Zombie apps are taking over the App Store

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Zombie apps are taking over the App Store. Photo: Universal Studios / Land of the Dead
Zombie apps are taking over the App Store. Photo: Universal Studios / Land of the Dead

If you’re still thinking of trying to make your fortune on the App Store, it’s time to think again. While App Store developers made more than Hollywood studios did in combined box office revenue in 2014, a new report suggests it will be almost impossible for new developers to break into the App Store in 2015. Why? Because of zombies. Or zombie apps, at least.

According to a new report from Adjust.com called the “Undead App Store,” zombie apps have pretty much taken over the App Store. What’s a zombie app? It’s an app that does not ever get downloaded enough to ever rank in top lists, forcing users to search for it specifically to discover it.

That’s a problem, not just because it means that a developer never gets any visibility within the App Stiore, but because as you know, App Store search functionality is a jtotal oke. In fact, searching for an app within the App Store is so difficult that the best way to do it is usually to load up a browser and use Google.

The fact that zombie apps exist on the App Store, or even that they outnumber so-called “living” apps, isn’t surprising. But zombie apps are slowly but surely taking over the App Store. In 2014, the App Store grew 60%, from 890,000 apps to 1.42 million apps over the course of the year. And during that time, zombie apps increased from 74% of all apps to 83% of all apps.

Zombie apps are winning. It’s becoming harder and harder for new devs to make any money on the App Store, let alone break into it. What will Apple do about it?

Source: Adjust
Via: App Advice

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