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Pirate iOS app store Installous Closed

January 1, 2013

By Gilbert Falso :: 11:56 AM

Installous Shut DownA prime source for pirated versions of Apple iOS apps went offline on New Year’s Eve – looking like it will be gone for good.

The development team behind Installous, Hackulous, posted about the closure on their web site:

Goodnight, sweet prince.

We are very sad to announce that Hackulous is shutting down. After many years, our community has become stagnant and our forums are a bit of a ghost town. It has become difficult to keep them online and well-moderated, despite the devotion of our staff. We’re incredibly thankful for the support we’ve had over the years and hope that new, greater communities blossom out of our absence.
With lots of love,
Hackulous Team

The pirate app store now displays this error message when users try to access it:  “Outdated version. Installous will now terminate.”

For several years, the Installous app offered access to a full library of paid iOS apps for free to users who had jailbroken their iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touches. Many standard pay applications could be found for free in Installous’ collection. During its heyday, even expensive App Store offerings were coming to Installous within hours after they were released on the official App Store site.

Though the shuttering of Installous will likely inconvenience many who had come to rely on the service, there are still alternatives out there, including Appcake, which had been touted as an Installous alternative.