My biggest complaint about the App Store is that there does not seem to be away to filter "Free" vs "Paid" apps when browsing. I never even expected an alternative app for this, and it sounds like AppShopper is pretty nice... I'll have to check it out when I get home. Is it free?
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Anyone else frustrated with App Store?
- Thread starter tburns
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iPadCharlie
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You're in luck... it is free!
I use AppStream, AppShopper, and AppAdvice. The first two are free, and the 3rd is 1.99, although you can just go to their website for free: iPad/iPhone App News and Reviews :: App Advice
appStream and AppShopper allow you to filter between free and paid apps, or ipad only apps. I've discovered quite a few great apps for free this way with ease.
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Firewall
iPF Noob
This annoys me to no end as well, especially when I'm not looking for anything specific and just want to try out some new apps (or 2, 3 or 4).
bigchicken
iPF Noob
Hit the nail on the head
I absolutely agree about the "30 pages in - getting kicked back to page one". I find this completely discourages me from looking for new apps! I would vote this as my #1 most hated iPad "feature" (though iTunes is a close second).
I absolutely agree about the "30 pages in - getting kicked back to page one". I find this completely discourages me from looking for new apps! I would vote this as my #1 most hated iPad "feature" (though iTunes is a close second).
Abrennan
iPF Noob
bigchicken said:I absolutely agree about the "30 pages in - getting kicked back to page one". I find this completely discourages me from looking for new apps! I would vote this as my #1 most hated iPad "feature" (though iTunes is a close second).
I think the App Store should take a leaf out of the Amazon.com or even the Ebay way of selling things. I have not seen a clunkier on line store for a long time.
I'm still amazed that the App Store is so bad on the iPad yet so good with the iPhone / iPod Touch. Simply allowing us the same option of filtering by category --> subcategory would make things so much better. It isn't just users that are frustrated with the App Store for iPad either. I have a friend that released one of the more successful games early on in for iOS and he has completely given up on the idea of writing iPad games (in fact he has moved to Android completely now I believe). His take on the new App Store is that Apple is simply pushing the Apps they want you to buy (mainly from "premium" developers) rather than having you easily browse the store for something that looks interesting. Apple is controlling the discovery process in the App Store for a reason ($$$).
We purchased an iPad for my 70 year old mother for Christmas. She is so frustrated trying to find apps that are interesting to her that I believe she will be getting rid of it. I showed her how easy it is with my iPod Touch which makes things even more frustrating to her. Even when I try to show her how to find apps for the iPad I have a hard time explaining just how badly Apple screwed this one up. For a company that takes pride in the user experience they sure haven't showed us much on this point.
We purchased an iPad for my 70 year old mother for Christmas. She is so frustrated trying to find apps that are interesting to her that I believe she will be getting rid of it. I showed her how easy it is with my iPod Touch which makes things even more frustrating to her. Even when I try to show her how to find apps for the iPad I have a hard time explaining just how badly Apple screwed this one up. For a company that takes pride in the user experience they sure haven't showed us much on this point.
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MattIM
iPF Novice
Davest, you really should try Appshopper. It is a free app and it does help you find free or paid apps, it helps you find specific subject related apps. And it keeps track of your apps and emails you when an app has been updated. If you find apps that you wish to purchase, you can create a wish list and Appshopper will let you know if it has been updated or has a price reduction, etc.
The AppStore is a tough application to use, get the Appshopper and it will make finding apps a whole lot easier.
The AppStore is a tough application to use, get the Appshopper and it will make finding apps a whole lot easier.
I have been using AppShopper for quite some time now. It still doesn't allow me to browse apps by category though, just shows me the new / popular / reduced in price apps. I can search by app name, but not app type unless I am doing something wrong. One of the really nice things about shopping with the iPhone / iPod is just browsing through the categories and seeing what is available. There are many times when I have a general idea of what I want (word game for example) but no idea what app fits the bill. In my example above, on my iPod I can simply navigate to games, then word games and see what is in there. I don't believe there is any way to do with with the iPad which is a shame.
MattIM
iPF Novice
DaveST, I guess I'm not understanding you about categories. Here is a picture of the Appshopper main screen. Along the left side is sub-topic of categories. Right now Appshopper is looking for apps that are popular in business:
Is that not what you are tallking about? If I click on Whats new in business, it will give me only the new apps that are paid or free.
Is that not what you are tallking about? If I click on Whats new in business, it will give me only the new apps that are paid or free.
That is sort of what I am talking about, but imagine if it were like this. When you click "Games" imgine that you got a new menu with entries like "Card, RPG, Word, Strategy", etc. Then, when you clicked on that subcategory you could see every app that fits that description. Furthermore, you could see the top 50 and down of each app in that subcategory. Also, you could filter each of those subcategories by paid and free. That is what you get with the built in App Store application on the iPhone and iPod Touch. It is sort of like going to a book store when you don't know exactly what you want. You go to the Fiction area, then maybe Science Fiction, and then even a subcategory under that like Classics. It is a wonderful way to find apps. Even though I know why Apple is doing it to us ($$) I still wish the iPad had that functionality.
MattIM
iPF Novice
I GOT IT!!! Yes, a picture does help. You are right, your picture of your iPhone search app is better than the AppShopper in terms of drilling down to specific genre within a category. I don't have an iPhone, this is the only Apple product I own, finding the Appshopper was for me a godsend as the App Store was so incredibly ponderous to manipulate BUT unlike the PC world, where you have to go to Google and search for applications, having one convenient, albeit unwieldy AppStore is a vast improvement. And then finding AppShopper and now I've gotten Appadvice has kept me away from the App Store until I actually buy an app.
Maybe the developers of AppShopper will enhance their app to put large categories like games into an additional search function. Maybe Apple will do something similar? Maybe....huh?
Maybe the developers of AppShopper will enhance their app to put large categories like games into an additional search function. Maybe Apple will do something similar? Maybe....huh?
I don't think Apple is going to do that. Now, I have to confess that I don't completely understand all of what is going on with the app store, so I have to rely on people that know more than I do. As I mentioned earlier, one of my friends was pretty involved with iOS app development in the earlier days before the iPad was around. When the iPad came around, he was fairly excited about shifting to development on the newer device. When he and other devs saw the App Store running on the iPad they were not at all happy and complained to Apple about it. Their response was that the App Store is NOT for application discovery. App discovery in Apple's mind should be through advertising and third party site reviews. The iPad App Store was made according to those guidelines.
I cannot for the life of me understand that reasoning because I know for a fact people like my mother are simply not buying apps for their shiny new iPads because they quite frankly cannot find anything. I have a hard time finding things myself. Many of my favorite apps are neither "new" nor "popular" and thus they never show up on AppShopper unless I just get lucky. Apple promotes the apps that they want you to know about, but smaller developers that don't have huge advertising budgets are being shut out of the discovery process. I have to wonder if some of the smaller runaway hits like "Doodle Jump" or "Angry Birds" would ever have become so in today's iPad App Store. I have a feeling something from EA or 2K would have taken its' place.
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