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Worldwide App Store Downloads Reached 8.6 Billion in Q1 2022

MastersoftMobile said:
Yes it would be infinitely better. I agree. But it doesn't work like that. The majority of IOS users use the App Store search. It makes no difference if you have a brilliant alternative. I think maybe you are having a different discussion.
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YES, they use the App Store search AFTER searching the internet. They are searching for a specific product name, not just typing “Chess”. Typing “Chess” IS a very interesting use case, and I’m sure some do it. But, to think that there’s millions of people that see a page of 4-6 chess apps and blindly pays $30 for the first one in the list?

Well, if they were getting millions of downloads, they wouldn’t need to have their own millions of bots downloading and reviewing to stay in that spot.
 
ddtmm said:
This doesn't help Apple's cause. To argue that opening up the App Store to 3rd parties will just diminish the iOS experience is a pretty tough argument when Google has an open market and still gets 28 billion downloads just from Google Play alone. It's just a matter of time now... Looking forward to the day I can downloading anything I want from anywhere I want onto my iPhone, just like I do on my Mac.

PS, My Mac is doing just fine.
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It’s the reverse for me. I prefer the unified approach to the iOS App Store and wish the Mac could be more like it.

My Mac is doing just fine as well, but I am missing the ability to manage my app downloads / updates from one central location or being able to go through iTunes for everything (not every website accepts Apple Pay yet).

It’s the little things which I feel don’t quite get enough recognition, as everyone seems overly fixated on Apple’s 15/30% cut.
 
Unregistered 4U said:
YES, they use the App Store search AFTER searching the internet. They are searching for a specific product name, not just typing “Chess”. Typing “Chess” IS a very interesting use case, and I’m sure some do it. But, to think that there’s millions of people that see a page of 4-6 chess apps and blindly pays $30 for the first one in the list?

Well, if they were getting millions of downloads, they wouldn’t need to have their own millions of bots downloading and reviewing to stay in that spot.
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Please see the top of my image from the start of my comments. The search is for "chess". I am talking about App Store Search. I haven't the energy to reply to any more of your comments about the internet etc. I am sure you are an absolute expert on how everybody else searches for apps. Sadly all I have is Apple's 'Search Ads' statistical tools and their developer analytics pages to go by ?.
 
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Abazigal said:
It’s the little things which I feel don’t quite get enough recognition, as everyone seems overly fixated on Apple’s 15/30% cut.
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That's true. And there are discussions coming from two different sets of people.

USERS enjoy downloading apps easily from one store, and having one place to manage purchases, subscriptions, etc.

DEVELOPERS don't like that they are losing 15% or 30% from every sale.

It'll be interesting to see how Apple tries to please both sets of people if they are forced to make big changes to the App Store.
 
Michael Scrip said:
That's true. And there are discussions coming from two different sets of people.

USERS enjoy downloading apps easily from one store, and having one place to manage purchases, subscriptions, etc.

DEVELOPERS don't like that they are losing 15% or 30% from every sale.

It'll be interesting to see how Apple tries to please both sets of people if they are forced to make big changes to the App Store.
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Have to say that as a small time dev I think 15% / 30% is fairly good value. In the past I have paid as high as 90 odd percent (pre iPhone), and the dev kits cost way more then.
 
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MastersoftMobile said:
Have to say that as a small time dev I think 15% / 30% is fairly good value. In the past I have paid as high as 90 odd percent (pre iPhone), and the dev kits cost way more then.
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I agree with that. If I was a developer I'd be a one-man shop. And I think the fee is a good value.

Where it gets tricky is for giant game corporations who are selling $1,000,000 worth of items a day... and they have to give $300,000 a day to Apple. I can understand their frustration.

Or a streaming service who charges a monthly fee... and they have to give 30% of their revenue to Apple every month. And it's not like anyone at Apple has to do anything every month. It's all handled in the billing system by computers. It's an automated service. That's also frustrating.

Luckily... Apple eased their subscription terms a while ago... and will only take 15% every month after the first year of taking 30% every month. Yippee.

The giant streamers like Spotify and Netflix already solved this problem by removing payments from the App Store completely after Apple implemented the "reader app" category.

But there are still developers who complain about the 15% and 30% cut.

There is clearly work that has to be done.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
turbineseaplane said:
It really makes you wonder who's deciding and what criteria is *actually* in play here (not shared publicly)

I hate to be this cynical, but it sure seems like they enjoy making money off of "everything" rather than ensuring, as a #1 priority, that IP isn't being stolen or that customers are getting duped into scammy subscription terms and the like.

Only one thing can be the paramount priority and it sure seems like "fast and loose, but making the most money" is the guiding principle.

I'm a big advocate for "watch what they do, not what they say".
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Here's an even crazier issue I have at the moment with the App Store 'search'...

If I search for my Sudoku app with the search term "Sudoku" it does not appear at all. Not even 2000 down a page or something. It is simply completely missing. Apple engineers say this is how it is supposed to work (?) and the helpful links I have been sent by Apple include the suggestion to pay for their search ads to improve visibility. Aren't I already paying to be in the search?
 
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MastersoftMobile said:
You can see the problem clearly here.
Chess - Clash of Kings is spending 10s of 1000s of $$$ to try to get to No1,
yet an app "Chess-Chess With Friends" with 1000s of fake reviews that is spending nothing on Apple Search Ads is blocking it's way.

The other app has a perfect 5.0 score from thousands of reviews that have all appeared pretty much at once.


View attachment 1997427
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Fake reviews definitely need to be removed, but it’s a cat and mouse game.

The ultimate solution would be no user reviews, but that in itself would come with problems.
 
mrochester said:
Pay up to get seen is precisely how marketting and advertising works; the basis of the global economic model.
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OKay but this isn't relevant to my issue. If a supermarket sells stuff, they may put certain items in less popular parts of the aisle, but ask and you will find them if they are stocked. I could not find my app at all yet it is "in stock".
 
mrochester said:
Fake reviews definitely need to be removed, but it’s a cat and mouse game.

The ultimate solution would be no user reviews, but that in itself would come with problems.
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The cat has been missing awhile. Here's a recent search for "chess" in the UK with World No1 Magnus below some spammy app ...
 

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MastersoftMobile said:
OKay but this isn't relevant to my issue. If a supermarket sells stuff, they may put certain items in less popular parts of the aisle, but ask and you will find them if they are stocked. I could not find my app at all yet it is "in stock".
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I thought your app was there?
 
MastersoftMobile said:
The cat has been missing awhile. Here's a recent search for "chess" in the UK with World No1 Magnus below some spammy app ...
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Sorry but what metric are you using to determine spammy app and what’s your evidence that one should be higher than the other?
 
mrochester said:
Sorry but what metric are you using to determine spammy app and what’s your evidence that one should be higher than the other?
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I believe the World No1's chess app with a 5 star rating across 1000s of reviews, and who has spent 10's of £1000s on search ads, should be above a 3 star app (which has never advertised in the search as far as I can tell) with just a couple. But that is just my opinion.
No, my Sudoku didn't show up at all, not even at the very end of the search :( I used Search Ads and it does now.
 
MastersoftMobile said:
I believe the World No1's chess app with a 5 star rating across 1000s of reviews, and who has spent 10's of £1000s on search ads, should be above a 3 star app (which has never advertised in the search as far as I can tell) with just a couple. But that is just my opinion.
No, my Sudoku didn't show up at all, not even at the very end of the search :( I used Search Ads and it does now.
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There are plenty of chess apps above the Magnus one with fewer and lower reviews than the Magnus one, so it doesn’t look like quantity and star rating are the only factors determining search result position. Magnus is about number 15 on the list.
 
mrochester said:
There are plenty of chess apps above the Magnus one with fewer and lower reviews than the Magnus one, so it doesn’t look like quantity and star rating are the only factors determining search result position. Magnus is about number 15 on the list.
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That other app was abandoned 7 years ago. Under what circumstances should an app abandoned 7 years ago with hardly any ratings and an overall rating of 3 stars rate above Magnus's 5 star app? Retention? Conversion Rate? Downloads? The search is broken.
 
MastersoftMobile said:
That other app was abandoned 7 years ago. Under what circumstances should an app abandoned 7 years ago with hardly any ratings and an overall rating of 3 stars rate above Magnus's 5 star app? Retention? Conversion Rate? Downloads? The search is broken.
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No idea, we don’t know what determines result order.
 
mrochester said:
No idea, we don’t know what determines result order.
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I seem to have found the answer. Apple are investigating. Looks like a new multi-million dollar scam. We do know that ranking is based on retention to a large extent and the new scam involves crippling the retention of a rival's app. It doesn't matter how much Magnus spends on Search Ads if his app was being targetted. He will still be stuck behind that app :oops:.
 
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