Did Harry Potter Cause Google Books to Disappear From the App Store?

The Google Books app mysteriously disappeared from the Apple App Store last week. Trying to access the onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-books/id400989007?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-books/id400989007?mt=8">official app page returns an error message that reads, “the item you requested is not currently available,” and a search of the iTunes store returns no results.

The Google Books app was released last December, and it recently received an update in April. So where did it go?

9to5Mac, who noticed the M.I.A. app last week, thinks Harry Potter may have something to do with it. However, it most likely that Apple’s new terms of service made the app disappear, not the boy wizard.

It’s unclear if Google pulled the app, or if Apple booted it due to a TOS violation. What is suspicious is that it happened right before Google became the sole seller of digital Harry Potter books. Did Apple remove to app to flex their muscle, or is Google urging Potter fans to go Android?

I’m not sure this is the power play some tech blogs are making it out to be, because like Gotta Be Mobile points out, the Google Books app did violate Apple’s TOS by having a link pointing to their eBooks webstore. If Apple did pull the app due to the violation, all Google has to do is remove the link for the app to be restored.

Apple and Google have yet to comment.

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