iOS 11 App Store now shows Mac apps previews

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iOS 11 App Store previews mac apps
In iOS 11, you'll never have to shout at this ridiculous warning ever again.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Ever tapped an App Store link for a Mac app while browsing on your iPad, and gotten sent to a useless page telling you that the app is only available on the Mac? Like, you couldn’t possibly want to know the price, or see screenshots, or read any other information about a Mac app while you’re using your iPhone?Well,

Well, those dark, patronizing days are over. In iOS 11, clicking on a link for a Mac App takes you to the proper iOS 11 App Store entry for that app. Right there on your iPad.

Mac app previews on the iOS 11 App Store

Previously, when clicking on a Mac App Store link on iOS, you’d see this:

The bad old days of Mac app previews.
The bad old days of Mac app previews.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Now, you’ll see this:

In iOS 11 you will see a proper preview of Mac App Store apps.
In iOS 11, you get a proper preview of Mac App Store apps.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Which is exactly how it should be. I could tease about the fact that it has taken Apple so long to fix this — actually, I will. The Mac App Store went live in January 2011. Now, just 6.5 short years later — boom — you can view a page from that App Store on your iPad. That’s pretty good going.

What this really highlights is how neglected the App Stores have been, for years. The new iOS 11 App Store redesign is really the first time anything has changed, which is quite poor when you consider how important the store is to Apple and its users.

So, next time you find yourself complaining about how Apple neglects the Mac or whatever, think of the App Store. It has been locked in the basement at 1 Infinite Loop for so long, it must think it’s in an episode of Criminal Minds.

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