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Apple TV App Store Gains Categories Section for Better App Discovery

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Apple appears to have updated the tvOS App Store to add a new Categories section, which should make it easier for new Apple TV owners to discover apps on their devices. Like the iOS App Store, the new Categories section arranges apps into different sections based on purpose, like Games and Entertainment.

First noted by iDownloadBlog on an Apple TV running the new 9.1 tvOS beta, the new Categories section appears to be rolling out to Apple TV users now. We were able to get the Categories feature to show up on an Apple TV running tvOS 9.0 following several device restarts.

apple_tv_categories_720.jpg

Shortly after the Apple TV was released, there were multiple complaints about the state of the tvOS App Store. At launch, the App Store displayed only a list of featured apps, leaving the rest to be discovered through searches. Apple has been improving the tvOS App Store over the past few days, with the Categories section joining a Top Charts section that was added to the App Store on Monday.

apple_tv_entertainment_720.jpg
Apps that are displayed when selecting the "Entertainment" category​

Game and app developers were previously concerned with app discovery on tvOS when the App Store was limited to featured apps, but the inclusion of the Top Charts and the Categories section will go a long way towards bolstering the discovery process.

Article Link: Apple TV App Store Gains Categories Section for Better App Discovery
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/11/04/apple-tv-gains-new-categories-section/
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Took all of 6 days. Now will people still complain about how it's "unacceptable" that Apple didn't set up a series of empty shelves and therefore made it a little harder for them to cash in with their fireplace app? Or maybe we can listen to more complaints about how devs were forced to take time away from their families for their noble cause, and how Apple should think of the children? Oh and AS PREDICTED, it's done on their side, so those same people should maybe apologize for LYING and claiming that Apple was "screwing them" by making them wait for a tvOS update.
 
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It's nice that this can all be updated on the backend without software updates.

Kaibelf said:
Took all of 6 days. Now will people still complain about how it's "unacceptable" that Apple didn't set up a series of empty shelves and therefore made it a little harder for them to cash in with their fireplace app? Or maybe we can listen to more complaints about how devs were forced to take time away from their families for their noble cause, and how Apple should think of the children?
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I personally like the ~15 versions of 2048
 
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OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Just as I said, categories will come as soon as there are enough apps to fill them out and not make them look empty.

People need to learn to be a little patient and not cry like little girls at the drop of a hat.
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Haha fat chance, especially with developers. But I'm sure they'll find something else to complain about in short order.
 
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Kaibelf said:
Took all of 6 days. Now will people still complain about how it's "unacceptable" that Apple didn't set up a series of empty shelves and therefore made it a little harder for them to cash in with their fireplace app? Or maybe we can listen to more complaints about how devs were forced to take time away from their families for their noble cause, and how Apple should think of the children? Oh and AS PREDICTED, it's done on their side, so those same people should maybe apologize for LYING and claiming that Apple was "screwing them" by making them wait for a tvOS update.
Click to expand...

Actually, it's the complaints that often keeps companies improving and innovating. If the people don't care about enjoying a better experience, then why should the companies care? :/
 
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Wonder if the categories will grow to something similar to the iOS app store.

Entertainment
Sports
Music
Games
Educational
Home


not sure what other Apps there could be right now.
 
OldSchoolMacGuy said:
Just as I said, categories will come as soon as there are enough apps to fill them out and not make them look empty.

People need to learn to be a little patient and not cry like little girls at the drop of a hat.
Click to expand...

Isn't the app number still relatively the same? Was there a huge influx in the past couple of days? Serious question b/c I have no idea.

Kaibelf said:
Took all of 6 days. Now will people still complain about how it's "unacceptable" that Apple didn't set up a series of empty shelves and therefore made it a little harder for them to cash in with their fireplace app? Or maybe we can listen to more complaints about how devs were forced to take time away from their families for their noble cause, and how Apple should think of the children? Oh and AS PREDICTED, it's done on their side, so those same people should maybe apologize for LYING and claiming that Apple was "screwing them" by making them wait for a tvOS update.
Click to expand...

Couldn't Apple have easily avoided the entire problem by having the app store fully fleshed out when the ATV went on sale? The number of apps hasn't increased exponentially. A bit disingenuous of you to claim "empty shelves". The app store had over 1000 apps. Hardly empty. It's pretty obvious the UI omissions should have been there when the ATV was released. A big part of the reason people like Apple is their attention to detail. That app store at release lacked detail.

To me it seems like Apple could have followed the old adage "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Then we would have had to find something else to b***ch about.;) But at least it wouldn't have been about an unfinished app store UI.
 
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LastLine said:
For some reason this is region dependent so far. Seems to just be the US
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sadly your right i live in Ireland and am one if the Countries with no SIRI also i notice on TWIT TV that the even the American App Store is has more apps, does Apple really care about their loyal costumers. I am a second Generation Apple TV owner i also have the 3rd Generation
 
btrach144 said:
This is why I'm waiting for the 4k Apple TV. By that point, Apple will have figured out what they're doing. Being on the bleeding edge of a product transformation isn't always fun.
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I don't know about that. This unit is apparently the product of nearly 4 years since Apple launched the "3." Does it feel like it's got 3+ years of good focus in it? Or does it feel like lots of things are being slung together quickly? I mean, it's great and all that it finally has an app store... and I'm confident third party app coders are going to roll out some amazing things that will make it more useful than ever before... but I'm not sure I can personally view this as fully baked... or close to it. Of course, I'll buy one anyway and look forward to the "5".
 
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Thank you Apple. Now people will be able to find my app even if they don't know the name of it explicitly.
 
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