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Apple’s App Store Gets a Smarter Search Engine

techcrunch.com

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Re: Apple’s App Store Gets a Smarter Search Engine

#11

Post by ZoFreX »

Shank wrote: post #5

Using the exact search this article describes, "Get Followers on Twitter" is the second result on iPad. If this is the app that Apple considers the second most relevant result, I'm gonna say the jury is still out on App Store search. http://i.imgur.com/5Lca7cw.jpg

I can't get the downloads, but I can get the number of ratings (from AppAnnie):

Twitter: 322,769 ratings Get Followers on Twitter: 1,612 ratings Tweetbot: 1,287 ratings Twitterific: 1,654 ratings

Doesn't seem like an outlier, popularity-wise - so maybe it is relevant for a lot of people.

Re: Apple’s App Store Gets a Smarter Search Engine

#12

Post by arrrg »

jonathankoren wrote: post #10
arrrg wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are supposed to search for Twitter as a test. Tweetbot doesn't make much sense as a search term, at least for finding other Twitter clients. I think the search results are actually quite great, considering. (The calculator is an app by the makers of Tweetbot. I actually had that same use case before: I knew that some developer of some app made some other great app, but I didn't know its name – so I would search f…

I would argue the calculator is still a fail. If I searched or Tweetbot, the top hit should obviously be Tweetbot, but I would argue that the other results should be other Twitter clients. A calculator simply isn't. Even worse, the 3rd result is for a different tapped named "Tweetbot" When you scan through the results, Calcbot is really the odd one out. Now, if I had searched for Tapbot (the maker of Tweetbot), then…

I disagree with you completely … and that is why search is hard.

The rest of your argument is sort of shit and irrelevant. No one cares much about those lower results. Especially for a search that is so incredibly specific. Yeah, cutting stuff off is probably a good idea, but also kinda irrelevant.

You just wanna win an argument, it’s that combative angry mood in your lines, quite fun.

Re: Apple’s App Store Gets a Smarter Search Engine

#13

Post by userbinator »

Shank wrote: post #5

Using the exact search this article describes, "Get Followers on Twitter" is the second result on iPad. If this is the app that Apple considers the second most relevant result, I'm gonna say the jury is still out on App Store search. http://i.imgur.com/5Lca7cw.jpg

I don't use iOS (nor any other app store for that matter), but one thing that stands out in that screenshot is the lack of any description of what those apps actually do; the clearest one there is "Get Followers on Twitter", and that's just because it's the name of the app. It's not like there's no room to add a short one-line description either. (The images also don't help much because while they mostly show what the app looks like, that's still quite different than saying what it does.)

Re: Apple’s App Store Gets a Smarter Search Engine

#16

Post by dang »

arrrg wrote: post #12
jonathankoren wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue the calculator is still a fail. If I searched or Tweetbot, the top hit should obviously be Tweetbot, but I would argue that the other results should be other Twitter clients. A calculator simply isn't. Even worse, the 3rd result is for a different tapped named "Tweetbot" When you scan through the results, Calcbot is really the odd one out. Now, if I had searched for Tapbot (the maker of Tweetbot), then…

I disagree with you completely … and that is why search is hard. The rest of your argument is sort of shit and irrelevant. No one cares much about those lower results. Especially for a search that is so incredibly specific. Yeah, cutting stuff off is probably a good idea, but also kinda irrelevant. You just wanna win an argument, it’s that combative angry mood in your lines, quite fun.

Calling names and personal attacks are not allowed on HN, so please don't post comments that do those things.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

https://news.ycombinator.com/newswelcome.html

Re: Apple’s App Store Gets a Smarter Search Engine

#17

Post by sanatgersappa »

Shank wrote: post #5

Using the exact search this article describes, "Get Followers on Twitter" is the second result on iPad. If this is the app that Apple considers the second most relevant result, I'm gonna say the jury is still out on App Store search. http://i.imgur.com/5Lca7cw.jpg

The bigger question is - Why is an app like "Get Followers on Twitter" on the App Store at all?

Re: Apple’s App Store Gets a Smarter Search Engine

#18

Post by anandr2013 »

The apple music search is also atrocious - that gets a relook as well hopefully.

I think in general, we (or at least I) have underestimated how good Google is at search, probably a result of how they have been monopolising talent for the last several years. This technical superiority (particularly in the machine learning space) is going to be a huge advantage going forward, as already evidenced by how much better Google now is than Siri.

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