Submitted by Frank Macey on
With over 1.2 million iOS apps available in the App Store, finding the best and most useful can seem like a daunting task. While the App Store app in iOS 7 has received many improvements, Apple has not stopped working to make the experience even better for mobile device users. iOS 8 promises to incorporate several enhancements to help users and app developers alike.
There are currently 300 million visitors to the App Store every week, so it's no wonder that 75 billion apps have been downloaded since 2008. There are also 9 million registered developers making apps for a total of 800 million iOS devices already sold. Apple CEO Tim Cook detailed the company's latest plans for the App Store at the WWDC 2014 keynote presentation this week.
Changes to be rolled out this fall include a new Explore tab, which will organize apps to browse by category and sub-category. Search improvements will feature Trending Searches, quicker response time and scrolling results. In addition, Related Searches will be listed in results along with an Editor's Choice tag, which will help to highlight the very best apps.
Developers will be able to offer app bundles for the first time, meaning that multiple app packages can be sold to users in a single transaction. For instance, gamers might be offered the chance to download the Infinity Blade trilogy in its entirety at a discounted price. App previews will also be possible, which means developers can provide a short video of an app in action to complement static screenshots.
Last but not least, a new service dubbed TestFlight will offer free beta testing of apps. Developers can make their apps available on TestFlight, then users can send feedback on their experiences back to the developers after testing the apps, all for free. While these are the main improvements coming to the App Store, stay tuned for even more changes when iOS 8 drops in the fall.