I wish Apple/Google/MS would realise that they could stop operating an App Store and start running an App Mall instead.
Inside their Mall, different third party stores could focus on different niches and demographics with totally different criteria for including and rating apps with different UX to browse and discover products. Some could use expert reviews, some user reviews, others taste based recommedations. Its crazy to think there could ever be a "one size fits all" store for all types of people and all types of activity that digital devices are used for. Maybe an IGN store, a LifeHacker store, a ThinkGeek store, a Fortune store etc.
Apple/Google/MS could spend their time on the simpler effort of curating and promoting good stores instead of good apps and offer them a typical referral fee on each purchase. I think everyone would benefit - better shopping experience for users, better niche surfacing for developers, new revenue source for tech reviewers, simpler curation job for the platforms.
I don't know about Google, but I can't believe how Apple, the “design is how it works” shop can leave such a gaping hole in a place where it conspicuously matters. Every casual AppStore visitor immediately realises that they have no chance in hell of finding anything. First Apple boasts how many million apps they have on the store, then they make 99%+ of it unreachable. Bummer.
I also find it extremely misleading when the stores quote statistics such as "over 93 percent of all ios apps have been downloaded every month" as proof that people are finding the apps they want. What they don't disclose is that the majority of these downloads are probably just 1 time downloads by the app creator on their own device.
On android there are plenty of app discovery apps. But considering the fact that most users only download a fixed set of 10-20 apps , i wonder if most users care about app discovery or is it just a developer problem, at least in the short term.
Maybe there's no need. Or maybe the real problem isn't app discovery - but a problem of managing more than 20 apps on a phone and remembering to use them in the right context.
That is exactly the feeling I have. I rarely install new apps and of those few survive my semiregular uninstall marathons whenever the phone feels cluttered. The actual number of persistent apps is surprisingly little and less than 15 I use on a daily basis.
It might be a personal preference but "browsing" apps in the store isn't something I do at all. Most installs come from directed searches after reading reviews online, buying new Hardware (e.g. pulsemeter) or subscribing to a new service (e.g. spotify and friends).
EDIT: Simply being available in a store is definitely not enough to be found. Get a good webpage show the benefit (most apps are struggeling here ;) ) and give me a chance to try it out without much hassle
There's nothing stopping anybody from doing this. Apple offers a DB dump of the store's content (including music). You could build a curation platform on top of that. They do, indeed, offer a referral fee for iTunes purchases.
I never thought of it that way, but I really like this idea. In fact I enjoy keeping up with a few good curators - small labels in music for example. Beats most recommendation engines in my opinion.
It's amazing idea but I'm afraid that (at least in case of Google) it won't happen. I guess their logic is "if the Play store doesn't work as a promotional channel, developers will buy ads".
We already have that. Lifehacker regularly posts lists of apps, complete with links to the app in the store for you to download. They're not alone with this.
Comments
I wish Apple/Google/MS would realise that they could stop operating an App Store and start running an App Mall instead.
Inside their Mall, different third party stores could focus on different niches and demographics with totally different criteria for including and rating apps with different UX to browse and discover products. Some could use expert reviews, some user reviews, others taste based recommedations. Its crazy to think there could ever be a "one size fits all" store for all types of people and all types of activity that digital devices are used for. Maybe an IGN store, a LifeHacker store, a ThinkGeek store, a Fortune store etc.
Apple/Google/MS could spend their time on the simpler effort of curating and promoting good stores instead of good apps and offer them a typical referral fee on each purchase. I think everyone would benefit - better shopping experience for users, better niche surfacing for developers, new revenue source for tech reviewers, simpler curation job for the platforms.
I don't know about Google, but I can't believe how Apple, the “design is how it works” shop can leave such a gaping hole in a place where it conspicuously matters. Every casual AppStore visitor immediately realises that they have no chance in hell of finding anything. First Apple boasts how many million apps they have on the store, then they make 99%+ of it unreachable. Bummer.
I also find it extremely misleading when the stores quote statistics such as "over 93 percent of all ios apps have been downloaded every month" as proof that people are finding the apps they want. What they don't disclose is that the majority of these downloads are probably just 1 time downloads by the app creator on their own device.
http://www.padgadget.com/2013/06/10/50-billion-apps-download...
There is a saying that springs to mind, “Never trust a statistic you didn't fake yourself”.
On android there are plenty of app discovery apps. But considering the fact that most users only download a fixed set of 10-20 apps , i wonder if most users care about app discovery or is it just a developer problem, at least in the short term.
Maybe there's no need. Or maybe the real problem isn't app discovery - but a problem of managing more than 20 apps on a phone and remembering to use them in the right context.
That is exactly the feeling I have. I rarely install new apps and of those few survive my semiregular uninstall marathons whenever the phone feels cluttered. The actual number of persistent apps is surprisingly little and less than 15 I use on a daily basis.
It might be a personal preference but "browsing" apps in the store isn't something I do at all. Most installs come from directed searches after reading reviews online, buying new Hardware (e.g. pulsemeter) or subscribing to a new service (e.g. spotify and friends).
EDIT: Simply being available in a store is definitely not enough to be found. Get a good webpage show the benefit (most apps are struggeling here ;) ) and give me a chance to try it out without much hassle
There's nothing stopping anybody from doing this. Apple offers a DB dump of the store's content (including music). You could build a curation platform on top of that. They do, indeed, offer a referral fee for iTunes purchases.
I'm actually currently working on such a setup.
Is it difficult to become an "Enterprise Partner"?
https://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/resources/documentat...
Nope. Or at least it wasn't when I applied: fill out the form, get an email with username/pwd.
How much is that referal fee ?
http://www.apple.com/itunes/affiliates/
I never thought of it that way, but I really like this idea. In fact I enjoy keeping up with a few good curators - small labels in music for example. Beats most recommendation engines in my opinion.
It's amazing idea but I'm afraid that (at least in case of Google) it won't happen. I guess their logic is "if the Play store doesn't work as a promotional channel, developers will buy ads".
We already have that. Lifehacker regularly posts lists of apps, complete with links to the app in the store for you to download. They're not alone with this.
You mean, like the "internet"?
No, this even better because it means devs would yet another group middle man to pay off just get their content to users.
We thought Internet 2 would be amazing and fast and open and free.
Turns out Internet 2 will be curated, closed, monitored, metered, and pay-to-play.