Published in Mobiles

Apple revamps App store

by on09 June 2016


Developers claim it is still too vampy

The Tame Apple Press is telling the world how happy developers are now that it has revamped its App store and reduced the fees it forces them to pay. However speaking to a few Apple developer, it appears that things still are not good in the Walled Garden of Delights.

Jobs Mob announced a series of changes at its App Store. The revamped App Store will let developers advertise their wares in search results and give developers a bigger cut of revenues on subscription apps, while Apple said it has already dramatically sped up its app-approval process.

However, developers we spoke to said that the App Store model is out-of-date and working with Apple is still like working with an electric eel – very slippery and liable to give you the odd shock.

“Apple needs to do something fast as the app business is going down the toilet and it was that which kept the iPhone ahead of Google. Most of us only work with Apple because we have access to a large market, but the number of hoops we have to jump through makes the whole process unpleasant,” one developer told us.

Then there is the problem that the store is stuffed with apps making it impossible for developers to reach their audience and 14,000 arrive each week. Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm said that the top percent of app publishers raked in about 94 percent of the store's estimated $1.43 billion net revenue in the first quarter of 2016.

“Big name apps from big companies dominate while the smaller developers are swamped by rubbish and at the same time we are becoming unnecessary to most users,” he said.

Vint Cerf, one of the inventors of the internet who works for Google said that the app space had grown out of control and it needed to move away from having an individual app for every individual thing you want to do.
Apps are being replaced by messaging services such as Slack and Facebook Messenger, which are branching out into areas like shopping and document storage. Phone navigation is fast becoming voice activated which makes opening individual apps silly.

Last modified on 09 June 2016
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