Last week, reality television star Kim Kardashian apologized on social media for "breaking" Apple's App Store by launching her new "Kimoji" app. While that claim is subject to further scrutiny, the app did make it to the list of the top paid applications for iOS almost a week after its debut.
The pop culture icon has a massive following on Twitter and Instagram, which presently stand at 38.3 million and 55.6 million, respectively. She shared a handful of tweets (see below) on Monday indicating that her Kimoji app broke the App Store. Specifically, users are reportedly having difficulties in finding it in the app repository.
Kimoji is a mobile application that allows users to copy and paste Kardashian-themed emojis into other mobile messaging applications such WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and more. It packs over 250 emojis which include cartoon faces, nails, makeup and "peach buttocks," among others.
Ahhhhhhhh I still can't believe we broke the entire App Store!!!! #KIMOJI
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2015
Apple, I'm so sorry I broke your App Store!!! — Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) December 21, 2015
Furthermore, Gossip site TMZ added fuel to the fire by posting a report claiming that the $1.99 Kimoji app generated 9,000 download requests per millisecond at one point. The site, which did not cite any source, said that it was told Apple's tech team "swooped in and shored [the App Store] up so it didn't fully crash."
However, the tech giant debunked Kardashian's claim one day after it surfaced online. In a statement given to Tech Insider, Apple said that "there were absolutely no issues with the App Store yesterday."
Tech Insider further explained that what probably happened is that users are just having issues searching for the Kimoji app on the App Store since "it takes time for Apple to properly index new applications for search. So unless you had a direct link to the app in the App Store, you wouldn't have been able to find it with a simple search." The site added that it is possible that Apple only prioritized indexing the app to make sure that more people could find it at the time of its launch.
Apple also disproved the TMZ' story about the "9,000 downloads per millisecond" and that the company's tech team had to "swoop in" to address the crash.
In spite of, or probably thanks to, that media firestorm, the Kimoji app still sits at the top 5 of Apple's iOS App Store charts for paid iPhone applications after several days of being available. The said chart predominantly features games led by Minecraft and "Heads Up!" by Warner Bros. Kardashian's new app even ranks higher than the popular NBA 2K16 mobile game and the action-adventure title "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." Nevertheless, users of the reality star's emoji app have a relatively low rating of 2.5 stars at the time of this writing.
This is not Kardashian's first venture into the mobile applications arena. She already launched an official app earlier this year that gives fans access to her personal diaries, Q&As, and live streaming video, as well as shopping, fashion and beauty tips--all for a monthly subscription fee of $2.99. Before that, Kardashian also launched the "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood" mobile game that reportedly made more than $113 million since its release in June 2014.
