apple needs to cull the crap from app store

[needthephone]

there is too much rubbish clogging up the app store.

Too many tip calculators (why??) spirit levels , rulers, one touch dialers etc etc etc

I have deleted half the apps I downloaded.

Apple is risking the whole credibility of the app store by allowing all these sub standard apps and soon google will need to develop an app search engine with an app rank so you can find the good apps buried like needles in a haystack in the store.

In the mr blog there is a piece saying apple have set a dangerous precedent stopping a pointless app called pull my finger.

I say good on apple but go through the current apps and delete 3/4 of them.

Apple just where is the much vaunted quality control you promised?

 

[techlover828]

there is too much rubbish clogging up the app store.

Too many tip calculators (why??) spirit levels , rulers, one touch dialers etc etc etc

Apple is risking the whole credibility of the app store by allowing all these sub standard apps and soon google will need to develop an app search engine with an app rank so you can find the good apps buried like needles in a haystack in the store.

In the mr blog there is a piece saying apple have set a dangerous precedent stopping a pointless app called pull my finger.

I say good on apple but go through the current apps and delete 3/4 of them.

hey that google thing isn't a bad idea, I agree with you though

 

[fastbite]

They don't need to take the crap out, that would be wrong. BUT what they should have is a CRAP category, and relegate all the crap there.

 

[needthephone]

I hate being negative, I absolutely love my iPhone but apple come on you have to admit the app store is getting out of hand and is almost unuseable now.

 

[ucfgrad93]

The only problem with that is who determines what is crap? Apple already has significant oversight, some would say to much, this would only make it worse.

 

[LiveForever]

I don't know what you are talking about-the more spirit levels the better I say.

There are only about:

6 one touch dialers
5 spirit levels
6 Tip Calculators (???????)
5 Restaurant Bill Splitters (Hey I didn't have the starter and he had two beers)
6 Rulers
7 Torches
3 Currency Converters
4 General Converters
5 Car Speed Indicators
2 Find Your way Back to your Car
3 Email your position to soemeone (why??)
3 Network Speed Testers
5 Fuel Mileage Calculators
3 Event Count Up/Down Indicators
2 Week Number Indicators
3 GPS Track things

This is just in UTILITIES and NAVIGATION so Ill stop now.

This is fine by me, hey give these people a chance to sell their tip calculators you meany, what's wrong with you.

 

[Julien]

I hate being negative, I absolutely love my iPhone but apple come on you have to admit the app store is getting out of hand and is almost unuseable now.

I agree and could we get Walmart to limit the toilet papers sold also. I saw 10 differant brands and they all are just used to wipe. I say limit competition so we can bring it down to mediocrity and I don't have to actually make a choice (even if I have to pay (more)).

 

[Roller]

I don't mind if there are thousands of apps and lots of duplicates. But Apple needs to fix the rating system so that the best/most popular ones float to the top. The current system penalizes apps that get low aggregate ratings because they've been rated poorly by people who haven't even used them.

They also need to refine the classification scheme, which isn't fine-grained enough - for example, fitness and healthcare should be separate.

 

[voxnj]

I don't mind if there are thousands of apps and lots of duplicates. But Apple needs to fix the rating system so that the best/most popular ones float to the top. The current system penalizes apps that get low aggregate ratings because they've been rated poorly by people who haven't even used them.

They also need to refine the classification scheme, which isn't fine-grained enough - for example, fitness and healthcare should be separate.

Agreed!!!!

 

[ryanwarsaw]

When Apple does remove any app people complain. I say let it be, better to have the choice than not to have it. Although I don't cry when fart machines or other such crap get cut.

 

[Helianthus]

I don't mind if there are tons of apps. I just don't like how there are people leaving reviews for applications without even using them.

 

[CommanderData]

There is definitely a lot that is "wrong" with the app store in it's present state.

1) Reviews. It's obvious that the review system is broken. Only allow reviews from people who purchased the app! That would eliminate 90% of the trouble (free apps may still have some bozos download it just to put up some idiotic "first post" review).

2) Categories. There are not enough of them. Another problem is some apps may fall into more than one category, and this could get WORSE with a large selection of categories. There will need to be a way to tag apps with multiple categories that fit: a program like VNC might fit into business, utilities, network, internet, remote control, etc.

3) Moderators. It's obvious some Apple employees must be used at points to follow up on review complaints, etc. Maybe there should be a more open moderator program where volunteers/readers can help shape the store. A moderator could put a -1 tag on someone who makes ridiculous review comments, or +1 on good reviews. Better ranked people would then have their reviews featured more prominently. Worse ranked people would eventually have their reviews shuffled to the end of the list, or deleted and their review writing abilities revoked. Moderators could also add +/- 1 to category tags, or suggest new ones. Once an app gets enough +1 tags it will start to appear when browsing that category. Obviously Apple will give any new app in the store one or more default categories, but this would allow a way to re-shape the store a bit and filter some of the "crap", without having to resort to removing or denying the publishing of any app.

 

[EricBrian]

A moderator could put a -1 tag on someone who makes ridiculous review comments, or +1 on good reviews.

I don't think that Apple should engage in censorship.

 

[nick9191]

In each category they should list in order of popularity. Problem solved

 

[voxnj]

There is definitely a lot that is "wrong" with the app store in it's present state.

1) Reviews. It's obvious that the review system is broken. Only allow reviews from people who purchased the app! That would eliminate 90% of the trouble (free apps may still have some bozos download it just to put up some idiotic "first post" review).

2) Categories. There are not enough of them. Another problem is some apps may fall into more than one category, and this could get WORSE with a large selection of categories. There will need to be a way to tag apps with multiple categories that fit: a program like VNC might fit into business, utilities, network, internet, remote control, etc.

3) Moderators. It's obvious some Apple employees must be used at points to follow up on review complaints, etc. Maybe there should be a more open moderator program where volunteers/readers can help shape the store. A moderator could put a -1 tag on someone who makes ridiculous review comments, or +1 on good reviews. Better ranked people would then have their reviews featured more prominently. Worse ranked people would eventually have their reviews shuffled to the end of the list, or deleted and their review writing abilities revoked. Moderators could also add +/- 1 to category tags, or suggest new ones. Once an app gets enough +1 tags it will start to appear when browsing that category. Obviously Apple will give any new app in the store one or more default categories, but this would allow a way to re-shape the store a bit and filter some of the "crap", without having to resort to removing or denying the publishing of any app.

+1

 

[CommanderData]

I don't think that Apple should engage in censorship.

But that would not be Apple censoring, this would be the app store community moderating itself. The yes/no feedback should be performing a similar function already, we just need to make the review writer responsible for his or her actions. Look at the Slashdot karma-moderation system as an example (still not perfect, but much better than the anything goes approach the app store has now). A person who consistently writes bad reviews like "This is stupid, it should be teh freez" should be punished and prevented from posting these things every time a new app appears, don't you think?

 

[megatronbomb]

Didn't Apple set up some sort of "investment" fund to encourage developers to develop apps for the iPhone platform? Have we seen any results from this yet?

I tend to agree that the app store, as is, is broken. There's more crap than anything, but of course that's subjective and I don't think there's any easy answer on how to go about "fixing" it. One thing that should be done immediately, and should've been done a long time ago, is to fix the review process. Only those that purchased an app should be able to review it. As is, the review process is totally broken and useless.

 

[nottooshabby]

Didn't Apple set up some sort of "investment" fund to encourage developers to develop apps for the iPhone platform? Have we seen any results from this yet?

I tend to agree that the app store, as is, is broken. There's more crap than anything, but of course that's subjective and I don't think there's any easy answer on how to go about "fixing" it. One thing that should be done immediately, and should've been done a long time ago, is to fix the review process. Only those that purchased an app should be able to review it. As is, the review process is totally broken and useless.

Yes, only people who bought the app should review it. Now you have people giving 5 star reviews to cancel out 1 star reviews from people who didn't even buy the app. It's chaos.

 

[Delirium39]

Here are the problems from my perspective, as a developer:

1. The Top 25 ranking logic is flawed, and rewards cheating. When any free app can change themselves to a paid app, and immediately jump into the top 10 of paid apps, due to their inherited free download count, that is unfair to everyone involved. The customer sees substandard apps at the top, and thinks they are good apps. Honest developers get discouraged that their hard work getting to the top is wasted effort.

2. There needs to be subcategories within each category. Even better would be a top 25 in each of the larger categories.

3. The ratings system should only be enabled for those who bought the app.

 

[DreamPod]

I don't mind if there are thousands of apps and lots of duplicates. But Apple needs to fix the rating system so that the best/most popular ones float to the top. The current system penalizes apps that get low aggregate ratings because they've been rated poorly by people who haven't even used them.

Float to the top...of what? The "Popularity" and "Top XX" fields are based on downloads, not review scores. Ance once you've got like 20 reviews, the crap reviews are only barely affecting the total. And the "most helpful" option in the review further helps so that people actually reading reviews sees the best reviews at the top, the crap reviews always end up with horrible scores (like 1 out of 24 people found this review helpful).

 

[Roller]

Float to the top...of what? The "Popularity" and "Top XX" fields are based on downloads, not review scores. Ance once you've got like 20 reviews, the crap reviews are only barely affecting the total. And the "most helpful" option in the review further helps so that people actually reading reviews sees the best reviews at the top, the crap reviews always end up with horrible scores (like 1 out of 24 people found this review helpful).

It's true that as the number of reviews goes up, the effect of any individual review (valid or not) on the aggregate score drops. But in the early going, good apps that get undeserved bad reviews are penalized.

I know that popularity scores are based on download stats, not ratings. However, it's one more data point that helps me decide whether to try an app.

As I said previously, there need to be more subcategories. And I would also like the option of sorting each one by rating, assuming that Apple fixes the review system.

 

[jstanier]

I don't mind too much if there are "bad" applications on the store - I think Apple are taking the right stance. After all, as long as an application has a function and conforms to their HCI guidelines, it should be allowed to go on there. The ratings system should sort the good and bad applications out, however, as you've rightly said, it's a little unfair - especially as you are able to rate apps you haven't even downloaded.

If Apple had to judge whether something was good or bad enough, how would this be a consistent judgement unless it was all done by one person? I can't think of any other way they could do it fairly, really.

 

[jecapaga]

Totally agree. The app store is very difficult to browse to find a real app and not the 21st tip calculator or restaurant finder or flashlight or fake lighter, etc, etc, etc. 100's of apps and 98% of them are gimmicks imo.

 

[hexonxonx]

You can't please everyone with this app store. Look at the complaints after the useless Pull My Finger app was denied from even reaching the store. Allot of people say Apple was right in keeping it out, allot of people say Apple was wrong.

I say Apple was right and there is too much garbage being released. Then again, as long as an app is useful to someone else, who am I to say they shouldn't be allowed to download it?

It's a tough decision to make.

 

[rKunda]

While we're at it, let's cut all of the crappy music and movies, too. Let's let someone else decide for us what's worth our time!