The new search layout shows very little information,is heavy and crashes now and then(true on 4S but not so on the new iPad where the search result displays more information at once with no crashes so far).
The Genius tab is a real loss for me as I don't use it at all.
I like to browse by category but now I have to tap twice where once was ok...
The result in itself are also plainly wrong most of the time.
I've stopped using it and I've switched to AppShopper, way better(I am absolutely not affiliated with this app^^)
iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
21–30 of 64 posts
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#22Sorry to go off topic, but did anyone else close the article right when they got to the ad with the "Article continues below" link above it? They've got stats showing that users don't realize their articles continue because they throw ads right in the middle of them, and they fixed the problem with an anchor link? Good god.
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#23How has anyone ever sold a product before? You market it. The App Store isn't the sole place you should be marketing your app. If you have ever counted on just releasing your app into the store and have it somehow gain traction with no other effort, you've always been doomed to failure. The App Store should be treated like a supermarket, after a fashion. You may get your product on the shelf, but simply relying on pe…
I agree completely.
I'm trying to remember the last app I download(let alone purchased) by browsing through the top whatever in the app store. I think it was the flashlight app I got when I first bought my iPhone.
Now, I don't even bother with trying to browse apps. If I'm going to buy an app on either iTunes or Google Play, I'm searching for the specific one I want.
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#24How has anyone ever sold a product before? You market it. The App Store isn't the sole place you should be marketing your app. If you have ever counted on just releasing your app into the store and have it somehow gain traction with no other effort, you've always been doomed to failure. The App Store should be treated like a supermarket, after a fashion. You may get your product on the shelf, but simply relying on pe…
The problem with the app store as it stands today is that it generates almost no passive sales but also gives you virtually no insight into customer purchasing behavior. Compared to the incredibly detailed analytics you can get for a web app you're basically fumbling around in the dark.
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#25For all this talk about App Store discovery, why hasn't anyone set up an alternative means of discovery? After all, all you need is a link to the item on itunes. It should be theoretically easy to set up a mobile webpage with a list of indie apps, and with improved searching it'd be very easy to bootstrap such a site with at most a week's worth of effort.
That's what App.net was going to build (hence the name) until Facebook threatened to revoke API access if they didn't agree to an aquihire. Spreading via Facebook is pretty much required for something like that to take off, but Facebook has decided that they want to be in that business (https://www.facebook.com/appcenter/).
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#26So discovery is hampered, more focus on the screenshot and title is limited to 7 characters. Sounds like Apple want users to find fewer, but higher quality apps:
- browsing fewer apps, with users looking closer at each of them;
- screenshot of the app, you buy the app, not the icon and title;
- shorter title, less stuffed with keywords [good apps often have short names: Skype, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter].
I think this is a good thing, the app store has been too much about churning out low-quality apps.
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#27Its most likely not a disaster for Apple in that Im sure it was purposeful. Id assume their thinking is that for every "unproven" app that gets surfaced to the user could be lost revenue in place of giving more focus to an established app with a higher likelihood of a buy. To me it seems like one of those short sighted how do we grow our revenue in the app store by 12% business maneuvers. The long term and bigger pic…
iOS devices are successful because of the developers, just ask Microsoft. Now they are killing the hen that laid golden apps. I am surprised how quickly Apple lost its way after Steve.
What makes you think Steve Jobs, wouldn't approve of it? I mean maps probably wouldn't get out of the door, but this seems fine albeit different.
I kinda feel sad about all the "What would Steve do. He'd do exactly as I want" I constantly see. If memory doesn't fool me, Final Cut Pro X was panned by users, while Steve Jobs was at the helm. The only difference now it seems there is no RDF deployed.
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#28I think the problem goes far deeper than this. Apple has never had good search and discovery technology across it's products. Searching using iTunes on the desktop isn't any better. I won't get into the details. I'm sure a lot of you share my sentiments. In many ways it is a parallel with Maps. Google has great search and great maps. Apple has bad search and now less-than-stellar maps. Trend?
itunes searching for apps works so much better than google play searching for apps. Google play search is an embarrassing joke.
Searching for USA travel guides brings in french travel guides, spanish travel guides, and london maps.
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#29How has anyone ever sold a product before? You market it. The App Store isn't the sole place you should be marketing your app. If you have ever counted on just releasing your app into the store and have it somehow gain traction with no other effort, you've always been doomed to failure. The App Store should be treated like a supermarket, after a fashion. You may get your product on the shelf, but simply relying on pe…
Heres the problem with marketing: Say, I am a really big software company and release an app for my biggest video hosting platform anyone knows: "youtube". Everyone knows the exact name of the application, goes to the store, enters "youtube". And guess whats first? Not "Youtube", but "Video Downloader Super Lite".
What use is good marketing if it is so hard to find things by _exact name_ on the store where you market it for? That basically means that any competitor can beat you by just including terms for your product in his description. The card interface makes this even worse, because with the old interface, "Youtube" would at least be on the front page, but now it is not.
Re: iOS 6 App Store is a disaster for developers
#30Apple is a company that doesn't make very many acquisitions. I think that the team at Chomp pretty much took over the App Store or at least have a very big say.
All the changes are worse for indie developers.
The changes also favor raw app download count. This means that free or freemium apps rank higher. This isn't good for quality apps which are paid purchases but have fewer downloads compared to a mediocre quality but free app.
I want things back the way they were or at the very least, give apps with high star ratings with x amount of ratings a bigger influence in search results.
Hopefully Apple will see the app download statistics and see that that they are top heavy. The long tail is gone which hurts the ecosystem. Then they will question what went wrong and make some positive adjustments. That's what I'm hoping.