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"This leads to a ‘hit driven’ market which really turns me off as a developer. I’d love to release an iOS application, but I fear it would be so hard to get fou
by snprbob86 15y ago
"This leads to a ‘hit driven’ market which really turns me off as a developer. I’d love to release an iOS application, but I fear it would be so hard to get found that it wouldn’t be worth the investment."
If you create a web app, how do you get found on the internet today?
The App Store's top lists are, by their very definition, hit driven. Games (and most entertainment) in particular, are (and for the foreseeable future, will be) hit driven.
If you want to make an iOS app that provides real value for people. Go for it. The existence of Apple's App Store doesn't absolve you from advertising and marketing.
I've seen a bunch of startups trying to solve the "app discoverability problem", but the only only people this is a problem for is app developers. Consumers download the top games from the list, the apps they hear about from their friends, and the rare app they stumble across by name. You can't rely on "if you build it, they will come".
There are real problems with the app store. Mainly around search and naming. However any problems with discoverability are problems with your business' reliance on someone else's shelf space.
- MaxGabriel 15y agoHow is any of this an argument against "opening up the App Store Database"? If search is a problem, wouldn't allowing other people to build their own search engine for the App Store be beneficial?
- snprbob86 15y agoNo because the problem isn't searching for things, it is finding things that you know you want to install. Let's say I wanted to install an app for Foobaring on my iPhone. The iPhone isn't the right tool for comparing the various choices, browsing reviews, reading comments. I'll just bust out my laptop, do some Googling real quick, make a decision, and then go type the name of the app I want into my phone and click "Install". The problem is when I type in the name of the app I want, I may not find it, if the app is called "Foo-Bar 2000" but I searched for "Foobar 2000". The other option is App Store itunes:// links. Having alternative search engines won't solve that problem.
- kolinko 15y agoright now the App Store database is very open. The only data you can't get about apps is their keywords (although we at AppCod.es figured that out ;)), and the AppStore sales data (like download #s for apps, search query popularities etc). I think the real problem for devs is that Apple doesn't allow us to track conversion ratios - we don't see where our sales come from, and it's very hard to optimize because of that.
- adamjernst 15y agoTry LinkShare, which will let you create arbitrary tracking code URLs that track sales. It's a bit messy since they're affiliate URLs, but you can figure it out.