In my eyes the trouble with the App Store is discovery is purely via curated lists and search. The problem with surfacing via each of these two methods is the u

In my eyes the trouble with the App Store is discovery is purely via curated lists and search. The problem with surfacing via each of these two methods is the user has to put trust into the system that what is being displayed is reputable and trustworthy. Apple unfortunately has shown that they prioritize monetary return over best-fit for content, which leads to scams like this. Let’s deep dive into the issues with the two formats they display info in. Curated-list discovery (versus algorithmic discovery such as “top of the week”) tell the user that these apps have been hand selected by Apple for being quality apps. In general though it turns out that these lists are more often lists of apps that make Apple significant amounts of money, changing what Apple is incentivized to display. Take for example the only way they allow discovery of highly rated apps - the “Everyone’s Favorites (highly rated apps)” list: https://i.imgur.com/7D2hvwO.jpg https://i.imgur.com/7D2hvwO.jpg. The top spot is held by Tinder, which currently has a 3.8/5 rating. This list very clearly isn’t a list of highly rated apps, only highly used / large money makers for Apple. We see clearly that Apple prioritizes monetary return over accurate results. Search is another example of this. Most search algorithms are black boxes - inputs go in, results come out that we expect to be able to trust. Searching for “Samsung” should bring up apps from Samsung, but instead they return mostly free third party apps with IAP up sells rather than the official apps. Overall the App Store is designed for monetary return, not safety or user trust. Until Apple decides that the long term image / trustworthiness of the App Store is more important than short term gain, I don’t see these issues changing.