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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,196
30,136



Apple has quietly made some changes to iOS 6's App Store app formatting tonight and introduced a new search results format that seem clearly inspired by Chomp.

Chomp was a three-year old search and app discovery startup that was acquired by Apple earlier this year. The reason for the acquisition was reportedly to improve the App Store search and app discovery. It appears the first of those efforts are being deployed in iOS 6.

chomp.jpg


iOS 6 search results on left, Chomp app shown on right​
On the iPhone, the new search results show a single tile result that can be swiped to move to each new result. Chomp's iOS app used a similar tile system in their search results.

In a thread in our forums, some users are already unhappy with the shift as it is slower to browse through many results.

Meanwhile, 9to5Mac notes several other changes in App Store functionality such as Genius support, Purchased section and Podcast search:
Also adding to the iOS 6 App Store updates, Apple has enabled the Genius recommendation section this evening, providing users with apps that may be in their interest to download. Furthermore, the purchased section has also joined the party, displaying all the apps a user has downloaded to their account, making it easy to retrieve favorite apps. Last but certainly not least, the iTunes Store has been updated with the ability to once again search for podcasts.
The iPad version of iOS 6 also shows the new tile-based results, but is able to show four results at a time. (screenshot).

Article Link: Apple Adds 'Chomp' Styled App Store Search Results and More in iOS 6
 

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
Somehow I don't think this is done. There needs to be a way to toggle between this view and the normal list view, otherwise it would take forever to look at your search results. :confused:

It's like they made the Music app with only the coverflow interface.
 

nepalisherpa

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2011
2,258
1,330
USA
Somehow I don't think this is done. There needs to be a way to toggle between this view and the normal list view, otherwise it would take forever to look at your search results. :confused:

It's like they made the Music app with only the coverflow interface.

My thoughts exactly!
 

Bathplug

macrumors 6502a
Jul 12, 2010
886
229
I prefer the Top 25 in the middle rather than Genius. This tiled theme will also be slower to look through the apps. Plus they take away streetview & youtube. Tempted to stay with ios 5.
 

Jethryn Freyman

macrumors 68020
Aug 9, 2007
2,329
2
Australia
When I want to "search" for something I don't want to have to scroll through each. and. every. one. of. them. at. a. time. *sigh* What was the point of this? How does it improve the user experience at all?
 

Reach9

macrumors 68020
Aug 17, 2010
2,417
224
In America
The current style was fine.. just let us filter through more details. But this is a pain, i can't believe the UI/UX lead who approved of this..
 

Aidan5806

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2012
312
0
I think the perfect solution for those of you who don't like how long it would take to view may apps is cover flow in landscape with titles below each icon and when you tap it it flips over to show details and reviews.
 

AgentElliot007

macrumors 6502a
Mar 22, 2010
570
315
If this sticks on the iPhone as is, it will be the first major interface change that I profusely hate. I have generally been pretty easygoing at worst about changes in the past, but this is miserable. Haven't tried it on the iPad yet, but going from 1 tile to the next to scroll through results with no inertia support at that is just a nightmare.

It reminds me a bit of the change they made to the Top Charts on the iPad awhile back, but infinitely worse. With the iPad it was tolerable, though I much prefer the return and improvement of the old style with iOS 6. But this tile based results crap on an iPhone is anything but pleasant to use. It needs to improve DRAMATICALLY or return to the old style. It's a user experience disaster as is.
 

BrandonHacks

macrumors regular
Aug 21, 2012
247
18
Texas
being that they've finally enabled other features such as podcast search and genius leads me to believe the next version released will be a GM.
 

mblank83

macrumors newbie
Jul 4, 2012
27
0
Do you guys remember what kind of company Apple is??
What makes you think this will be all apple has to offer when its available for the public? What makes you guys think there wouldn't be an alternative of some sort..

This is a company that strives for the best- they aren't idiots.. These are the people who brought all these fantastic products and software- not people who shamelessly copied off someone else's work and this the cheap knockoff..

I really doubt Steve Jobs was the only person at Apple who had enough common sense to see that this is incomplete...
 

jeffyyy

macrumors newbie
Aug 30, 2012
29
0
(For me at least) The new format only appears when typing in a search term in the box and selecting one of the suggestions that appear. If I simply click the search button in the keyboard instead of one of the results, it looks exactly how it used to.
 

jclardy

macrumors 601
Oct 6, 2008
4,134
4,306
As an indie developer - this sucks.

It now means that someone searching for your app that doesn't quite remember the name will likely not find it.

I think it is fine that they show more info on the results page, but only a single result at a time? It is like using Google just with the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.
 

dmarcoot

macrumors member
Dec 21, 2007
37
3
Made the UI worse

So much wasted space and the space used communicates very little. They just scaled down the Chomp result inside a box. This and the Apple TV UI are two of the worst UI's Apple has ever done.


This makes me miss Steve Jobs. I dont think he would have let this turkey out like this.
 

SamGabbay

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2011
757
868
Can't wait for the iPhone 6!

Finally. Someone who says it correctly.

Anyways... What I've found is that if you search something in the App Store a list view comes up. But if you click on a suggested search option, the new detailed view comes up.
 

katanna

macrumors 6502
May 6, 2004
340
41
Strange... I am not seeing the single-pane app store search results, but I am seeing a tab at the top that lets you choose between "iPad Apps" and "iPhone Apps" (even though I am on an iPhone). Even stranger: it is defaulting to "iPad Apps"!

20120830233155.png


Matthew
 
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