It has come to our attention that Apple's recent changes with the App Store have actually been made to address developer misuse. Apple has rearranged the categories in its iTunes App Store, pulling aggregate categories to make room for the newest apps. This, however, doesn't include newly-updated apps.

Applications receiving updates used to get pushed back to the first page of their respective category “often appearing on the App Store home page within iTunes as well,” reports AppleInsider, citing Krishna Vegesn, who works for TouchMeme – developers of three iPhone apps. This would also push an app to the top of the first page when viewing by categories on an iPhone or iPod touch. According to Vegesn, the result was an immediate jump in sales. A graph (below) depicting this behavior was included with the statements.

"With the latest update to the AppStore, the above behavior no longer holds true (and I am glad it doesn’t)," Vegesn said. "This is because the applications are now categorized according to the ‘Actual Released Date’ rather that the last updated date."

An application would get the chance to top an index each time it received an update

Source: AppleInsider

Following these changes, new (1.0) applications will benefit from a longer stay on the first page of category listings. Older apps getting updated will not return to the top of their respective category listings, an aspect which has some downsides to it as well. For instance, developers will not be so keen on issuing updates, as they would be to develop completely new apps. Therefore, it is believed that devs will shift their focus to "real innovation in functionality rather than focusing on who pushes the update first," Vegesn said.

iTunes App Store users will also notice Apple has changed its user-review policy as well, enabling only those who own an app to write a review and post it on iTunes. With these latest developments, Apple has further strengthened the App Store's position as a serious pillar of its business.