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Leap Motion App Store

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Leap Motion App Store
Information
Platforms Leap Motion
Devices Various
Operating Systems Windows, Mac
Accessible Desktop, Mobile
Developer Leap Motion
Apps 231 listed in May 2016[1]
Website https://apps.leapmotion.com/

Leap Motion App Store (called the Airspace Store until September 2014) was the official App Store for the Leap Motion Controller, the hand-tracking input device made by Leap Motion. Created by Leap Motion, the app store curated and distributed apps created for the device. Besides VR apps, it carried desktop and web apps built for Leap Motion devices.[2][3]

The store opened on July 22, 2013, the day the Leap Motion Controller launched, and users downloaded more than one million apps from it in its first three weeks.[4] Apps ran on Windows and Mac computers through a desktop launcher, first called Airspace Home and later App Home, and the store also listed web apps.[2][5] As Leap Motion shifted its business toward hand tracking built into VR headsets, it retired the store on June 30, 2017, and expanded the Leap Motion Gallery as its central showcase for Leap Motion content.[6][7]

Reviewed 27 September 2026. Checked history, retirement, feature, category and app-table claims against the cited Leap Motion blog, support and archived store pages, TechCrunch, Engadget, VentureBeat, Road to VR, Tom's Hardware and GitHub. About review dates.

History

Announcement and launch (2013)

Leap Motion named its app store in February 2013. Chief operating officer Andy Miller told VentureBeat that the store would be called Airspace; VentureBeat reported that it would open in the very near future. He described it as a curated store: "I don't think Airspace will be hundreds of thousands of apps, ever. It's curated, and if an app doesn't meet our standards, it won't go in." Apps announced at the time included Disney's racing game Sugar Rush and a painting app from Corel.[8]

On June 24, 2013, about a month before the consumer launch, Leap Motion opened the store to the roughly 10,000 developers in its early-access program. TechCrunch reported that about 50 apps were available at that point and that chief executive Michael Buckwald expected the number to double by the time the controller reached consumers.[9] In a hands-on preview, Engadget described Airspace as having two parts: the Airspace Store, a showcase for software that used the Leap API, and Airspace Home, a launcher that kept a user's Leap apps in one place. The same article carried an announcement from investor Highland Capital Partners of a US$25 million Leap Fund, whose areas of interest included apps for Airspace.[9][10] A day later, Engadget reported that the store would have more than 100 apps at launch and that some of them would run only on Windows.[11]

A July 10, 2013 post on the Leap Motion blog set out how the store would work. The Airspace Store was a website that could be opened from Airspace Home or directly on the web from July 22, and it offered free and paid apps, with paid apps starting at 99 cents. Many apps ran on both Mac and Windows, but developers could choose to support only one platform. Each app had a preview page with a synopsis, pictures and video where available, user reviews and information about the developer.[2]

The store went live on July 22, 2013, together with the controller. In a press release three weeks later, Leap Motion said users had downloaded more than one million apps from the Airspace Store and that 13 new titles had been added since launch, an increase of more than 15 percent. It named BetterTouchTool, Dropchord, GameWAVE, Cyber Science - Motion and Geco MIDI as the five top-rated apps since launch.[4]

Growth (2013-2014)

The Leap Motion blog reported 86 apps in the store on August 8, 2013,[12] and the store passed 100 apps in the week of September 9, 2013.[13] By December 11, 2013, it had more than 150 titles, which the company described as nearly double the number at launch.[5] A capture of the store from December 2014 lists 210 apps, and one from May 2016 lists 231.[14][1]

Leap Motion added several store features during this period. In August 2013 it made ratings and reviews easier to use and added a button for contacting an app's developer after a crash.[15] A November 2013 post introduced cross-promotions, which let a developer pair a free trial version of an app with its paid version and show upgrade prompts inside the trial through an API.[16] By November 13, 2013, prices could be shown in 14 currencies: the US dollar, euro, British pound, Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, followed by nine more, including the Canadian and Australian dollars and the South Korean won.[17] On November 20, 2013, Leap Motion released a redesign of the store with a top menu, app filtering, taglines shown on hover, themed collections (Play, Create, Explore and Learn, and Staff Picks) and share buttons for social networks and email.[18] The same day, the company released its own sculpting app, Free Form, in the store as a free app and made its source code public.[19] Version 1.2 of the Leap Motion software, released in April 2014, added Airspace Labs (an experimental area whose first feature sorted apps by when they were last opened), notifications about new apps, and Italian and Korean language support in Airspace Home.[20]

Rename and virtual reality (2014-2016)

On September 12, 2014, the Airspace Store and Airspace Home were renamed the Leap Motion App Store and App Home.[2]

Virtual reality apps reached the store early. In September 2013 the Leap Motion blog said that LICHT little adventure, whose creator Gerald Terveen had added Oculus Rift support, was the first Airspace app to officially support the headset.[21] By January 2015 the store had a separate "VR (Beta)" category.[22] A capture from March 2015 shows eight free apps in it: Collider, Robot Chess, Aboard The Lookinglass, ElementL: Ghost Story, Tran;section, Soundscape VR, Corridor 17 and Weightless.[3] Several of these were entries in Leap Motion's 3D Jam development contest. When the winners were announced in January 2015, Road to VR reported that all finalists would be included in the Leap Motion App Store, and its list of the top 20 semi-finalists included Aboard the Lookinglass, Weightless, ElementL: Ghost Story, Tran;section, Soundscape VR and Corridor 17.[23]

By January 2017 the VR (Beta) category no longer appeared in the store's menu, and the homepage pointed visitors to Leap Motion's Developer Gallery "for the latest virtual reality experiences".[24]

Retirement (2017)

Leap Motion announced the store's closure on June 1, 2017. In its announcement the company wrote that the store had made sense in 2013 because the controller was a standalone product, but that with mobile VR its technology would become part of a larger device, and the headset makers that embedded it had "their own visions for app distribution". It also cited the growing number of VR apps on platforms such as Steam and the expansion of the Leap Motion Gallery, and concluded that "an app store no longer makes sense".[6] Tom's Hardware reported that the company was changing from a software company with an accompanying peripheral to a VR input company supplying hardware to third-party headset makers, and speculated that it was likely earning its money from software licensing to those manufacturers.[25]

The store closed at 12pm PT on June 30, 2017.[6] Leap Motion said that:

  • apps already installed in App Home would stay available indefinitely but could not be moved to a new computer, and users would no longer receive updates to them;
  • credits bought for the Leap Motion wallet on or after January 1, 2017 would be refunded automatically, while buyers of credits before April 2017 could ask for a refund by email;
  • final payments on all outstanding app balances would be sent on June 30;
  • developers were encouraged to publish on other platforms such as Steam, itch.io and Green Man Gaming, with promotional support on the Leap Motion Gallery.[6][7]

The retirement FAQ added that several popular apps, including GameWAVE and Geco MIDI, had been made available for free on the Gallery.[7] Both the announcement and the FAQ said the company had no plans to end support for the Leap Motion Controller.[6][7]

Features

The desktop client, Airspace Home (later App Home), was where users discovered, bought, downloaded and launched apps. It displayed every app installed from the store, along with other programs on the computer that supported Leap Motion's software, such as Google Earth.[2] Leap Motion later published the client's source code on GitHub under the Apache License 2.0. The repository, titled "Leap Motion App Home", describes the program as "Airspace Desktop", built on Node.js and node-webkit.[26]

The store listed native apps for Windows and Mac along with "web links", browser-based experiences that needed the "Allow Web Apps" option turned on in the Leap Motion Control Panel; Leap Motion recommended Google Chrome for them.[5] Visitors could filter apps by platform (Windows, Mac or web link) and by price (free or paid).[22] Users could buy App Store credits, which were held in a Leap Motion wallet.[6]

Apps went through review before release. In an April 2014 post, the submissions lead of the App Review team listed the most common reasons for rejection. Apps had to show a message whenever the controller was disconnected and refer to the device by its full name, "Leap Motion Controller". Windows apps had to be packaged as .ZIP files and Mac apps as .DMG files, and executables had to be code-signed, a service Leap Motion could provide. Incomplete apps, and apps still at prototype, alpha or beta stage, were rejected.[27]

Categories

The store's categories changed over its lifetime. A capture of the Airspace Store from July 24, 2013 lists seven categories.[28] In January 2015 there were nine categories: Computer Controls, Creative Tools, Education, Experimental, Games, Music & Entertainment, Productivity & Utilities, Science and VR (Beta), the last covering Virtual Reality apps.[22] By January 2017 the store listed eight, without VR (Beta).[24]

Category July 2013 January 2015 January 2017
Computer Controls No Yes Yes
Creative Tools Yes Yes Yes
Education Yes Yes Yes
Experimental Yes Yes Yes
Games Yes Yes Yes
Music & Entertainment Yes Yes Yes
Productivity & Utilities Yes Yes Yes
Science Yes Yes Yes
VR (Beta) No Yes No

Notable apps

The table lists apps named in the cited sources, with prices as shown in archived captures of the store or as reported at the time.

App Price (date) Notes
Cut the Rope Free (July 2013) Listed among the store's top picks at launch[28]
Sugar Rush US$1.99 (July 2013) Disney racing game announced for Airspace in February 2013[8][28]
Dropchord US$2.99 (July 2013) One of the five top-rated apps in the first three weeks[4][28]
LICHT little adventure US$1.99 (July 2013) First Airspace app to officially support the Oculus Rift[21][28]
BetterTouchTool Free (January 2017) Gesture control for the Mac; one of the five top-rated apps after launch[4][24]
GameWAVE US$3.99 (January 2017) Gesture control for keyboard-and-mouse games; made free on the Leap Motion Gallery after the store closed[4][24][7]
Geco MIDI US$9.99 (January 2017) Hand-gesture music control for MIDI software and hardware; made free on the Gallery after the store closed[4][24][7]
Free Form Free (November 2013) Leap Motion's own sculpting app, released with its source code[19]
Collider Free (March 2015) Listed in the VR (Beta) category[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Leap Motion App Store - All Apps". apps.leapmotion.com (Internet Archive capture of 7 May 2016). Leap Motion. 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160507162233/https://apps.leapmotion.com/categories/all. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Preview: Leap Motion Apps + Airspace™". Leap Motion Blog (Internet Archive capture of 23 March 2016). Leap Motion. 2013-07-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20160323135408/http://blog.leapmotion.com/preview-leap-motion-apps-airspace-tm/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Leap Motion App Store - VR (Beta)". apps.leapmotion.com (Internet Archive capture of 22 March 2015). Leap Motion. 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150322142100/https://apps.leapmotion.com/categories/vr-beta. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 "Leap Motion Surpasses 1 Million App Downloads in First 3 Weeks". Yahoo Finance. Leap Motion (Marketwired). 2013-08-12. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/leap-motion-surpasses-1-million-180649478.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "3 New Web Experiences and 150+ Apps". Leap Motion Blog. Leap Motion. 2013-12-11. https://leapmotion.tumblr.com/post/69702007802/3-new-web-experiences-and-150-apps. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "Sunsetting the Leap Motion App Store". Leap Motion Blog (Internet Archive capture of 4 June 2017). Leap Motion. 2017-06-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20170604232718/http://blog.leapmotion.com/app-store-sunset/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 Jon (2017-06-30). "App Store Retirement FAQ". Leap Motion Support (Internet Archive capture of 21 July 2019). Leap Motion. https://web.archive.org/web/20190721022931/https://support.leapmotion.com/hc/en-us/articles/115009771608-App-Store-Retirement-FAQ. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 John Koetsier (2013-02-27). "Leap Motion ships May 13, announces 'Airspace' app store and new apps from Disney and Corel". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/mobile/leap-motion-ships-may-13-announces-airspace-app-store-and-new-apps-from-disney-and-corel/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ryan Lawler (2013-06-24). "Leap Motion Opens Up Beta Access To Developers In Preparation For Its July 22 Launch". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/24/leap-motion-developer-beta/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  10. ↑ Michael Gorman (2013-06-24). "Leap Motion starts expanded beta, opens dev portal to the public, shows off Airspace app store (hands-on)". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/leap-motion-expanded-beta-dev-portal-airspace-apps-hands-on/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  11. ↑ Michael Grothaus (2013-06-25). "Leap Motion and Airspace App Store coming July 22". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2013-06-25-leap-motion-and-airspace-app-store-coming-july-22.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  12. ↑ "7 New Airspace Titles: August 8, 2013". Leap Motion Blog. Leap Motion. 2013-08-08. https://leapmotion.tumblr.com/post/57718553023/7-new-airspace-titles-august-8-2013. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  13. ↑ "New Apps Sept. 9 = 100 Apps in the Airspace Store". Leap Motion Blog. Leap Motion. 2013-09-11. https://leapmotion.tumblr.com/post/60946202574/new-apps-sept-9-100-apps-in-the-airspace-store. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  14. ↑ "Leap Motion App Store - All Apps". apps.leapmotion.com (Internet Archive capture of 13 December 2014). Leap Motion. 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141213205503/https://apps.leapmotion.com/categories/all. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  15. ↑ "Your Review Counts: Rate Apps in the Airspace Store". Leap Motion Blog. Leap Motion. 2013-08-13. https://leapmotion.tumblr.com/post/58157279142/your-review-counts-rate-apps-in-the-airspace-store. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  16. ↑ "New App Store Feature: Free Trials with Cross-Promotions". Leap Motion Blog (Internet Archive capture of 23 March 2016). Leap Motion. 2013-11-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20160323125835/http://blog.leapmotion.com/new-app-store-feature-free-trials-cross-promotions/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  17. ↑ "Airspace Store: 14 Currencies and Counting". Leap Motion Blog (Internet Archive capture of 24 March 2016). Leap Motion. 2013-11-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20160324005220/http://blog.leapmotion.com/airspace-store-14-currencies-and-counting/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  18. ↑ "Welcome to the New Airspace Store". Leap Motion Blog. Leap Motion. 2013-11-20. https://leapmotion.tumblr.com/post/67578451876/welcome-to-the-new-airspace-store. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Michael Gorman (2013-11-20). "Leap Motion releases Free Form, an app that lets human hands sculpt digital clay (video)". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2013/11/20/leap-motion-free-form-app/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  20. ↑ "Software Update: New Features in Airspace Home and Leap Motion Software v1.2". Leap Motion Blog. Leap Motion. 2014-04-22. https://leapmotion.tumblr.com/post/83541020079/software-update-new-features-in-airspace-home-and. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Immersive Interaction with Leap Motion + Oculus Rift". Leap Motion Blog. Leap Motion. 2013-09-23. https://leapmotion.tumblr.com/post/62076669635/immersive-interaction-with-leap-motion-oculus. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 "Leap Motion App Store - Leap Motion Apps for Motion Control". apps.leapmotion.com (Internet Archive capture of 2 January 2015). Leap Motion. 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150102035405/https://apps.leapmotion.com/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  23. ↑ Scott Hayden (2015-01-10). "Winners of Leap Motion '3D Jam' Game Jam Contest Announced". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/leap-motion-3d-jam-winners-announced-indiecade-oculus-rift-virtual-reality/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 "Leap Motion App Store - Leap Motion Apps for Motion Control". apps.leapmotion.com (Internet Archive capture of 15 January 2017). Leap Motion. 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170115184748/https://apps.leapmotion.com/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  25. ↑ Kevin Carbotte (2017-06-01). "Leap Motion Retiring Leap App Store, Passing Content Distribution Reigns To OEM Partners". Tom's Hardware. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/leap-motion-retiring-app-store,34621.html. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  26. ↑ "leapmotion/apphome: Leap Motion App Home". GitHub. Leap Motion. https://github.com/leapmotion/apphome. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  27. ↑ Kip Bunyea (2014-04-01). "10 Tips for Getting Your App into the Leap Motion App Store". Leap Motion Blog (Internet Archive capture of 11 October 2015). Leap Motion. https://web.archive.org/web/20151011102417/http://blog.leapmotion.com/10-tips-for-getting-your-app-into-the-app-store/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 "Airspace Store by Leap Motion". airspace.leapmotion.com (Internet Archive capture of 24 July 2013). Leap Motion. 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130724143255/https://airspace.leapmotion.com/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
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