

App Store “Released Date” Lists Now Omitting Updates - mobileorchard
http://www.mobileorchard.com/app-store-released-date-lists-now-omitting-updates/

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pxlpshr
So if you look at who's doing this on a daily basis, it's obviously people who
careless about the ecosystem and are in it simply for short term gain.

That being said, does Apple really feel this is going to curb spam and gaming
of the AppStore? These same developers will simply pull their existing apps
off the store and repost them as brand new builds. Spammers have no morals,
it's a joke to think otherwise.

Ultimately I think it's a good move on Apple's part but I don't think it's
going to fix the inherent issues with the abundance of useless apps at the
expense of hurting indie developers who don't have the margins to afford
marketing expenditures. As it stands, publishing an update is one of the best
ways to drive sales for indie developers. I wish Apple would segment the store
into a) Apple hand-picked and b) everyone else. The featured sections are far
too limiting for the number of quality apps that are available.

In the meantime, please enjoy Hot Girls who Fart LIGHT edition!
<http://appshopper.com/entertainment/hot-girls-who-fart-light>

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patio11
_a) Apple hand-picked and b) everyone else_

Apple-as-kingmaker (a sort of frequent model in Mac development, incidentally)
is not obviously advantageous to indie developers. It works fantastically for
those who are turned into kings, but it _also_ guarantees that 99%+ of the
population will remain serfs.

I tend to think "gaming the App Store" is another way to say "giving Apple
what they want". The problem is, well, Apple wants churn. (Or, if they don't
want churn, they're incompetent, because they've designed a near-perfect
system for encouraging it. I don't think Apple is incompetent.)

Pick your favorite useless app which costs $1 and only hold's someone's
attention for a day, while they show it to friends to say "Hah, look what I
can do with my iPhone." Maybe your favorite example is farting, or a
flashlight, or jiggling various bits of the anatomy, whatever. Whatever it is,
if it causes someone to talk to _their friends_ and say "Hey guys, look what
_cool things I can do on my iPhone_ which _you can't do with your lame phone_
" then that app is anything but useless to Apple.

Many people think that the App Store sells applications. To quote the best
line of a bad fantasy TV show: That is its function, but not its purpose. Its
purpose is to sell iPhones.

(Ditto for iTunes.)

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ejames
I think you overestimate Apple's competence... or, more specifically, the
breadth of the fields to which applies.

Apple is very competent at making things for consumers, and not particularly
good at working with developers or corporate IT.

I tend to agree that the App Store is being used by Apple as a tool to market
more iPhones and not as a way for the iPhone to become a successful software
platform for developers. But I think that's more because Apple is flailing to
figure out how exactly the App Store should work; remember that it wasn't
originally planned to exist at all. Companies need practice at managing
developer ecosystems in the same way that individuals need practice at any
other skill.

I feel that Apple made the App Store without really predicting or
understanding how it would work out. When it turned out to be a great
marketing tool for the iPhone but not a very good platform, Apple used the
"There's an app for that" slogan. Making the hardware attractive to consumers
was the App Store's strongest feature... naturally enough, for a system built
by a company that earns alls its money by making hardware attractive to
consumers.

When all you have is a hammer, only the nail-shaped parts of your product ever
really get done. The rest becomes secondary by fait accompli, not necessarily
as part of a master plan.

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pxlpshr
I agree, I've spoken with someone from their developer relations and he
quietly told me how much of a mess the AppStore department of Apple is.
Everyone is running around like a chicken with their head cut off.

They made the AppStore by copy/pasting the music store, hence .99 pricing
pressure and hit-driven nature that it's become. Sure, there was some planning
and the iPhone truly is a brilliant device -- but the AppStore was not a deep
thought.

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jcromartie
That's good. I know lots of developers that are under pressure to release
updates for no good reason other than getting on that list.

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cakesy
They wanted to get on that list, because getting on that list means increased
sales.

Now to get more sales, they have to release more apps. I guess this is good
for apple, but more releases generally means lots more crap.

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ikhare
I was under the impression that Apple stopped doing this last year. Release
dates are fixed to essentially the date you set or the day the app get's
approved, whichever comes first. I haven't seen them to be any different for a
while. It makes it really hard to actually be on top of the release date list.

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cakesy
No, this change happened in the last week or so.

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maxklein
I think this must be one of the most underreported changes ever. They did this
last week already.

