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Apple announces major changes to its App Store

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For years, we’ve been downloading our favorite iOS apps from the same App Store, but now, just days ahead of Apple’s highly anticipated WWCD store, we’re learning about some “major changes” to the app marketplace. The changes will be threefold, and are intended to address some of the most salient concerns raised by customers and developers alike — soon, you can expect improvements in terms of app review, business models, and app discovery and search ads.

As per the new insights provided by Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, who took the reins of App Store in December, app reviews will be made faster. Today, Apple reviews apps for five days before allowing them to hit the Store to ensure that they’re legal, safe to use, and aren’t breaking any developer guidelines. But now, the Cupertino-based company wants to move much faster. Already, Schiller says that the review period is much shorter, with 50 percent of apps being reviewed within a day, and 90 percent being reviewed within two days.

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In terms of business models, Apple will be abandoning the traditional 70/30 split (where 70 percent of revenue goes to the developer and 30 percent goes to Apple) after the first year, and moving to an 85/15 split in the years following. Moreover, you’ll be able to subscribe to all apps, instead of being limited to cloud services, streaming media, news, and dating apps.

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Finally, Apple will be taking a major stab at one of the main pain points raised by both developers and consumers — app discovery. This fall, Apple says it will be amending the “Featured” section so that you won’t have to see any of the apps you already have downloaded and installed, which means that you’ll actually be discovering new things. Moreover, the company will reintroduce the Categories tab in the App Store, and Schiller says that Apple is also making it easier to share your favorite apps with your friends with 3D Touch.

And most importantly, perhaps, Apple will be introducing App Store ads in search, so when you’re looking for an app either by name or keyword, developers can pay to place their own apps at the top of your search results.

So get ready friends — this will be an App Store like you’ve never seen before.

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Lulu Chang
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