Bursting the iPhone bubble

That's one thing I liked about Sprint's app store. If you bought something you didn't like, you requested a refund on their site, and it was issued; no questions asked.

The solution for the App Store is simple, and has loads of precedent in the Symbian and Palm environments:

1) Keep it open and Democratic. No need for Apple to govern the quality of iPhone apps any more then they do Mac apps. Let the masses decide.

2) Give us a better rating system. In order for #1 to work, only buyers/users should be able to rate and review.

3) Trial periods and refunds. We should be able to test drive an app for at least 3 days, and get a refund if it sucks. This should be easy for Apple to control, since they can remove apps from our device without our permission.

It really is that simple.

The main thing that sets the App Store apart from other software distribution mechanisms is that it's absolutely, 100% an extension of the iTunes Music Store. Apple is no more afraid to sell you bad iPhone apps than it is to sell you bad music. The fact that an app is in the store does not reflect one bit on the company's reputation, in their mind. They're just throwing it up there and taking a cut of the sales.

Well, that system works fine in the world of music, where tastes are fluid and it's hard to make any objective value judgments. But when it comes to software, the absolute concept of better/worse DOES exist. Less experienced users are usually happy and eager to trust the opinion of experts, and on the basis of those expert opinions, the best stuff rises to the top and everyone buys it. And it's hard for that to happen in the App Store, given the sheer volume of applications that have flooded its shores in less than TWO MONTHS. I don't even browse the Store anymore; I just monitor TUAW and the like for buzz about useful applications, and then I go get them.

Right now, the playing field in there is completely level -- no entity, Fortune 500 company or indie developer, has produced anything too astonishing. I think it'll be a year or more before we start seeing a reasonable number of good, polished applications for the iPhone. Once that happens, the race among developers to catch up with each other will heat up, and the applications of genuine quality will push the masses of useless ones into the background.

I just don't understand the general attitude towards the app store by users (and bloggers). There is crappy software everywhere for every conceivable platform, and lots of developers and VCs making lots of money off of it. And there's lots of good software around that never sees the light of day. Why should the app store be any different than the rest of the free market economy?

I was really blown away by the reaction to the "I Am Rich" application. So what?! Let the guy put the app in there. Only a few people will buy it and it will shortly fade into the bowels of the app store. Kudos to Apple for creating the iPhone phenomenon and having people get all up in arms about their app store, but it just seems silly to me.

Of course Apple should do some QC on the apps going in, but other than making sure it meets technical and legal standards they should just let the economy sort it out. The app store is not some sacred grail meant to house all of our hopes and dreams for a peaceful, loving world . It's just a mechanism to distribute software.

All that said, I do wish Apple would beef up how users can interact with the app store. For one, don't allow people to post a review of an app unless they buy it. How sick are you of one-star reviews that say "this looks dumb and it's too expensive." Two, enhance the search options . Third ... well, I've already spent enough time on all this.

So now we're going to blame VC's, eh?

Look, there is a problem here, no doubt, it isn't even *half* the problem.

(An aside: Mike Lee is a great guy who I've talked to many times, and represents what the engineering side of the business *should* be about; Tapulous has made a grave error that will certainly come back to haunt them.)

Apple gets some of the blame too; if you are a small outfit, it is *very prohibitive* to develop an "AAA" app, let alone an "A" one, on the iPhone Platform due to certain business risks that do not exist in developing for general computing, video game consoles...or even other mobile platforms.

Given the above, if you are small with a Big Idea, you aren't going to make it happen without that help.

The inverse of this of course is that if you *are* going to take a risk, it is likely to be a small one...further fanning the flames of the current environment.

The fix comes from the top. The fix comes from Apple. They know what devs want, need and have been asking for. It is up to them to provide it, effecting the overall market, and quality, of the apps in the ecosystem.

-K

Were you going to pay for that booted iStockphoto image or just rip it??? Just asking.

You know the overwhelming reaction I had when the App Store first launched was, what is all this crap doing on the store?!

John's posting for me hit's the nail on the head on all fronts! As a developer for the iPhone since September '07 through Jailbreak, and now onto the App Store. I want to see the App Store fully of quality apps, rather than the sea of crap we see today.

We're planning to help with this problem, and make this platform something to be proud of!

Bring back the focus on quality!