Apple testing new App Store design that blurs the line between ads and results

Post by morshu9001 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 7:26 PM UTC

VerifiedReports wrote: post #255

apparent wrote: post #252

The search results in the App Store are ridiculous. Sometimes I search for an app by name and have to scroll through dozens of other apps before finding the one I had searched for. App Store search is as broken as Apple Mail search, if not worse.

Amen. App-store search is an offense sham, wasting users' time and stealing from developers. And +1 to pitiful Mail search. But Apple has long suffered from a peculiar learning disability in regard to search. Not only does Finder fail to find files matching search strings that it's showing you IN THE CURRENT DIRECTORY... but both Finder and Spotlight provide no option to include WHERE it found stuff in search results…

Post by SaaSasaurus » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 7:37 PM UTC

Post by shadow28 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 7:44 PM UTC

kakacik wrote: post #411

Andaith wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but I think they still have the lead in hardware. However, I'm using an iPhone 14 which apparently released 4 years ago now, and it's still plenty fast enough for all my needs. If it lasts another 4 years, I won't update. That's probably their problem. Do I think the software ecosystem is superior? I _hate_ using the app store with a passion. I _hate_ trying to find an app for my needs(most recently a gym app…

Any 4 year old medium range Android phone is mighty fine these days, ie Samsungs just keep chugging, mine S22 ultra still has fine battery and rest is like new and I've seen the same for lower tiers. Market won't allow much gap anymore

Post by fsckboy » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 7:52 PM UTC

MonkeyClub wrote: post #368

torben-friis wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It's shocking that Apple hasn't done this trick yet when everyone else started doing it years ago. They sell a walled garden. If shit gets inside the walls, we might as well come out. I’m not willing to pay the apple tax any longer. Let the ad sellers pay if they’re the main costumers.

> I’m not willing to pay the apple tax any longer. Problem here is that when you decide you no longer wish to pay the tax and want to exit the walled garden, you discover that there's a heap of functionality and convenience you'll have to let go, and add complexity and cost to your setup. I actively avoided relying on iCloud even when it was the sane option, but many people that will feel like the walled garden is no…

Post by dblohm7 » Tue, Jan 20, 2026, 8:15 PM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #472

PlatoIsADisease wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>you discover that there's a heap of functionality and convenience you'll have to let go, and add complexity and cost to your setup. Which is? Every time I got an Apple product, it felt like a step back. They were late to widgets, late to AI. Their security is historically poor.

> Their security is historically poor. For the desktop Mac, the base OS is essentially UNIX. It is much more secure by default than Microsoft Windows. For the mobile Mac (iOS), they are much preferred by large corporations when giving mobile phones to employees. Why? Security is much better than Android.