Francesco D'Alessio
February 15, 2018
4 min read
Looking back now, I was very excited for the new App Store launch…
… Maybe too excited…
Maybe that’s why it let me down… Could have been!
In 2017, Apple took a leap of faith and re-designed their App Store on iOS devices for the first time since their initial launch in 2008.
With a comfortable 9 years since the release, Apple had plenty of time to learn the go-to actions of a user and the exploration process many people go through on a daily basis, to release what could have been a perfect product.
In my opinion. They almost nailed it!
Browsing the App Store now has become a love/hate relationship with a passionate for one area, and a detest for the other elements.
Why the App Store is important for me?!
For me, browsing the App Store is one of the biggest parts of my day.
Don’t worry, I’m not a Candy Crush freak.
In my spare time, I run a YouTube channel all about finding the best applications to get things done. So a combination of curation and discovery is always on my radar.
For work, I spend my time checking the App Store rankings, descriptions, in-app purchases and many more developer attributes to gather the right intel for the clients or companies I work with.
So time on the App Store on a daily basis is inevitable.
Let’s share a few of the key components that I love and hate about it:
The Love: Video
If 2017 was the year of video, chances are 2018 will be the year of total video.
As we scroll down our Facebook feeds, chances are we can’t find a slot without a video. Video marketing is on the rise, and boy do Apple know it!
The new App Store reflects this perfectly.
With a new addition of videos to App Store profiles, this makes a world of difference to the user experience.
Apple have really accented the video exploration feature very well.
The Hate: Games
A “Games” section did annoy me.
Maybe it’s due to my hate relationship with games on iOS devices, but why didn’t they embed the games segment into some other area of the App Store.
Things feel squashed into that bottom section, whereas I believe Apple should have split things up a little by creating a section called “Discover” to help influence more discovery on the platform.
Of course, we have “Today” section but that lends itself to a limit of 3–4 discoveries a day, whereas, as section dedicated to trending apps, on the rise tools, and ones to watch would have been so much more attractive to those looking to make the most out of their time on the App Store.
Games being blended into the “Apps” section for me seems to be a more effective decision, but I can imagine the struggles people would have finding games from there with over 2.8M+ apps on the App Store.
The Hate: Discovery
Continuing this topic. Discovery.
The Apps section has a few gems when it comes to exploring new tools and resources. The carousel, category based apps, new apps we love are all fine and dandy, but I feel this is limiting to your discovery.
An always-changing discovery tab would have been very interesting for Apple. Impossible to police, but attractive for many of the younger generation looking to get the latest apps, or even jump onto a bandwagon.
Breaking the trends into categories would be great too!
Scrolling down the “App” section feels a little painful. Despite the fairly reasonable list, it doesn’t supply all the exploration that a App savvy individual needs.
Maybe this is my love for the App Store curation coming through, but there’s lots of missed opportunity here.
The Love: Today
Limited to 3–4 a day, the Today tab feels like one of the better experiences when it comes to finding out more about an app, a developer, or even more listicle type discovery.
Today was the best addition to the App Store. Since the launch.
No doubt about it. From the “How-To” guides to the user stories. Everything matches up with the discovery needed to keep the App Store storming forward for all parties, developers and users.
There’s just one issue. That limit. 3–4 a day and that’s why a supplementary algorithm created discovery section would have been a perfect section.
That’s my thoughts and feelings about the App Store. As you can tell.
Love, hate, but overall just admiration for the updates.
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