Despite the stunning success that Apple has achieved with the App Store, it’s far from perfect and I’ve grown increasingly irritated by certain things when using the App Store on the desktop: most of which centre around working with applications I’ve already bought. These aren’t deal-breakers - and most people will live happily without them - but I’m not ‘most people’.
- Proper Freakin’ Release Dates - I don’t know about you, but sometimes I’ll download or buy an app that (it turns out) is not really cutting it right now but one to watch. The problem is: how the hell do you know when an application is up to date? Sure, watch for changes of version number. But version numbers actually aren’t all that useful: release dates are. I’d wager that seeing an application has been updated recently (“Oooh. I know I’ve not used the app for a month or two: there was an update last week so I’ll give it a go now”) means a hell of a lot more than seeing version numbers ramped: who (besides the developer) really remembers versions of iPhone Apps anyway? There are ways as a developer to get a new release date to appear, but it’s Apple’s mess to fix as far as I’m concerned - balancing the gaming of the ‘New Releases’ system against making it easy to check back on applications.
- More Context in iTunes - I’d love to be able to right-click an application within my Applications listing, and for there to be more options. One major one would be a ‘View on App Store’ option to take me to the application’s page on the store. Apple already does it for music (the arrows beside each tune) and it’d be a real time-saver for finding an application’s homepage or going to write a review.
- Better Purchase Listings - I don’t keep all that many applications on my iPhone or iTunes, and would kill for a way to easily (and visually) see all the applications I’ve already bought. I know: Apple’s all about selling more apps. But that leads nicely on…
- Improve the Re-download Process - The iTunes store was built to handle one-time purchases, not the software purchases it now holds as well. The re-download process breeds uncertainty: “Am I going to be charged again? I thought I bought this already? Is it really a free download?”. Remember: iTunes won’t let you use the shopping cart for apps, so unless you’re certain (or reassured) about what happens next, people may just not give applications another spin.
