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Apple Begins Accepting Mac App Store Submissions

I'm personally really looking forward to the Mac App Store for multiple reasons.

First is that I can trust that iTunes will charge me correctly, and I do not put my credit card details in there, I buy cards (generally for 30% off too! Every few months Aussie supermarket chain Woolworths has iTunes cards cheap for one day).

Secondly I KNOW the app is nothing malicious. I don't care what people say about the Mac being hard to hack, I could still install an app that looks really good and is what I am after, but they've put a couple lines of code in...

Thirdly I like the ease of use, the reviews, and all that.

Finally, if this is done right with iAds, the prospect of getting free, generally paid for, aps that I may not use a lot to warrant a purchase, being able to use them still with ad support is nice looking.

THOUGH I am not looking forward to it for a few reasons, also.

First off the Mac is becoming more and more like iOS which is just hideously closed off. If it becomes as closed off as iOS, I WILL be going back to Windows.

Secondly I'm fearful its going to get as closed off as iOS.

Thirdly, the first and second reason.
 
Why can I only see one outcome here?

A vast amount of new apps being written that are very very low end, just to "get on the store"

Like for the iPad and iPhone. Yes, there are some gold nuggets in there, but 90%, 95% are really just there as filler to make the numbers up.

If you are a large publisher that makes a medium/high end product then you won't want this or won't need it, so it's going to attract people who want to write something just to get on the store.

I may be wrong, but I don't see this as a way to promote high end software development.
 
I can't wait! I'm pretty sure Mac App Store will be a revolution especially for "normal" users new to the platform. IN my shop everyday users keep asking where to download software, how search for software... with Mac App Store it will be much more easier to find and install many software keeping out just the system modification or codec, so a new user can figure out which software can "damage" the machine and which not and idea today they don't have.
 
Mac appstore is a good idea, the small fish have a greater chance of getting exposed to the public. I wonder if iOS developers have to pay again to be able to develop for the mac also?
 
124151155 said:
30% cut argument:

Charge 1.3x the price for Apps distributed through the App Store. Then when people get used to the fact that many developers use this, they will learn to use App Store to find apps, but then follow the link to their website to buy them at a "discount".

Eg. a $19.95 app would become a $25.95 app.
Click to expand...

Your maths is quite poor.
 
I think the Mac App store won't be for big names like Photoshop or anything like that.

I think it will hold smaller applications, similar to the iOS App Store, a new breed of apps that will be cheap or free, such as a Facebook client maybe.

This will mark a new era in computing, when we no longer do everything in a browser, but websites can actually break free from the browser and have their own App on the desktop, taking full advantage of the OS and adapting to it.

Imagine having a YouTube icon on your dock, which opens an App offering the full YouTube experience, tailored for OS X. The line between native apps and websites will be blurred, just like on iOS: it is no longer Browser + Everything else, but every "thing" you want to do on your computer will be a special unique experience.
 
Mhh I believe the idea is great, nevertheless I can't help wondering about the little details: DRM & closed systems

Apple has closed third parties installing on the iOS, is this the future of the mac? Is it so than in a year I would need to jailbreak my mac if I want to install a torrent client, or codecs for my mkvs? I can accept that my mobile runs a closed system but my mac... I dont think so!

Also Traditionally Apple is been very flexible about licenses for their products, is this coming to an end? Is it gonna be so that if i have a product installed and i dont have a "valid" license linked to my app store I wont be able to use it?
If so then this is nothing else than a updated version of Microsoft's "product key" nightmare.
 
Funny to see all the critics and nay sayers here ....

I think the advantages for the user are clear:
- one stop shop
- automatic updates (without launching the app)
- easy way to search/browse/discover
- customer reviews from real customers (not more or less fake reviews on publisher site)
- top download sections
- ....

Advantage for *small* developers:
- they can concentrate at what they are good at: develop a game/app
- they don't have to setup any pay system
- they don't have to implement and maintain any update system

Big developers:
- probably not more expensive than going to the good old retail chain
- even more exposure
- they probably still will (and can) do both: traditional retail and MacStore

I think we will see something similar as with the iOS AppStore: Many new great developers will emerge and produce great software, something they couldn't have done that easy without the infrastructure of the MacStore. Many small developers will do great software and distribute their, something they otherwise wouldn't have done because of the overhead of distributing and collecting payments and advertisements. You can still make big money on the AppStore without spending a single cent on advertisement.

Of course there will also be the downside of many stupid applications in there - but I guess we are all grown up enough to ignore what does not interest us. The fear of many the with Tiger you will no longer be able to install software from other sources is unreasonable and probably only from apple heaters that want to spread fear.

I would like to see if Apple is going to implement a system for payed updates (or updates from existing licenses purchased outside of the MacStore). That is one of the big problems in the AppStore. All updates (minor and major) are free - but the in traditional software system only minor updates are free. Many on the AppStore just release major updates as new Applications and there is no option for a discount of existing customers. Assuming that Mac software will be more expensive, there needs to be a way to get an upgrade discount when e.g. downloading Photoshop 10 when you already own Photoshop 9. If they don't offer this, this might kill the idea for big developers.

So I guess the open questions are:
- how do they handle major updates at a discount price
- can you 'transfere' existing licenses
 
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shrakner said:
So is there a new XCode 4 beta? I was kinda assuming that there would be some new framework that Apple would require for the Mac App store. Is this not the case?

And will the App Store work with stuff like screensavers, widgets, iTunes visualizers? I'm hoping for more info for Apple, and not just information restricted to currently registered developers.
Click to expand...

AFAIK, anything developed using 100% Cocoa will be allowed on the app store. I'm not sure about anything else. This could be quite a nice thing if pulled off right. I'm curious as to wether or not existing software on your computer that is offered on the app store will be automatically added as software you own. Knowing how apple operates, I assume they would have thought of that. As for more info from apple, it really isn't needed IMO. We'll get all the info we need once the thing is released. Till then, we can let our imaginations run wild. :D
 
IMO I think the Mac App Store will be a good thing. Sure, you can still get your software through the multiple other channels available. But this will make browsing, purchasing and updating applications on your Mac so much simpler - something I'm sure a lot of customers want - a one stop shop for it all. As many have also mentioned here the exposure for developers, especially the smaller ones will be worth the 30%, which has got to be good for the developer community as a whole.
 
res1233 said:
AFAIK, anything developed using 100% Cocoa will be allowed on the app store. I'm not sure about anything else.
Click to expand...

Wrong. There are lots of reasons why an app written in 100% Cocoa would not be allowed, and there is no reason why a Carbon app wouldn't be allowed if it meets the rest of the requirements; Java is not allowed because it doesn't run on Macs that don't have Java installed.
 
inlovewithi said:
Knowing Steve Jobs, a major reason for this App store is probably so that the mac fans on the internet could say that Microsoft stole it from them.

I hope there are no app stores in Windows 8.
Click to expand...

Microsoft did take it from apple though, because apple took their mac app store from the iOS app store. Even if microsoft came up with the app store on a computer thing first, it still was on iOS devices already. Also, lets be honest, it isn't exactly... "innovative" to include an app store in an OS now that it was already done on mobile devices, it's just a whole lot easier to get apps now. So, I don't think it matters a whole lot who came up with it first, all that matters is whose is easier to use, and is more powerful.
 
How much does it cost to put you product on MacUpdate? I use it a great deal and wonder if the App Store would put it out of business.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; sv-se) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

I've been wanting this ever since I first tried Ubuntu, all I had to do there was just to search for the apps that I wanted, check a box and they were all downloaded and installed without me having to worry about it, everything was also updated along with the automatic system updates. The only downside of it was the lack of paid apps, I've been wondering how long it would take before apple or Microsoft implemented something like this.
 
gnasher729 said:
Wrong. There are lots of reasons why an app written in 100% Cocoa would not be allowed, and there is no reason why a Carbon app wouldn't be allowed if it meets the rest of the requirements; Java is not allowed because it doesn't run on Macs that don't have Java installed.
Click to expand...

Well, yah, obviously not everything is going to be allowed, but what I meant was, if it isn't using one of OS X's built-in frameworks, it wont be accepted, and carbon apps might not be accepted. Last i heard, carbon isn't deprecated, but you can't develop 64 bit apps with it, and i'd imagine more limitations are going to come over time, so developing a new app in carbon at this point is ridiculous, and I wouldn't blame apple if they tried to "encourage" switching to cocoa.

EDIT: I could be wrong... It looks like they have original iMacs available for testing, although they're all upgraded to OS X.
 
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Just hope there isn't the race to the bottom in terms of pricing.... maybe good for the customer in the very short term but long term, may turn off developers from Mac platform.
 
foofan said:
If i buy apps in the online store will i be able to save them on dvd's, in case i need to reinstall all software on my computer, or will they just let me download it again for free?
Click to expand...

Probably same deal as for iOS:
- it saves the apps in iTunes
- you can burn those to DVD and reimport if later needed
- you can redownload for free

don't see why they should handle it any different than iOS AppStore
 
124151155 said:
30% cut argument:

Charge 1.3x the price for Apps distributed through the App Store. Then when people get used to the fact that many developers use this, they will learn to use App Store to find apps, but then follow the link to their website to buy them at a "discount".

Eg. a $19.95 app would become a $25.95 app.
Click to expand...

I think the MAS will be too competitive for developers to charge up like that. At least, the 30% Apple cut had zero effect on the iPhone App Store.
 
Stella said:
Just hope there isn't the race to the bottom in terms of pricing.... maybe good for the customer in the very short term but long term, may turn off developers from Mac platform.
Click to expand...

Dont think so - it will probably be the same deal as AppStore

free -> 90% junk
99c -> 85% junk
....

It still will be: you get what you pay for (exceptions apply)

Also look what happend when iPad apps came along: they got more expensive than comparable iPhone apps .... Don't think we will have a permanent 'sale' for Mac apps.
 
res1233 said:
Microsoft did take it from apple though, because apple took their mac app store from the iOS app store. Even if microsoft came up with the app store on a computer thing first, it still was on iOS devices already. Also, lets be honest, it isn't exactly... "innovative" to include an app store in an OS now that it was already done on mobile devices, it's just a whole lot easier to get apps now. So, I don't think it matters a whole lot who came up with it first, all that matters is whose is easier to use, and is more powerful.
Click to expand...

My understanding is that the App Store concept, even the name itself, was first created by the founder of Salesforce, Marc Benioff. He actually gave the copyright for the title to Steve Jobs as a gift.

Lets be clear here, innovation is not the same as invention. It is just as innovative to apply an old idea to a new use as to come up with something entirely different.
 
inlovewithi said:
Knowing Steve Jobs, a major reason for this App store is probably so that the mac fans on the internet could say that Microsoft stole it from them.

I hope there are no app stores in Windows 8.
Click to expand...

It's been known that MS intend for Windows 8 to have an app store for a few months now: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/ne...-app-store-for-windows-ie9-beta-in-august.ars

And no, I'm 100% sure Jobs doesn't give a damn what Mac fans on teh interwebs say about Microsoft or anything else. Hell sometimes I think his job would be a lot easier without the fanboys. The reasons they want to do this are simple: it makes sense, they've got an active developer base for iOS that they need to get working on OS X, it'll be a great selling point that Windows probably won't match for some time to come and it'll probably be a decent earner for them to boot.

Those that worry about OS X being locked down... well, I won't say that I can't see where such concerns would come from but I do think they're utterly baseless at this point. The only time that'd happen is if ALL software could be installed this way and I just don't see that happening. Apple aren't stupid (despite the best efforts of some commentators to asume they are), they're not going to bother cutting out the ability to load your own apps until they're sure it won't impact on the platform. That's a LONG way off, if it ever happens.
 
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