Apple Expands 'Apps for Everything' Categories

[MacRumors]

The Loop notes that Apple has unveiled a redesigned Apps for Everything section of its web site devoted to iPhone and iPod touch applications featured by category. While the "Apps for Everything" listings have been around for a while, today's update nearly doubles the number of featured categories.

Once you discover the App Store, you'll see how applications can make your iPhone do just about anything. There are thousands of iPhone apps to choose from. Here are a few that will help you get the most out your iPhone, wherever you go.

Apple has recognized that the increasing number of applications in the App Store and the "race to the bottom" in pricing has made it difficult for high-quality applications to stand out from the crowd and gain notice among iPhone and iPod touch users. The company has taken a number of steps to address this issue, including the addition of keywords to App Store application descriptions to facilitate searching and new "top grossing" application lists to provide increased visibility for more expensive applications.

The inclusion of new categories on its Apps for Everything page, when combined with the Staff Picks feature of the Apps for iPhone page, provides additional incremental improvements in Apple tools for drawing to attention to worthwhile apps.

Article Link: Apple Expands 'Apps for Everything' Categories

 

[jav6454]

Finally, more order to chaos

 

[kid rock]

all good news to keep the app store a bit more organised

 

[DipDog3]

http://images.macrumors.com/article/2009/09/29/165542-apps_for_everything.jpg

Apple has recognized that the increasing number of applications in the App Store and the "race to the bottom" in pricing has made it difficult for high-quality applications to stand out from the crowd and gain notice among iPhone and iPod touch users.

These days, having a good app is not enough.

You need a marketing machine behind every release so the app will get into the Top 100.
Then, once in the Top 10, Apple will take care of keep the sales up.

 

[Doju]

Awesome! I love this section, going to check out working out. 🙂

 

[crackbookpro]

Is this trying to steal the spotlight off of Martha Stewart!!!

...surprised that woman hasn't made an iPhone app yet!!! 😛

Both apps seem pretty cool, and Martha Stewart is still a ****!

 

[Wayfarer]

Yay! The neat freak inside me is delighted. 🙂

 

[macduke]

I find these essentials sections to be entirely too useful. My wallet hates them...

 

[lifeinhd]

Do they honestly think people will want to sort by Price Highest First? Idiots.

 

[macduke]

Weird, on the linked page in the article, if you click on apps for students, it shows the built in voice memo app on the right side as being available for download on the app store, but when you click on it, it links to this completely different voice recorder. Odd.

 

[jcshas]

This is nice, but I wish Apple had a separate page for the iPhone vs. the iPod Touch apps. Some apps are better suited to the iPhone since they require an internet connection, which is not always available on the iPod Touch.

 

[capoeirista]

I'm tired. I thought the second one was about Superman and they'd spelt both Lois and Clarke wrong. Time for bed...

 

[mr_matalino]

Perfect! Just what I was looking for. Now they need to allow sorting for the highest rated apps...

 

[maknik]

So, more top-down control from Apple. Is it really the case that I can't search iTunes for apps and then sort results by star ratings? That's really bizarre. So instead I have to use Apple's pre-selected "best" apps. Not that they aren't good choices, but it's quite annoying that Apple deliberately refuses to allow anything but the most primitive searching on iTunes.

 

[humann]

I've always found these to be a bit arbitrary

At least some of the categories have always annoyed me like Productivity. That's not a good category; that's half the apps out there. And the miscategorizations that often happen. I have Games that are labeled Entertainment and Reference apps that are under Business. It's really poorly implemented currently so I hope this is something of a fix.

 

[kcroyalsfan]

Will there be a section for apps for when people are bored? I could really use a www.whattowhen.com app. Maybe a tower defense app, fmylife would be in that category. 😀

 

[FRiC]

So, more top-down control from Apple. Is it really the case that I can't search iTunes for apps and then sort results by star ratings? That's really bizarre. So instead I have to use Apple's pre-selected "best" apps. Not that they aren't good choices, but it's quite annoying that Apple deliberately refuses to allow anything but the most primitive searching on iTunes.

Sorting by stars isn't very useful if you're using a non-US store like me. Anything outside of the "Top 10" apps almost always have 0 reviews and 0 ratings...

 

[twoodcc]

glad to see apple continue to work on this. they have to continue to work with the increase in number of apps in the store

 

[xIGmanIx]

they still need to open up the search able options, but hopefully this will help lay the ground work for providing search able content. I agree that the search function on iTunes to me is useless. i also don't see them reaching out to google for help either 😉

 

[t0mat0]

Seems they are making the Apple site and other areas a lot more finger friendly too.

 

[mapsk]

Seems they are making the Apple site and other areas a lot more finger friendly too.

I agree, this is good news I like it!

 

[mickhyperion]

I still find shopping the app store on the iphone itself to be a dissatisfying nightmare. Casual browsing (as opposed to searching) is an odious chore. I get through about a page or two of apps in a given category and I'm frustrated and bored. I don't know what the answer to the problem is, but they certainly haven't found it yet either.

 

[Doctor Q]

I've always found these to be a bit arbitrary

They are like the genres in the music section of the iTunes store. Those are at best a rough guide to the type of music/app, and they will always be subject to differing opinions.

 

[miketcool]

I guess I never really realized that it isn't called an iPhone, or the iPhone; just iPhone. In these little promos, it is just iPhone, like it is some sort of singular entity. What will iPhone do next?

"iPhone, ready to absorb..."

 

[iMaggot]

Apps to cook sounds good