone starting later next year. This change will result in several improvements to the messaging experience between iPhones and Android devices. RCS will become the new default standard for messaging between iPhones and Android devices, but these conversations will still have green bubbles like...
top stories 2dec2023

Top Stories: iOS 17.1.2 Released, NameDrop Misinformation, and More

Saturday December 2, 2023 6:00 am PST by
Apple employees are back to work following a Thanksgiving break, and that means this week saw a number of new operating system updates for both public release and beta testing. This week also saw some misinformation about Apple's new NameDrop feature making the rounds, while Apple and Goldman Sachs appear to be on the verge of a break-up in their Apple Card and savings account partnership,...
instagram messenger

Instagram and Facebook Messenger Chats to Disconnect This Month

Tuesday December 5, 2023 1:57 am PST by
Meta has revealed plans to end Instagram users' ability to chat with Facebook accounts later this month, rolling back a feature that it introduced over three years ago. In September 2020, Meta (then Facebook) announced it was merging its Facebook Messenger service with Instagram direct messaging, allowing Instagram users to chat with Facebook users and vice versa using the same platform....
iphone 5g mmwave

Apple's Work on 6G Connectivity Already Expanding

Monday December 4, 2023 7:00 am PST by
Apple's work on implementing 6G cellular connectivity on its devices appears to be ramping up, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman explained that Apple is increasingly turning its attention to 6G, even amid its widely reported difficulties developing a custom 5G cellular modem. In 2021, the first highly specific Apple job...