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"curators are everywhere - they're called bloggers, tweeters, Etc." That won't change the market for these apps though, there needs to be a way for curators to

"curators are everywhere - they're called bloggers, tweeters, Etc." That won't change the market for these apps though, there needs to be a way for curators to actually be featured in the app store itself. An example would be how Steam did it's curator-feature. Although it's not perfect, it allows you to follow a curator, or get suggestions for which curators to follow based on apps you have already downloaded. [1] I see big opportunities for re-igniting the indie-market in this way, I'm just not sure there's an incentive for the app stores to go through with it. [1]: http://store.steampowered.com/about/curators/ http://store.steampowered.com/about/curators/

detaro 11y ago
I haven't looked into it, but is there data if the Steam curator feature actually has a noticeable impact? Do people who didn't follow reviewers before on other media now suddenly do via Steam? Are they now more influenced by their favorite reviewers than before?
AznHisoka 11y ago
That sounds like a very unpopular use case, at least for me. I want to follow what my friends are doing so I follow them on Facebook. But I don't want to know exclusively what apps they downloaded, similar to how I don't want to know what clothes or gadgets they bought.
npunt 11y ago
Somewhere in this direction is where I've been wanting to see the iOS and Mac App Stores go. There needs to be a method to incentivize app quality beyond the current method of a set of rules & guidelines for devs to follow, and a bunch of one-off user reviews. Despite iOS being huge, the universe of good apps (and by extension good devs) is quite limited and tractable by human curators, especially broken down by category. No algorithm can effectively compile the variety of criteria that make up a good app (tho they can inform that compilation process). If I were ran the iOS/Mac App Stores, I'd incorporate select curators as a sort of second party relationship - independent from Apple, but chosen for their credentials in a category/area of expertise and their ability to write for a broad audience within that category. I'd give them first class treatment in the app store, with embedded commentary on why the app matters and for whom. I think Apple employee curators have their hands tied in not being able to provide real commentary or expert opinion, and thus are not able to pick winners in any sort of explicitly reasoned way (which doesn't really incentivize increased quality, just relationship building with Apple employees). The key bit is curating the curators to ensure their independence from financial incentive and their focus on broader appeal in a given domain, like finding the Mossbergs of different categories. The super niche curators will still have blogs and social media. Of course the path beyond second party is the Steam example, where reviewers can sort of graduate to a superuser reviewer path. I think Apple has been reticent on this front given that the App Store hasn't been a priority, and that they've had trouble with social with Ping and now even artists on Apple Music. One of the things I did at my education journalism company was build a near complete database of education apps [1] to help educators make sense of a large universe of possibilities. My experience is that if you're the one with the database + reviews, the best you can do is organize intelligently (according to user needs) and collect relevant data, but that because impartiality matters, your hands are tied when it comes to picking winners. This creates a mis-match with the user's desires, who want to find something quickly and be assured with decent, independent analysis. A solution to this I believe is second party curators. [1] https://www.edsurge.com/products https://www.edsurge.com/products

detaro 11y ago

I haven't looked into it, but is there data if the Steam curator feature actually has a noticeable impact? Do people who didn't follow reviewers before on other media now suddenly do via Steam? Are they now more influenced by their favorite reviewers than before?

AznHisoka 11y ago

That sounds like a very unpopular use case, at least for me. I want to follow what my friends are doing so I follow them on Facebook. But I don't want to know exclusively what apps they downloaded, similar to how I don't want to know what clothes or gadgets they bought.

npunt 11y ago

Somewhere in this direction is where I've been wanting to see the iOS and Mac App Stores go. There needs to be a method to incentivize app quality beyond the current method of a set of rules & guidelines for devs to follow, and a bunch of one-off user reviews. Despite iOS being huge, the universe of good apps (and by extension good devs) is quite limited and tractable by human curators, especially broken down by category. No algorithm can effectively compile the variety of criteria that make up a good app (tho they can inform that compilation process). If I were ran the iOS/Mac App Stores, I'd incorporate select curators as a sort of second party relationship - independent from Apple, but chosen for their credentials in a category/area of expertise and their ability to write for a broad audience within that category. I'd give them first class treatment in the app store, with embedded commentary on why the app matters and for whom. I think Apple employee curators have their hands tied in not being able to provide real commentary or expert opinion, and thus are not able to pick winners in any sort of explicitly reasoned way (which doesn't really incentivize increased quality, just relationship building with Apple employees). The key bit is curating the curators to ensure their independence from financial incentive and their focus on broader appeal in a given domain, like finding the Mossbergs of different categories. The super niche curators will still have blogs and social media. Of course the path beyond second party is the Steam example, where reviewers can sort of graduate to a superuser reviewer path. I think Apple has been reticent on this front given that the App Store hasn't been a priority, and that they've had trouble with social with Ping and now even artists on Apple Music. One of the things I did at my education journalism company was build a near complete database of education apps [1] to help educators make sense of a large universe of possibilities. My experience is that if you're the one with the database + reviews, the best you can do is organize intelligently (according to user needs) and collect relevant data, but that because impartiality matters, your hands are tied when it comes to picking winners. This creates a mis-match with the user's desires, who want to find something quickly and be assured with decent, independent analysis. A solution to this I believe is second party curators. [1] https://www.edsurge.com/products https://www.edsurge.com/products