By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
It's hard to believe that the original iPhone didn't ship with any 'real' apps and that it took over a year for Apple to consider opening its device to developers and third-party applications. Six years on, the App Store has evolved into the best example of a tightly curated app ecosystem.
Apple's success with the iOS App Store owes a lot to Apple's experience with iTunes although apps and music and movies are fundamentally different, the way these were presented was familiar enough to users who were buying apps to enhance their mobile devices. The App Store was a quick success, it inspired the Mac App store and made it possible to buy applications directly from a Mac and, even better, application updates are now handled automatically in the background.
More importantly, the App Store has become a storefront for thousands of developers and their mobile apps. It is by far the most profitable platform for mobile developers. 75 billion app downloads have been made in the past six years.
Since the App Store first opened up in July of 2008, Apple has netted $18.57 billion. Of that total $13 billion was paid out to developers with Apple keeping the remaining $5.57 billion. As for the apps, there are over one million apps in the catalog. Considering how tightly Apple curates the app store (weeding away useless, redundant and malicious apps) shows just how vibrant and expansive the App Store has become.
What's more, because of Apple's strict guidelines for developers, many of these apps are constantly updated and mostly for free (i.e. if you already own the app, you get the free update). So, the majority of the apps are compatible with the latest version of iOS and many have specific variants for iPhones as well as iPads.
For iOS 8, the app store will get even better with various new features. These include trending searches to check which apps are most popular at a given time. Video previews will show how apps work and what they can do with short videos and App Bundles will allow developers to bundle older apps with newer ones at a discounted price.
Family Sharing is a huge update, it allows apps purchased on a the same account (i.e. credit card) to be shared among family members which is great for users looking to save and share.
Apple's Developer community is one of the best paid. $13 billion has been paid out in to them in 6 years.
What hasn't changed is the relative affordability of the apps themselves. Some of the best ones, or the essentials are free but there are hundreds of apps that add a lot of functionality to iOS devices and which are quite affordable. In-app purchases in games and other types of programs has also proliferated and become a way for developers to get increased revenue from their apps.
The App Store might be six years old but thanks to continued refinement and reinvention, it is the best example of a tightly curated place for users to find apps they need.