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Apple's Developer Site Gains Revamped Section Dedicated to App Store Success

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Apple today updated its web portal designed for developers with a new section entitled "Making Great Apps for the App Store," aimed at helping developers grow their businesses and reach more users with their apps.

Included are resources for planning apps, App Store guidelines, tools for submitting apps, and a section on developer insights featuring stories from developers who have created successful titles.

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The App Store makes it simple for users around the world to discover, download and enjoy your apps. Grow your business with resources designed to help you create great apps and reach more users.
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Several sections of the App Store portal have previously existed, including the sections for Guidelines and submitting an app to the App Store, but the revamped site makes these tools easier to find and combines them together in a more logical way.

Apple's App Store "Planning" feature, which aggregates some previously available information and offers new tidbits, covers the best methods for choosing effective categories for apps and getting apps discovered, including the qualities Apple seeks when planning to feature an app. It also includes ideal business models, tips for offering subscriptions and freemium apps, using analytics for marketing, and engaging users with app updates.

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The Developer Insights section includes success stories from developers like Seriously, Grailr, Evernote, and Smule, covering everything from bringing an app to Apple Watch to building a brand on social media.

Apple's revamped App Store developer section comes just as the company has announced its 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference, set to take place from June 13 to June 17 in San Francisco, California.

Article Link: Apple's Developer Site Gains Revamped Section Dedicated to App Store Success
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/04/18/apple-developer-section-app-store-success/
So basically it's Apple saying "You aren't doing it right" instead of actually addressing the fundamental flaws in the App Store. Look, 5 success stories, see how easy it is! Without mentioning the success stories are a fraction of 1% of the apps on the store. Yes, there are crappy developers, and probably good developers with poorly thought out ideas. But having success on the App Store is really really hard, ten times as hard if you're a small developer.
 
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AdonisSMU said:
The problem is the app store is so hard to use these days. The search is terrible and I mean really awful. I have a hard time finding what I'm looking for. I get so many irrelevant results.
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The App Store definitely needs to have its content fully revised. Still, I think it's better than Google Play or the Microsoft App Store, which I find too visually crowded and disorganized. It's also crowded with bad quality apps.

The App Store needs to be carefully cleaned up:
- Get rid of all those apps that are identically the same, but released under different developer names.
- Get rid of all the Flappy Bird clones, and similar app clone ripoffs.
- Get rid of all those apps that have not been updated in over a year (or at least put them at the bottom of the pile for those users running a current version of iOS)
- Get rid of all those apps that basically do nothing.
 
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Amazing Iceman said:
The App Store definitely needs to have its content fully revised. Still, I think it's better than Google Play or the Microsoft App Store, which I find too visually crowded and disorganized. It's also crowded with bad quality apps.

The App Store needs to be carefully cleaned up:
- Get rid of all those apps that are identically the same, but released under different developer names.
- Get rid of all the Flappy Bird clones, and similar app clone ripoffs.
- Get rid of all those apps that have not been updated in over a year (or at least put them at the bottom of the pile for those users running a current version of iOS)
- Get rid of all those apps that basically do nothing.
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I don't mind competition but I don't think irrelevant apps should be placed at the top of the stack. There should definitely figure out a way to put a priority on the more popular and most recently updated apps but I don't think Apple should go as far as to cut competition among apps.
 
AdonisSMU said:
I don't mind competition but I don't think irrelevant apps should be placed at the top of the stack. There should definitely figure out a way to put a priority on the more popular and most recently updated apps but I don't think Apple should go as far as to cut competition among apps.
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Well, I was actually referring to the 'cheap imitations'. Nothing wrong with an app that's actually an improvement over the original app.

As for Flappy Bird, it has become the project of many iOS Tutorials, so every single student makes a Flappy Bird clone and many post it on the App Store.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
Well, I was actually referring to the 'cheap imitations'. Nothing wrong with an app that's actually an improvement over the original app.

As for Flappy Bird, it has become the project of many iOS Tutorials, so every single student makes a Flappy Bird clone and many post it on the App Store.
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I realize that may be a possibility but I think the practical effect of what you are asking is alternative apps get cut off from the app store.
 
Amazing Iceman said:
The practical effect? A cleaner App Store with apps that are really worth buying/installing. No more junk.
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The user can decide what is junk and what is not. Apple's search result needs to reflect the popularity of the apps. I also think the apps need to be labeled correctly. I know that app developers are gaming the system....a bit...
 
AdonisSMU said:
The user can decide what is junk and what is not. Apple's search result needs to reflect the popularity of the apps. I also think the apps need to be labeled correctly. I know that app developers are gaming the system....a bit...
Click to expand...

Well... in my case, I don't want to spend my time sorting out junk apps from a huge list of results.
And I'm sure thousands of users would agree with me on this one.

Your idea about sorting apps by popularity is also good, but what about new apps entering the app store? These new apps have no rating, so wouldn't these enter at the bottom of the list and may never be discovered by the App Store user?
 
Interesting quote that exemplifies Apple's ignorance of the situation:
"Evernote began localizing its app for Japan by speaking with Japanese users to learn.."

Today, If you release a brand new app with an original concept that does not already have Japanese localizations, you can forget it. You will not be featured and you will not have ANY users to "speak to". Apple does not get it - without the simple sort by release date feature (which they removed a year ago), small developers with original concepts are now locked out of the store.

This whole "App Store Success" idea is just "lip service" to make it look like Apple is making an attempt to assist developers. But it is still just a "throw something over a very high wall and pray" relationship.

The iOS App Store is a captive system with no competition - this is the real problem. If they had to compete with other stores on the platform they would have to compete for developers and have to truly innovate. This "App Store Success" section is not innovative.

Apps are dead on Apple's platforms. Apps were the main advantage iOS had over Droid. Apple has killed their main real advantage due to their own arrogant attitude. As soon as the Droid hardware and OS catch up to iOS (some may say that's already here) iOS market share will tumble. Game over.
 
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