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Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

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Re: Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

#52
post #22

The current state of the Windows Store is a holdover from the early 2010's where "number of apps in our app store" became a huge KPI and something for the CEO to tout to the board of directors. Apple and Google kept bragging about these numbers at their respective developer conferences/yearly refresh unveilings and therefore Microsoft was all too happy to accept any and all apps into the Windows Store at the time in…

> Times have changed, though, and you could argue that now many people would like less app clutter and easier discoverability of the apps they actually want.

Time and time again people & markets need to relearn this.

The "video game crash" in the early 80s that collapsed Atari was because of so much shovelware that came out (with the infamous E.T. game being seen as the "pinnacle" of that era). Nintendo emerged from that rubble by being more selective about the games they allowed [1] on their platform, something which Atari fought them on tooth and nail [2]. (The amount of shovelware games on mobile platforms is a tragic repeat of that era.)

One of the more memorable aspects of classic management classes like the case study of the Challenger Disaster is that you don't want more information, you want better information.

Google's mission statement remains to "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." How are they doing on that these days? How's the Play Store compared to the Apple App Store or Microsoft's Windows Store?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIC_(Nintendo)

[2] https://youtu.be/fLA_d9q6ySs

Re: Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

#53
post #5

It is result #1 for me when I search. Is this because today is the first day Firefox has been available on the Windows Store and it took some time to build reputation?

Firefox is number one result for me too, in India.

Re: Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

#56
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's seriously embarrassing and terrible. Anybody who uploads a $4.99 "Firefox user guide" to the Microsoft Store should be banned for life before the app even hits prod. Microsoft should require a sufficient barrier to entry so these "developers" can be proactively identified and expelled before they have an opportunity to clog the Store with their detritus. App store cruft like this is one of the most mind-numbingl…

"Guides" aren't even the worst of it. The Microsoft Store has some apps which are outright squatting on the names and logos of real applications, like "Reader for Reading Kindle Ebooks" [1] or "Meeting using Google Meet" [2]. While I haven't investigated, I'm pretty sure they're literally just frames for web apps. [1]: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/reader-for-reading-kindle-... [2]: https://www.microsoft.com/en-u…

There is also cases of people uploading unofficial distributions of open source software (not even forked) and charging money for it

https://www.qbittorrent.org/news.php (ctrl-f: windows store)

Re: Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

#57
post #43

It's the first result for me on the web: https://www.microsoft.com/en-NZ/search/shop?q=firefox And using the Store app on Windows 11, Firefox is prominently featured as the number 1 result when searching: https://imgur.com/a/vyoWQZd Edit: Seems like Firefox has only been available in the store for a day or two, so I guess this was just the search algorithm catching up and re-ranking. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/produ…

Can confirm, it's the top result - followed by Firefox the movie, and 3 "guide" results for using Firefox the browser; both on the preview results and after submitting the search.

Re: Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

#58
post #43

It's the first result for me on the web: https://www.microsoft.com/en-NZ/search/shop?q=firefox And using the Store app on Windows 11, Firefox is prominently featured as the number 1 result when searching: https://imgur.com/a/vyoWQZd Edit: Seems like Firefox has only been available in the store for a day or two, so I guess this was just the search algorithm catching up and re-ranking. https://blog.mozilla.org/en/produ…

I can concur. I searched firefox in W11 and got a huge banner for the official firefox. It looks great.

Re: Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

#59
post #29
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, though I might even go further? My controversial take (as someone who ran a very popular software market for a decade myself, which notably didn't do what I am saying, though was effectively handicapped in its search for other reasons): they simply shouldn't have search or discovery of their own, as it is going to be some opportunity for the moral equivalent of a TOCTUO "parser differential" security issue t…

I actually agree. I never use app store discovery or search, and I don't think anyone who understands the app market does. I think it is mainly used by folks who don't know search engines work better, who are exactly the sort of folks who fall for fake apps and scams, because their flawed assumption that the platform gives a shit about it hasn't yet been corrected. The other problem, though, is that not having discov…

Is "app store" discovery a viable option on moderated community platforms like Flathub or F-Droid, or "non-platforms" (primarily software distribution methods built around command-line installation, rather than UI-focused ecosystems with reviews and such) like Linux distribution packages?

Re: Firefox is the 45th result when searching for “Firefox” on Windows Store

#60
post #22

The current state of the Windows Store is a holdover from the early 2010's where "number of apps in our app store" became a huge KPI and something for the CEO to tout to the board of directors. Apple and Google kept bragging about these numbers at their respective developer conferences/yearly refresh unveilings and therefore Microsoft was all too happy to accept any and all apps into the Windows Store at the time in…

There were many things I liked about the Windows Phone OS. The alphabetical listing UI is far better than what Android/iOS have. (in iOS you can jump to a specific letter with a precise tap along the side. In WP, you could tap on a letter to bring up a pop-over list of letters.. much easier!). Its keyboard was excellent. The navigation bar in the apps would be icons, but could be expanded to show labels for each of the icons. The home screen theming was excellent. The phones had a physical button for using the camera (until that restriction was lifted).

But, yeah, WP didn't have the apps people wanted to use.

I don't like that Apple's iOS is so locked down. Apparently even the App Store isn't free of clutter. -- It's concerning that the opposite (a complete lack of curation, and an encouragement to write apps) doesn't end up as a competitive phone OS.

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