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App Store: Unrefined and partially useless UI

S

SDRacerR1

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 28, 2009
66
14
I find the App Store in iOS 6 so unrefined and useless in some parts, thats it hard for me to believe Apple actually released this.

My main gripe is the search function (pic #1). Lets say you input Camera+ so you get 9,000+ results. How can Apple possibly think that seeing 1 result per page is of any help/productive at all. So now I have to swipe 9000 times to see everything?? In iOS 5 you could see at least 5 results. This is beyond frustrating when you are trying to discover new Apps.

My other gripe and this is just a visual/artistic point of view:

I think its extremely unrefined and doesn't follow Apples artistic upbringings that you have on 1/2 of an icon showing on the right side (pic #2). Even when you swipe, the next set end ups showing the same way. Not only is this ugly, its confusing because now you have to swipe to show the rest of the App.

And below that, the two boxes for Maps/App Collections is not on 1 screen, another example oh how to me, Apple seems to be missing the fine details in its products lately. You would think, sitting on billions of dollars, you could hire enough people to make quality, refined products that we expect from Apple.

I could go on about Maps/Podcasts/Itunes but thats been beaten to death already.
 

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I'm not sure if it's better or worse - On one hand you can see lots of info about an app without having to go to a separate page, but on the other hand it takes longer to scroll through the search results...
 
mrsir2009 said:
I'm not sure if it's better or worse - On one hand you can see lots of info about an app without having to go to a separate page, but on the other hand it takes longer to scroll through the search results...
Click to expand...

It's not a lot more information...All they have is the review stars and a larger picture. You still have to click on it to find out what the App is all about from the Search results. I just find it inconsistent because if you go to Charts>See All, that is the same thing without the picture and you can see more results. Which I find a lot more of a useful layout when you are searching for Apps.
 

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SDRacerR1 said:
And below that, the two boxes for Maps/App Collections is not on 1 screen, another example oh how to me, Apple seems to be missing the fine details in its products lately.
Click to expand...

My idea on why they didn't let those two boxes fit in one screen is to hint that you can scroll sideways for more of the boxes. They meant for it to not fit in one screen. I just hope that's what Apple was thinking...
 
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Must admit, i'm not a fan of the stores. They are very slow to navigate, scrolling sticks and the new search result page is horrendous! Sometimes I can use them without problem, but most of the time they suck!
 
I agree. Also, when is Apple going to fix the issue where if you're scrolling through a list of apps (the charts, say), tap on an app, then go back...you're thrown back to the top and have to scroll all the way back down? Surely it's not a memory/RAM issue now.
 
rorschach said:
I agree. Also, when is Apple going to fix the issue where if you're scrolling through a list of apps (the charts, say), tap on an app, then go back...you're thrown back to the top and have to scroll all the way back down? Surely it's not a memory/RAM issue now.
Click to expand...

Doesn't do that for me. When I tap Back it takes me back to the place in the list that I was.
 
bbfc said:
Doesn't do that for me. When I tap Back it takes me back to the place in the list that I was.
Click to expand...

It doesn't do it all the time, and now less so than before. But it happens fairly often for me...has for several years now.
 
90% of the time, I much prefer the new one.

The problem is when there is no "See All" button to press, as the vertical option is essential sometimes.

Visually it's a million times better, and I've found myself getting lost for some time just exploring, which never really happened before. Ditto iTunes, which is a massive improvement.
 
I hate the new App Store with a passion, it feels like a chore trying to find something. I now find myself not using it at all unless I read or hear about an app. So slow to load. Urgh
 
I totally agree with the OP. Bring back the lists of 25 apps at a time you can quickly scroll through. This swipe-per-page is useless! And half the time it is so slow I have to swipe 3 or 4 times before it catches. Terrible implementation in my opinion!:mad:
 
It is pretty bad,I tend to just find new apps via google or another search engine and search the specific app I want. I just hope it's not buried to deep and I don't have to scroll too much-___-
 
WordMasterRice said:
That has nothing to do with the terribly-ness of the AppStore "app"
Click to expand...

Did you really read it?
"but he attributed part of the increase to the new UI of the App Store, which shows a screenshot of the product."

And speaking strictly of my personal experience, I yet to find the terribleness of the new App Store and I'm using it almost daily buying apps and updating apps.
 
The App Store redesign is generally good, but it's the search functionality that's just terrible.

Going through thousands of results one at a time is just poor.
 
Daveoc64 said:
The App Store redesign is generally good, but it's the search functionality that's just terrible.

Going through thousands of results one at a time is just poor.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. I mostly search for specific app though.
 
matrix07 said:
Ah, I see. I mostly search for specific app though.
Click to expand...

So do I.

Try searching for something like YouTube.

Last time I did, it was the 5th result.

----------
matrix07 said:
Did you really read it?
"but he attributed part of the increase to the new UI of the App Store, which shows a screenshot of the product."
Click to expand...

But they don't explain why that's the case.

Is it not down to people getting a new iPhone or iOS 6 too?
 
They tried to fix/change something that wasn't broken, and they did not succeed.
 
Daveoc64 said:
But they don't explain why that's the case.

Is it not down to people getting a new iPhone or iOS 6 too?
Click to expand...

Yes, it is, but some developers also think the new UI helps. I agree with them though 'cause I love browsing the new app and somehow have a tendency to buy apps more.
 
I like how the Update table has been redesigned with the "What's New" expanding link. I can check what each update is about all on one page. Much more user-friendly.

I wish the Search table was done the same way with a "What's It Do" expanding link to give a brief description of the app. As it is now, it crashes every time I do a search (I'm using a 4th gen iPod touch). Even if it didn't crash, having to side-swipe one app at a time through the search results would be tedious.

I have my first app in the App Store. It's currently about 50 on a list of less than 100 apps that fit the best keyword search for it. Who is going use 50+ gestures to find it? I'm guessing no one. With the old display table showing 25 results at a time, there at least was the chance that it'd be seen.

The new Search is neither user-friendly nor developer-friendly.
 
SDRacerR1 said:
My other gripe and this is just a visual/artistic point of view:

I think its extremely unrefined and doesn't follow Apples artistic upbringings that you have on 1/2 of an icon showing on the right side (pic #2). Even when you swipe, the next set end ups showing the same way. Not only is this ugly, its confusing because now you have to swipe to show the rest of the App.
Click to expand...
It is, most likely, designed that way so the user gets with a visual clue that there is more content to the right.
 
theGrayWorks said:
I like how the Update table has been redesigned with the "What's New" expanding link. I can check what each update is about all on one page. Much more user-friendly.
Click to expand...

I do too, but my one problem with it is that the link is so tiny that I miss it all the time and end up loading the full app page.
 
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