Recommendation title AppShopper made a return to Apple’s App Store, playing up its social discovery element as a way to differentiate – and keeping it on the right side of the iPhone maker’s guidelines.

In a blog post, it was noted that App Shopper Social is a new app rather than an update to the previous title, with some new features added – but some existing ones also omitted.

AppShopper was pulled from the store late last year, after falling foul of rules which state that “apps that display apps other than your own for purchase or promotion in a manner similar to or confusing with the App Store will be rejected”.

This is one of the clauses which recently led to the plug being pulled on AppGratis, in what was reported to be a broader enforcement of the clause by Apple designed to prevent developers from being able to “buy” higher chart rankings.

AppShopper Social still contains “the core Wish List functionality that we’ve always had”, but adds a social discovery element. Users can create friends and follower lists, which becomes a personalised stream composed of the apps these contacts have installed.

The company said that some features, “What’s New” and “Top 200”, have been “temporarily dropped while we sought re-approval”. It continued: “We will see about returning those features in a future version.”

Some other “obvious features” are also absent, it acknowledges, such as the ability to browse a friend’s list by tapping on their name. In addition, “an easier method for friend discovery and friend recommendation are also something that is clearly necessary”.

“We lost a lot of momentum with the removal of our App Store app, so we’d ask you to spread the word on AppShopper Social. A large user base will guarantee future updates and improvements,” it concluded.