I'm not so sure it's a conflation. Having a single app store makes for a more consistent user experience when moving from device to device. You can tell people

I'm not so sure it's a conflation. Having a single app store makes for a more consistent user experience when moving from device to device. You can tell people about apps and they know how and where to get them. See an app you like on another iPhone? You can probably install it on yours fairly easily. There's less confusion around the entire ecosystem because of its simplicity.