Apple Launches 'Free App of the Week' and 'Editors' Choice' Promotions on App Store

As noted by our sister site TouchArcade, Apple yesterday issued a Tweet announcing that Cut the Rope: Experiments is the company's "Free App of the Week", discounted from its usual $0.99 price [App Store] for the iPhone version and $1.99 price [App Store] for the iPad version.

While Apple has previously offered some apps for free through its App Store Facebook page, the new promotion directly through the App Store will make such offers more visible to users.

As the official App Store Twitter account posted earlier today, Cut the Rope: Experiments is their "Free App of the Week", which as far as we can tell is the first of its kind.

Now, don't get me wrong, Cut the Rope: Experiments is an excellent game and you should go download it immediately if you haven't already, no matter what the promotion is. But it will be interesting to see if this is something that Apple keeps doing each week, and I'd be curious to know how they decide on which games or apps to promote.

TouchArcade also notes several other tweaks to the App Store, including new "Editors' Choice" picks and the removal of the "Staff Favorites" section. In the U.S. App Store for iOS, Apple is currently featuring Facebook Camera [App Store] and Extreme Skater [App Store] as Editors' Choice picks on the iPhone side, with SketchBook Ink [App Store] and Air Mail [App Store] being highlighted on the iPad section of the store.

As noticed by The Verge, the Editors' Choice terminology has also been picked up in the Mac App Store, with Cobook [Mac App Store] being the initial recipient of the designation. Deus Ex: Human Revolution [Mac App Store] has also been made an Editors' Choice pick, but there appears to be no Free App of the Week in the Mac App Store to correspond with the feature on the iOS side, although Cobook is a free app.