14 DAY TRIAL // For years now, Apple has been serving up search results mostly based on popularity and downloads. Category listings also place the most prolific titles at the top, leaving new and perhaps exciting additions at the very bottom.
Twitterrific developer Gedeon Maheux wants Apple to address this problem. His app shows up on the 100th position when you search “twitter” on the App Store, with titles like Alarm Clock HD and Camera+ appearing way earlier.
Maheux suggests the problem is Apple’s affinity for top-grossing apps, downloads, and popularity.
“For small developers like myself,” Maheux writes, “a potential customer’s ability to find your app on the App Store is critical. If customers can’t easily discover and download your software, your app (and indeed your business) has little chance of survival.”
Chomp acquisition
Ever since launching the service in 2009, Apple has continually strived to improve every aspect of the App Store. One major effort was the Chomp acquisition in 2012, which resulted in a better organized digital downloads venue.
Apple at one point even updated the App Store’s search engine to suggest better results if the user made a typo. But it has never made a priority of implementing a way for the store to list not only the top downloads, but also the top-downloaded apps that fit a specific name – in this case, Twitter.
1.2 million apps
It’s understandable that creating a search mechanism for everyone’s needs is a tough job when 1.2 million apps are involved.
Apple also needs to cater to the specific needs of customers across 155 different countries. Nearly half of the aforementioned number comprises dedicated iPad apps, another aspect worth considering when it comes to downloads.
Currently, App Store customers can choose from a range of apps in 24 categories, which includes games, business, news, sports, travel, kids, health & fitness, and even newspapers and magazines.
Marketing comes first
It’s pretty obvious that the company finds it more profitable to invest in marketing key apps, or ranges of apps using its carousel mechanism at the top of the App Store’s GUI. For example, it is now promoting music applications using its very own short film, “The Song.”
“A gift from Apple is a gift of creativity, music, art, thoughtfulness, and generosity. Watch as one budding musician uses Mac and GarageBand to create a heartfelt song for her grandmother,” the Cupertino giant says.
The company will undoubtedly continue to make improvements to the way its App Store works, but don’t hold your breath for search to be fixed tomorrow just because it’s in the news now.
Update: Our site has everyone covered when it comes to software discovery, and the listings in the App Store are no exception to the rule. Visit our iOS section for the latest app reviews and direct downloads from the App Store (via link or QR code scanning). Look stuff up using our filters and our reliable search engine.
