Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, App Store
What's On asks 'WTF?'
Last week, Apple launched a special page [iTunes link] within iTunes celebrating the best of 2008 in all the various content categories. The Apps page [iTunes link] shows off the best selling (and presumably editor's picks) for paid and free apps in various categories. This is a great way for users to get a snapshot of the best and most popular and is surely a publicity boon for developers of those chosen apps.
But what happens when an app goes from being featured to disappearing off the list in a matter of hours? This is the exact situation Napkin Studio's "What's On?" [iTunes link] found itself in. "What's On?" is an app that displays TV listings, lets you track your favorite shows and share show info via e-mail. It's similar to the i.TV app [iTunes link], but the focus is solely television and I think the interface is a bit more readable.
When the iTunes 2008 list debuted, "What's On?" was listed as one of the Top Entertainment apps. If you look at the page now, "What's On?" is no longer listed.
Andrew from Napkin Studio explained the situation to us via e-mail:
...we were eager to see if our application had made the cut. To our surprise, we
had made it in the Top Paid Entertainment Apps list! We quickly
notified all of our users via email newsletter, twitter and other
channels to spread the news. Later in the evening, one of our
employees looked and we were no longer on the list. We looked several
places to be certain and sure enough, the Top Paid Entertainment list
was down to 7 with an obvious hole where What's On once was featured.
had made it in the Top Paid Entertainment Apps list! We quickly
notified all of our users via email newsletter, twitter and other
channels to spread the news. Later in the evening, one of our
employees looked and we were no longer on the list. We looked several
places to be certain and sure enough, the Top Paid Entertainment list
was down to 7 with an obvious hole where What's On once was featured.
Andrew provided us with screenshots of the iTunes 2008 Apps page before and after. I went ahead and took a screenshot of the page as of this morning, and found even more discrepancies. Take a look:
L. Top Entertainment with "What's On?" | R. Top Entertainment a few hours later
Top Entertainment Apps on 12-6-2008
Both "What's On?" and "OneTap Movies" have been removed from the listing, replaced by "iLightr" and "Crazy Lighter."
So what happened? "What's On?," like a number of applications, was available for free last weekend as part of a Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion. Perhaps this change in pricing disqualified the application from Apple's paid listings -- though logic would suggest the choices were made before the Thanksgiving holiday. Napkin Studio emailed Apple and has gotten no response. My e-mails to iTunes PR have also gone unanswered.
So what happened? "What's On?," like a number of applications, was available for free last weekend as part of a Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion. Perhaps this change in pricing disqualified the application from Apple's paid listings -- though logic would suggest the choices were made before the Thanksgiving holiday. Napkin Studio emailed Apple and has gotten no response. My e-mails to iTunes PR have also gone unanswered.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jon said 1:26PM on 12-07-2008
And why replace what sound like decent apps with not one, but TWO, crappy lighter apps (which require minimal coding ability)?
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krizko said 1:18PM on 12-07-2008
obviously the developers thought they could position themselves by offering the app for free, and then suddenly switch to a pay model and remain on the list. I for one am glad Apple is not allowing this sort of marketing.
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Christina Warren said 3:31PM on 12-07-2008
That might be part of it -- but I will say, "What's On?" was pay BEFORE Black Friday and it was made very clear that it was only going to be free for that holiday weekend. I do ultimately think the change in pricing model was responsible for the removal, it just seems odd seeing as the app was listed in "paid" apps when the list debuted (and had already gone back to paid status at that time) and because presumably, these lists were made before the Thanksgiving Holiday (I KNOW the movies and music lists were created before the holiday because they have editorial discussions and summaries).
domino said 1:35PM on 12-07-2008
Am I wrong or is there still no way to sort by rating? This makes no sense. The current listing just encourages propelling a product to popularity regardless of quality.
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James Donevan said 1:18PM on 12-07-2008
What's the mystery? Obviously the lists are being regularly updated to reflect the latest download figures - presumably until the end of 2008 when a final 'Best of' tally is done.
It's odd that the listings don't always have 10 apps but I would guess that is down to transitioning the ratings. The developers were perhaps a little premature in assuming their rating would stay firm through to the end of the year.
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Christina Warren said 3:29PM on 12-07-2008
See, but that's the thing - this is supposed to be a static list. I've been checking the 2008 page for the last few days and no other area has shown any fluctuation in listing. It's just bizarre.
Tony said 1:37PM on 12-07-2008
I looked at the link.. 1.5 stars? The average user clearly doesn't agree that it's a 'decent' app. Maybe apple only put it there by mistake and corrected their error.
You'd think the lists would be automatically generated... eg. all 5 star apps sorted by number of downloads.
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Christina Warren said 3:27PM on 12-07-2008
What's On? currently shows 3 stars as average rating and even then the vast majority are positive. I can't speak for the other apps, but What's On? has definitely been consistently ranked in terms of sales and ratings.
Jon said 3:43PM on 12-07-2008
It currently says 3/5 and one of the lighter apps was rated 2/5. So hardly a worthwhile replacement.
Ivan said 4:15AM on 12-08-2008
Its 1 and a half stars in UK App Store.
oshawapilot said 1:54PM on 12-07-2008
Some good applications there, but craplications like Touchscan and the silly lighter applications really shouldn't be there.
Sure they might have sold enough to make it onto the lists, but the whole idea of several of those applications is dubious at best. To put them in a prime location where potential new iPhone users could install them thinking they're "premiere" quality software does the whole platform an injustice IMHO.
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Victor Agreda Jr said 5:48PM on 12-07-2008
Agreed -- it's like putting "Achy Breaky Heart" in iTunes essentials for classic country music.
iest said 5:55PM on 12-07-2008
I just wanted to say that I'm loving the title of this post...
Keep up the good work TUAW.
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pyrofer said 8:20AM on 12-08-2008
If stars were the main reason for putting an app there, or removing one surely it would be all 5 star apps there? Its not like there is a shortage of apps to choose from.
As a developer that has never been featured, even on the "New" apps section (when my app was new) Some people should just count themselves lucky they EVER got a shot at being featured.
Welcome to the world of 1 sale a day. At this rate ill get a payment from each region in about 10 years.
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Josh said 3:17PM on 12-08-2008
I work for Avantar, the makers of OneTap Movies, and I wonder if anyone knows the real reason we got bumped with What's On for two lighter apps?
Our downloads are not down and we have no indication on why we would drop from that list.
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