Mac App Store

On Wednesday, 20 October, Apple announced a number of products including the new Mac App Store. The Mac App Store will go online in early 2011. Like the App Store for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, the Mac App Store will allow developers to sell applications for the Mac. For this convenience, Apple takes 30% off the top.

People are asking Apple's motivation for starting this store. Is it to make life easier for inexperienced users by making it easy to buy and install applications? Or is it simply to make money? No matter the motivation, in its current form, I don't believe the App Store concept is mature enough to help the user.

Plenty of reasons have been pointed out why the iOS App Store is a good thing. Apps are easy to load into iOS devices, security is good, updates are handled easily and for free, and so on.

There has also been plenty of discussion on the web why the Mac App Store will not be a good idea. For example, developers do not know what application concepts will be accepted or rejected. As much talk as this problem has brought, it's not a problem for most developers.

And, these sorts of problems affect developers more than they do users. But, the biggest problems with the Mac App Store (and iOS App Store) concept affect the end user.

Here are some of those reasons:

1. It can be very difficult to find apps in the App Store. Apple categorizes applications with a handful of labels, such as games, utilities, and education. But, there are now hundreds of thousands of applications for the iPhone and iPad, and narrowing a search based on a category and a couple of keywords does little to help the user find the app they need.

For example, Power Passwords is a unique application for creating strong passwords the user can re-create when ever it's time to use a password. To find a password program in the App Store, it is logical the user enters the keyword "passwords." In the App Store, this will yield several pages of applications with perhaps three dozen apps per page. Few of these apps are for managing or creating passwords. Power Passwords comes in several pages down in this search as does Password1, which is probably the leading password management application. What apps come higher up? A whole lot of apps that do not create or manage passwords, but may use password protection within the app; those are not the kinds of apps the user was looking for at all.

2. The next problem with the App Store concept is no try before you buy. Based on simple descriptions or perhaps poorly written reviews, the user is supposed to guess that an app will suite their needs. I believe sales on the App Store do suffer and will suffer as long as the user has no way of trying apps before committing to the credit card.

TUAW pointed this problem out in an article published here: http://bit.ly/bhGeL4

3. The pricing model is a problem for the user, because it is a problem for the developer. Since the opening of the App Store for the iPhone, Apple seems to be trying to push the prices of iOS apps as low as they can go. Prices have come up some what for iPad apps, but just a little. And, the user has come to expect really cheap prices. I have heard reviewers on podcasts review a good product for the iPhone complaining "it costs a whole $4" and then turn around and extol a simple utility for the Mac that costs "only $20."

Apple also does not support paid for upgrades. Users seem to think the prices should be low because developers are selling millions of copies. Not so. If this were true, I would be retired and living on an unnamed Pacific island. No, only a few games and a few other apps sell significant numbers.

And, to top it all off, if someone demands a refund for an app (admittedly difficult to get from Apple), Apple keeps the original 30% of gross and the developer pays for the *entire* refund price. Apple assumes that whatever reason the user wants a refund is the developer's fault.

Given these factors, and probably more, the pricing model for apps found in the App Store does not support serious app development, and developers' desire to be part of the "once in a blue moon jackpot" will wain.

4. This last reason is the big one as far as I am concerned. The App Store does not support the user. Period. I am not talking about the lack of support from iTunes when the user has problems with their account. Yes, that's a big problem. I am not talking about the lack of adequate iTunes phone support and the slow responses to email for customers and developers alike.

I am talking about the lack of support for applications purchased from the iOS App Store. Apple doesn't support apps they haven't developed. Yes, there are links on iPhone app pages to developer email and support pages, but Apple buries them below the description, and most users don't know those links are there. It's as though Apple doesn't want the user to see these links, because it would take attention away from Apple and put it on a third party developer.

If the user thinks there is a problem with the application, where do they go? Email to iTunes support can be so slow, users assume they will receive no reply at all. And, if they receive a reply, it is just to tell them to contact the developer, which they may not know how to do.

Well, Apple doesn't bury the Review button. So, many users leave reviews describing problems they have had, even when the problem is doesn't have anything to do with the app. The developer has no way to get back to the customer with aid. Apple's position is that this customer is Apple's customer and not the developer's, and so they will not share a single iota of information about the customer with the developer.

And, those errant reviews hurt the sales for the developer. There are people who ignore these reviews or at least take them with a big grain of salt, but these people are few and far between. Assuming potential customers do not react emotionally to these reviews is like assuming people do not vote in elections emotionally.

I had this very problem. One customer left a review claiming my Scientific Expression Calculator is full of bugs. He based this on a single problem he had. I did a major code review and many tests on the application, including calling and emailing a number of local users of my app. The testers could not cause the claimed problem to be repeated. I determined the problem was not with my app, and so this customer's review is an inaccurate assessment, because the problem was with his iPad or how the app was synched to the iPad. But the problem wasn't with the application.

When I complained to Apple about the "review," they took almost a week via email to tell me they couldn't remove it. In the meantime, I had added a sentence to the app description explaining the situation (in simple, polite terms), and this sentence was removed by Apple. Hypocrisy.

A local iPad user told me he had a similar problem with a Wall Street application, which was resolved when he erased the app and reloaded it. But, he had difficulty finding support that would suggest this was the correct course of action to take. He suggested that Apple could at least put a Help button next to the Review button for each application in the App Store, so the user has an obvious place to go.

But, more than just a Help button, I believe that Apple's *Ping* social thing they added to the music portion of the iTunes store is largely wasted. What is Ping? A place to tell other people what music you are listening to? Apple has a unique opportunity to add a social component to the app stores as forums in which customers discuss apps, and developers lend their support. This could be done in such a way that would be truly unique on the Internet promoting apps and Apple's iOS devices, while supporting developers and customers alike.

But, the App Store for the iPhone and iPad are lacking in support for customers, and they refuse to let developers have the kind of contact with customers that would be appropriate. There is no evidence that the Mac App Store will fill any of the described gaps. For these and the other listed reasons, I don't believe the Mac App Store will be a success with customers, nor do I believe it deserves to be.