NewsUsers, Developers Complain About App Store Search

Users, Developers Complain About App Store Search

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With the release of iOS 6 in September, Apple integrated many features from Chomp, which it had acquired earlier. Those features were supposed to improve search in the App Store, but some users and developers say it is having the opposite effect. Igor Zhadanov, CEO of Readdle, noted that an app’s chances of showing up in the search results depend on the number of downloads an app has. That can make it very difficult to find brand new apps.

Other developers note that with the new full-screen design of the search results page, users will no longer scroll through more than three or five apps, which also hinders app discovery.

In addition, the search results sometimes seem just plain strange. For example, if you search for the word “Coaster,” you will see several roller coaster games before you see the app that is actually called “Coaster.” “Without any knowledge of Apple’s SEO methodology it’s tough to make your app noticed,” said Coaster CEO Inderpal Singh. “Coaster averages 5 Stars, has 85+ reviews and thousands of downloads. And is actually called Coaster. Not sure what more we can do to be #1.”

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