AppLovin shut down Array, its software that let handset makers and carriers promote or preload apps on devices, over allegations that apps were being downloaded to mobile phones without consent.
Here's what went down:
- AppLovin launched Array in 2022 to help mobile phone manufacturers like Samsung and service providers like T-Mobile monetize devices by recommending and installing apps via pre-loads or home screen placements.
- Short seller reports published in February 2025 by Culper Research and Fuzzy Panda Research publicized allegations that Array was was enabling automatic app installations without proper user consent.
- Ad-fraud researcher Ben Edelman later backed those claims by deconstructing AppLovin's code and showcasing over 200 complaints from users who allege they received apps they never agreed to download.
- Some of those complaints said that apps were sometimes installed automatically in the background of mobile ads without any on-screen notification. Others claimed a screen popped up inviting a direct download, but when they tried to press “X” to dismiss the screen, it simply downloaded the app anyway. In other cases, a five-second countdown popped up before an app was automatically downloaded.
- AppLovin shut down Array last quarter, saying that it was a “test product” and that the company shuttered it because “it was not economically viable for us.”
- However Adweek's Kendra Barnett points out that AppLovin CFO Matthew Stumpf last year cited Array as key to the company's revenue growth, and product lead Jia-Hong Xu previously claimed that Array's direct download ad function was “the company's top revenue driver.” Ooooh snap!
Everyone involved denies all wrong doing:
- AppLovin said: “Users never get downloads with any of our products without explicitly requesting it.”
- They later added: “The reporting around this product is misleading, and clearly biased by a short seller trying to benefit financially.”
- T-Mobile said it doesn’t install apps on customers’ devices without their consent: “We previously piloted an ad experience with a partner that allowed customers to choose to install apps directly from ads; that pilot has ended.”
- Samsung said it does not allow for the installation of any application on its Galaxy devices without user consent, and that it no longer has a partnership with AppLovin.
Despite these allegations and short seller reports, AppLovin’s stock has continued to surge this year, up nearly 75% since the start of 2025. Maybe now's the time to short it then…