THE MODERN APP STORE
As you'll see in Chapters 3 and 4, today's App Store is all about capitalizing on certain trends (social comes to mind), finding new niches, and providing users with an experience that seems fresh and new.
With any new market, it takes time for it to take shape, and it's now been around long enough that the trends are clear. Saturation has been reached in most of the categories (not over-saturation, mind you, just enough that proportionately few new ideas are coming through when compared to small evolutions of current ones), and there exist trends, formulas, and models for success for almost any new app.
One such trend many developers are finding themselves following — sometimes because the market has pushed them there — is that of trying to keep pace with competitors who are offering everything you are, and trying to do it better. Figure 1-3 shows the current App Store interface in iTunes (which will undoubtedly evolve further).
FIGURE 1-3: Looking at the modern App Store interface, note the better use of space, a drop-down category bar, and better featured apps at the top, where it is highly desirable to earn a spot
The Slow March Toward Complex Apps
A complex app doesn't have to mean that it's difficult to learn. It can mean full-featured or even an app with a lot of content (such as a game that rivals current home console offerings in terms of length and ...
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