Hackulous Shuts Down, Taking Down Popular Pirated App Source Installous

installous iconAs noted by iDownloadBlog, popular iOS pirated app community Hackulous has announced that it is shutting down, taking down the Installous jailbreak tool used to install pirated apps on iOS devices. A statement from Hackulous reads:

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.

As iDownloadBlog observes, it is almost certain that other piracy tools, both existing and new, will rise in prominence to fill the void left by the removal of Installous, as there is certainly no shortage of users seeking to cheat developers out of their app fees.

Piracy is a major problem for many iOS app developers, and there have been several instances of piracy forcing developers to remove their apps from the App Store. One such case earlier this month saw Hunted Cow shut down its multiplayer title Battle Dungeon after piracy rates of roughly 90% made it impossible to handle the game's server load based on the revenue generated through legitimate sales.

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Top Rated Comments

dlewis23 Avatar
161 months ago
Good. The rest need to go with them and hopefully in iOS7 there will be some improvements to help stop pirated apps.
Score: 76 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Icculus Avatar
161 months ago
Hackulous...you will not be missed.

Pay the developers for the apps you use.
Score: 69 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GeekLawyer Avatar
161 months ago
Good riddance. Jailbreaking shouldn't be about pirating.
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blueroom Avatar
161 months ago
I never understood the kiddies who could afford an iPhone but couldn't afford $1 apps. Guess they'll flock to Android and crush that platforms app programmers.

Good news for developers.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tknull Avatar
161 months ago
I found this very amusing. A site whose existence was based on helping its users avoid paying revenue to the people who develop software... is unable to figure out a way to make enough revenue, from those same users. I really hope they see the irony in that.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KylePowers Avatar
161 months ago
Not that there were many (if any) moral uses for Installous, but the idea of trying an app before you buy it would be a great feature for the App Store. Like a one hour or one day trial period.

Yes, many developers have free versions, but many don't. Just an idea :)
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)