Should Apple Open a Premium App Store?
The Apple App Store has tens of thousands of apps, it has been a raging success. That success is Apple’s, but not always that of users who find it difficult to find gems hidden in those thousands of apps. There are a lot of crappy apps in the App Store, most of them free, and getting good solutions to problems can be a chore.
Our buddies at GigaOM Pro have proposed an interesting solution (subscription required) to this problem, calling for Apple to open up a “store within a store” that only stocks premium apps for sale; as they refer to it the “Neiman Marcus” of app stores that only carries paid apps.
A store that only carries paid apps wouldn’t guarantee that only good apps are in stock, but I do agree it might make it easier to find good apps to fit real needs. What do you think? Would this be something you’d like to see Apple do?
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Since there are clear designations in the App Store for Free vs. Paid apps, I’m not following the logic here. In fact, a “premium” app store sounds like it will just cost more to buy and therefore drive customers away. And I’d expect a developer would have to pay (or give up more) in order to be a premium app?
Don’t think there’s a good answer when a single place offers 75,000 apps.
Isn’t it possible to search the App Store and filter for paid apps only?
Sounds great in theory, but who gets to decide what is “premium”? I use a handful of very useful productivity apps (w/Toodledo leading the pack), but what is to say that Apple would consider any of them premium applications? At a minimum, Apple needs to radically change its system of reviews to something that provides real value to its user base. I would say to leave it up to third party review sites, but it seems many work on a “pay to play” ethic. So, its buyer beware until things change.
–Ken
I don’t see how a “premium” app store would help at all. A good number of apps that are free (not just “on sale” for $0) are quite good, so I would have to pick though TWO “stores” instead of one. And there would still be a lot of crap (make that “KRAPPS”) in both places — think how many 99-cent apps are junk — so what’s the benefit?
I’d rather see some better sort of organization to the existing store.
All it takes is one ‘good enough’ free or $0.99 application in a category to demolish demand for it in the premium app store.
I wouldn’t be whining. This is a fantastic “problem” to have. Too many apps and too many good apps. I think they will work it out. Just give them about 2 or 3 more billion app downloads to figure it out. Such a horrible problem. I feel like soooooooo sorry for poor little Apple.
I think the ‘premium’ apps should just have some designation, like a star next to it, instead of a whole new store. two stores would simply be confusing.
Nothing would kill the small developer even more. With search getting better, and the rating system holding true, we should be fine the way it is. I do think the rating system could be improved a bit.
I think you have the idea in reverse. Rather I’d like to see a store that is dedicated to all the useless apps out there, a store I’d never have to go into. And there are TONS of apps that fall under that catagory that I’ll never touch with a 10 foot pole. For example all the gimmick ones (Farts related, being the bottom of the barrel here), or other joke ones (that I can’t believe people pay for).
I think the marketplace concept was great when adoption was low, but squeezing every application through iTunes and the App Store so Apple can make 40% of the cut and none of the loss on a customer return, I find this insanely anti-competitive. We just have to find memo’s or a whistleblower that proves it was done intentionally for anti-competitive behaviors, which I’m sure exist.
To the Apple fan boys – Remember what happened to those who followed brilliant marketing in Germany at one time.
’nuff said.