Je Suis Charlie app in App Store within an hour after Tim Cook contacted directly

Apps usually take about 10 days to get into the store — but app made in tribute to the Paris shootings made it through in an hour

The writing on the facade of the French embassy reads 'Je suis Charlie!' (I am Charlie!) to commemorate the victims of the terrorist attack on French satire magazine 'Charlie Hebdo', during a vigil at the French embassy in Berlin

An app to pay tribute to the victims of the Paris shootings seemed to have been fast-tracked through Apple’s often lengthy App Store approval process after a personal email to Tim Cook.

The app, made by French news agency Nice-Matin, was created in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks and allows users to declare solidarity with the magazine by placing a picture of themselves on a map.

The French news agency emailed Tim Cook directly, received a reply from an assistant ten minutes later, and the app was in the store an hour after the email was sent. The average app takes about 10 days to get into the store, according a site tracking the review times.

The app allows users to declare "je suis Charlie", which adds a picture of a pen held aloft onto a map, where they are.

The app’s description says: "Because ‘Je suis Charlie’ has become the symbol of freedom of speech whatever your beliefs, your country and your opinions, download the 'I am Charlie' app and simply state where you stand on today's world map."

Apple added a Je Suis Charlie footer to its French site, soon after the attack. It was one of a range of tributes by tech firms that also included a $300,000 donation from Google to Charlie Hebdo.