There is a classic quote from the flawless Zoolander from Maury Ballstein where he states “Mugatu is so hot right now he could take a crap, wrap it in tinfoil, put a couple fish hooks on it and sell it to Queen Elizabeth as earrings”.
Replace Mugatu with Apple, crap with… well, you get the premise.
Apple’s App Store was a sure fire hit even before its launch. 1,00,000 apps downloaded in under a day, Evernote.app exploded, Twitter.app launched, the hysteria goes on…
“We’re amazed at the incredible response the Mac App Store is getting,” said Steve Jobs in a press release. “Developers have done a great job bringing apps to the store and users are loving how easy and fun the Mac App Store is.”
But is the App Store as amazing as people are letting on?
Yes. Yes, it is amazing. But it could be better. Here are a few shortcomings and suggestions for making the App Store even better.
1. No Tags
How many people load up the App Store and go directly for the app they need? I imagine that most are trying to discover new apps. So why isn’t there some form of tagging in place whereby a list of tags are associated with each app so you can discover similar (or better) apps?
For example, the page for Twitter.app could list social media and twitter as its tags that when clicked bring you to a page where you can discover other similar apps.
I would love this feature. But there is a problem. If you are selling your App on the App Store you will not want potential purchasers of your App from discovering your rivals’ apps. It’s lose lose for developers but win win for consumers. I would imagine that Apple will side with the developers on that one!
2. No Special Offers / Discounts
I know it’s early days but I would love to see a special offers section where developers are offering their App at a discounted rate for a limited time. Will it happen? It’s debatable as it might compromise Apple’s position as being a facilitator for all Apps rather than a promoter of a chosen few.
3. No Free Trial Software
You can install an app for free or buy apps. You cannot get any trial software in the App Store. This results in a bit of a walled garden. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to trial a paid app for 14 days and then have the option to purchase it?
Does that sound familiar? That’s how things were done before the App Store…. I remember it like it was last week.
4. Recommendations
Apple made an attempt to move into the social sphere when they introduced Ping to iTunes. One of the features of Ping is a recommendation engine. The jury is still out on whether or not they can pull it off but it would seem logical for Apple to introduce an app recommendation engine to the App Store.
Purchased Angry Birds? Here are 5 more apps that you may like that fit into the “fling a bird into objects to kill green pigs” category.
5. Profile
There are some things I would like to keep private, but I would also like to be able to showcase the apps that I have purchased so that I can show off to my friends and pretend to be a lot more down with the kids cool than I actually am.
Everyone loves lists and if given the option, I would instantly create a list of my top 5 favorite apps if available in the App Store.
6. Wish List
Amazon have it. Why not the App Store?
An app is coming out in the next few months? – Add it to your Wish List so you get a reminder to purchase.
Don’t have enough cash in the bank to afford that $0.99 app? – Wish List it and splash the cash at a later date.
7. Better Sharing
Do you know you are able to right click on an Apps’ logo and then copy the link in order to share it? That’s not very “social”, is it?.
There is no point in Apple sticking their head in the sand and ignoring the likes of Facebook and Twitter. I would love to be able to Like an app in the App Store or to tweet that I just purchased Alfred and that maybe you should check it out too.
So there we have it. 7 simple suggestions to make the App Store that little bit better. Are they all viable? Probably not. How would you improve the App Store? Leave your comments below..
