Apple has the best App Store on the planet. Thousands of developers. Millions of apps. Billions of sales. But no one can find a damn thing.
Since 2008, iOS users have downloaded more than 75 billion apps. How we locate a winner from among the App Store’s 1.2 million apps hasn’t changed much, but Andy Baio thinks Apple could revolutionize the way we discover and consume apps. And he’s got a brilliant concept Apple should borrow.
Most indie gems in the App Store can take months to surface but Baio’s idea would see Apple adding a dash of social to the App Store to create curated experiences so indies float to the top.
“My hope is that Apple, and every other app store, can take a page from the last decade of the social web. Give its users a public identity, an incentive to share what they love, and the ability to find and follow others like them.”
Baio’s concept would let you connect to friends in the App Store and share your favorite apps. It might even incentivize people to leave more reviews as the “Near Me” section would be replaced with a personalized, timeline-style view of shared apps, reviews and ratings from other people you follow.
Apple said the appeal of Beats Music was the human, curated element of service. It’s time app discovery gets taken as seriously as music in Cupertino.
Baio has acquired a special set of skills when it comes to getting people to discover stuff, and his little App Store tweak could make ahuge difference. His full concept, with more screenshots and musings on how Apple could change everything, can be enjoyed on Baio’s Medium page.
