The iPhone App Store is now accessible on a Mac. And iPad users can research what macOS applications are available. Anyone can see what Apple Watch apps are available. All of these are possible now that Apple finally put the App Store on the web Monday.
It’s long overdue, and still missing a feature many users would like.
Finding iPhone apps gets easier with App Store jumping onto the web
The iPhone App Store launched way back in 2008, and immediately changed the way consumers shopped for software. And for all the years since then, it’s been accessible only via an app running on the iPhone. The same held true for the iPad version (and later the Mac App Store).
At long last, that changed Monday when Apple opened a slick new web version of the App Store. It’s accessible via apps.apple.com.
Take note: On a Mac or iPad, clicking on that link in the Safari browser automatically opens the App Store application installed on the computer. Cut and paste “apps.apple.com” into the browser to open the website version. Or use Chrome.
In the upper-left corner of the new App Store website is a drop-down box letting users choose whether to look at iPhone software, iPad Software, Apple Watch software, etc.
Logically enough, the website is organized the same way Apple’s App Store app is, including a Today screen. The left column includes a list of application categories, like Productivity and Health & Fitness.
It’s about damn time!
“[FILL IN THE BLANK] is now accessible on the web!” was a common headline decades ago. Whether it was pizza delivery or banking or whatever, moving services onto the web was a huge deal. But that sort of news dried up long ago because everything was already on the web. Well, not everything. There were some holdouts — we’re looking at you, Apple.
It’s ridiculous that Apple held off putting the App Store on the web until 2025. Absolutely ridiculous. Apple has been shooting itself in the foot for decades.
Suppose you’re an Android user considering switching to iPhone. Naturally, you’d like to do some research on whether your favorite applications are also available for iOS. Too bad, because you couldn’t see what’s in the App Store without an iPhone.
Easily the biggest advantage iPad has over rivals is the enormous selection of software for Apple’s tablet compared to the relative pittance of Android apps that can take full advantage of a large screen. But you couldn’t see that unless you already owned an iPad.
Windows users also couldn’t research what‘s available in the Mac App Store, though many popular Mac apps aren’t listed there anyway.
Basic functionality still missing
A feature still absent from the new web version of the App Store is the ability to use a Mac to install software on an iPhone. Users should be able to sign into the website with their Apple account, then use the large screen of a Mac to find interesting/fun new iPhone applications, then press a button to have the app sent to their handset.
Maybe in the next version. Hopefully, Apple will get around to it before 2035.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
