5 ms·

Yeah but even before reading the article I figured this was an algorithmic mistake, and apparently it is: "While Apple didn’t challenge the idea that Files was

by ummonk 5y ago

Yeah but even before reading the article I figured this was an algorithmic mistake, and apparently it is: "While Apple didn’t challenge the idea that Files was unfairly ranked over Dropbox, the company says the reality was a simple mistake: the Files app had a Dropbox integration, so Apple put “Dropbox” into the app’s metadata, and it was automatically ranked higher for “Dropbox” searches as a result."

yyyk 5y ago
The emails themselves say it was a "manual boost" rather than the PR explanation you provided.
- weird-eye-issue 5y ago
  I'm a little conflicted who to believe. But it sounds like there are specific keywords an app developer can specify for their apps that signals to the App Store search what to rank for (kind of like having keywords on your website tells Google what your page is about). From my understanding Apple manually put "Dropbox" as one of the keywords and that is what they removed. If other app developers can put in keywords like that (and not just Apple for their own apps) then it doesn't sound too bad... But if it was a separate system that is not accessible to other developers to manipulate then that is less cool.
  - ummonk 5y ago
    Apple's explanation makes perfect sense. They didn't manually put "Dropbox" as one of the keyboards, but the integration of Dropbox with Files results in "Dropbox" being automatically added to the metadata of the Files app, and the metadata automatically gets indexed by the search system
    - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
      That's not manual though, it sounded like somewhere along the way somebody manually added the word Dropbox to the app's keywords
- ummonk 5y ago
  The point is that the manual boost was for the Files app in general, not for the "Dropbox" search query specifically.
NicoJuicy 5y ago
If(query=='dropbox') BoostInternallApp('files') Not really sure how that can be a "mistake"
- ummonk 5y ago
  No, it was just BoostInteralApp('files'). Now, since both Dropbox and Files were results for the "dropbox" search term (because the Files app contained "dropbox" in its metadata if Dropbox was installed, and metadata got indexed by the search system), the latter ended up first due to getting boosted.

by ummonk 5y ago

yyyk 5y ago

The emails themselves say it was a "manual boost" rather than the PR explanation you provided.

weird-eye-issue 5y ago
I'm a little conflicted who to believe. But it sounds like there are specific keywords an app developer can specify for their apps that signals to the App Store search what to rank for (kind of like having keywords on your website tells Google what your page is about). From my understanding Apple manually put "Dropbox" as one of the keywords and that is what they removed. If other app developers can put in keywords like that (and not just Apple for their own apps) then it doesn't sound too bad... But if it was a separate system that is not accessible to other developers to manipulate then that is less cool.
- ummonk 5y ago
  Apple's explanation makes perfect sense. They didn't manually put "Dropbox" as one of the keyboards, but the integration of Dropbox with Files results in "Dropbox" being automatically added to the metadata of the Files app, and the metadata automatically gets indexed by the search system
  - weird-eye-issue 5y ago
    That's not manual though, it sounded like somewhere along the way somebody manually added the word Dropbox to the app's keywords
ummonk 5y ago
The point is that the manual boost was for the Files app in general, not for the "Dropbox" search query specifically.

NicoJuicy 5y ago

If(query=='dropbox') BoostInternallApp('files') Not really sure how that can be a "mistake"

ummonk 5y ago
No, it was just BoostInteralApp('files'). Now, since both Dropbox and Files were results for the "dropbox" search term (because the Files app contained "dropbox" in its metadata if Dropbox was installed, and metadata got indexed by the search system), the latter ended up first due to getting boosted.