Why isn't the Mac App Store part of iTunes?
See this? It's a standard iTunes link. Thing is though, that iTunes link doesn't direct to iTunes. It goes to the new Mac App store. Do you know why?
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/angry-birds/id403961173?mt=12
First, there's the obvious reason: the Mac App Store isn't part of the standard iTunes suite because there's no point in providing its features to Windows users. Here's the less obvious, going out on a limb, thinking-about-this-in-too-much-detail reason. Although the App Store for Macintosh is a whole separate application, in its secret behind-the-scenes-superhero-identity, it's basically just an iTunes browser.
When you look at App Store, the application, there's really not much there there. There's no preferences, no application management (which wouldn't make a lot of sense, as you have Finder sitting right there behind the app, whose job it is to do exactly that), and not much of anything else other than its core feature: browsing and searching for apps, and purchasing them.
That's not all too surprising because iTunes, in both its standard and Mac App Store forms, is mostly a web browser. These applications request HTML and XML data from Apple servers, display that data, and provide ways to offer secure transactions and data transfer to and from that site. In that sense, iTunes isn't really that different from Amazon's retail website, and even Amazon offers you a little standalone application for doing downloads for its MP3 purchasing service. iTunes and Mac App Store offer similar retail services.
It's not as if the Mac App Store is revolutionary stuff. We've seen lighter non-iTunes clients for this already, even if it hasn't looked that way. The iBooks store is very similar to the Mac App Store in being an iTunes browser with transactions. All the data you see, all the listings, are changed and updated live from Apple's end.
All the client has to do is allow browsing, purchases, and downloads. The new iTunes.com web pages you can visit on Safari do much the same, albeit without the option of buying anything directly. Instead, you're redirected to a standalone client application on your computer.
iTunes has, over time, become a bloated application trying to do too many things with too little focus on its core raison d'etre -- organizing and playing back your media library, and synchronizing content to your playback devices. These days, you can also go shopping, manage your application libraries, interact with your social network -- quite frankly, iTunes is showing the strain.
What the new App Store application shows is that Apple has the option of restructuring iTunes into separate stores and applications that make more sense. The simple technology underlying the store can easily be spun off into new browsers, with task-oriented management features added in that make sense for that purpose.
iBooks for Mac and Windows, App Store for Mac, iOS Device manager, and so forth could theoretically become standalone solutions. I have no doubt that Apple can develop the frameworks and libraries that would do so without limiting users' abilities to access and manage their media. It might be a hard sell on Windows, though, to promote an iTunes breakdown of services into too many new apps.
There is also a true iTunes interconnectedness problem when it comes to iOS devices. They feed off of music, books, movies, and so forth. Having to go to five applications to manage each of these items would quickly become tedious. And that's why I personally feel that iTunes' core services need to be integrated directly into the operating system rather than being presented as standalone applications. Again, that's a big problem for Windows users, but it's a natural progression for OS X.
If Apple is going where I think it should be going, we'd be seeing devices and device management move directly into Finder in Mac OS X Lion. If so, each store could live on its own, decoupled from the ungraceful giant we currently know as iTunes. We'd see stores that are more single-purpose, with library features that are better tuned to the data they're managing. Devices could then opt into a higher level of playlist-style choices, based on the individual libraries and elements they wanted to subscribe to.
This isn't a certainty, of course, but what we're seeing today with the Mac App Store standalone application surely is suggestive.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments.
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See this? It's a standard iTunes link. Thing is though, that iTunes link doesn't direct to iTunes. It goes to the new Mac App store. Do you...
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"First, there's the obvious reason: the Mac App Store isn't part of the standard iTunes suite because there's no point in providing its features to Windows users. Here's the less obvious, going out on a limb, thinking-about-this-in-too-much-detail reason ..."
In my humble opinion, the second reason is no reason and the first one, I don't accept ;)
From a user experience standpoint, the Mac App Store should be a third tab within the iTunes Store alongside iPhone and iPad: Mac OS. iTunes for Windows than could simply filter that tab out.
I can only hope this is the case. It drives the Apple-owning, OCD, things-should-be-organized, minimalist in me crazy that iTunes (a music player) does what the OS should.
January 07 2011 at 12:21 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyit occurred to me that the app store could include ios apps, and really be the *app* store. in fact, why not an apple store, with sections for music, movies, apps, etc.? i would like one simple place to buy and manage purchased items. and i don't need to have the store inside itunes.
i don't agree that finder integration would make sense. where i'd like to see finder integration is for device syncing. i'd love to see a very streamlined app that appears on the desktop/finder when i connect my iphone/ipod/ipad. this would be similar to a drive being mounted, but rather than opening the volume it opens an app that provides all the syncing management. maybe that could even work on windows.
i really dont like this Mac app thing being integrated into the system
seems like a way to control our computers
will we have to Jailbreak our own computers
in thje future in order to use them wihout Big Brother Apple
controling what applications we use?
And if the Iphone Apps are any indication,
Mac Apps will be heavily censored and controled
i am extremely reluctant to do an OS update for the first time ever
Everyone seems to be missing the point that on iOS (the actual device itself), the App Store is actually separated from iTunes.
Sure, on the Mac OS X and PC, the iOS App Store is integrated into iTunes.. but in this form, all it is really is content, that isn't even for that platform. In fact the main reason it is there is for the sync reason... I'm betting a lot of users would mostly use the native App Store on their iOS device rather than the iTunes interface except for larger application downloads.
So this idea that Mac App Store is separate from Mac iTunes isn't that foreign of an idea to me, I don't get what's so puzzling.
Why the iOS apps aren't on the Mac App Store?
January 06 2011 at 3:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYou're kidding, right? That's like asking why skirts and dresses aren't sold at Men's Wearhouse.
January 06 2011 at 5:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYeah, it would be like selling apps in music store!
January 08 2011 at 4:51 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySpot on, Erica.
Though I like using iTunes, from a user perspective it has become bloated. The user experience suffers.
On my 3 year old always-on Mac it is the slowest application to start up. Undoubtedly because my Mac needs to load all the integrated functions.
It syncs fine with my idevices, but so do my photos, and I don't need to load iPhoto to sync them.
And whenever I dock my iPhone, iTunes shows me the prehistoric please-hold-wrist watch for a while, effectively blocking all the other integrated functions of iTunes.
And while iTunes does show me all apps, iPad and iPhone apps nicely merged, it does not allow me to organize my apps into folders unless I dock my iPad.
And there is no easy way to share iTunes stuff outside iTunes's walls, like sharing my most used apps or my favs with my face books friends.
It is not so much the under the hood organization of all these functions into one application or into multiple specialized ones, as it is the broken user experience of iTunes that Apple needs to fix.
For now, I'll enjoy browsing and buying Mac apps through the separate Mac app store, while itunes has frozen up on me until it recognizes my iphone. Hopefully the separate Mac App store is the first step in the right direction.
I think that you got it right with the opening comments. It is separate because it is Mac only. Putting the Mac app store in the same store as very thing else just brings up questions of why windows versions don't exist and why apple doesn't out those versions in the store as well.
So they make a store that can only be seen by those that can use the material.
@MC SE7EN
Its not as elegant solution as you think it is. You conveniently ignore the possibility that by taking all the things that make iTunes crappy and putting them into the finder would make the finder crappy!
Yes, the Mac App store is much faster than iTunes. I hope the iTunes store will benefit from the speed upgrade some time.
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