What exactly is the point of the macOS App Store?

[Glenny2lappies]

If they were really modifying the app bundle, Apple had no fault in rejecting them from their App Store.

FIFY

 

[Ritsuka]

Of course. But there is no need to specify it. There isn't another App Store with a relevant market share on macOS.

 

[aevan]

The only apps I can find on there of any use are twitter and WhatsApp.

There are a lot of really useful apps in the App Store, so perhaps the issue here is your specific needs?

 

[gnasher729]

Not nearly cynical enough.

The point of the App Store is to provide a captive revenue stream to Apple. Nothing else.

And to provide a revenue stream to macOS developers.

 

[Jack Neill]

A way for Apple to update Pages and Numbers.

 

[Nanotyrns]

Everyone so far is missing a point of confusion on the part of the poster.

They seem to first be asking “what is the point of apps”, because “everything else you just use the browser”.

But they also ask about downloading directly from the publisher. So, I think a couple of different concepts are being conflated here.

I think you just aren’t looking hard enough. Lots of apps are useful, run on your Mac, and don’t have any back-end service or use the Internet at all. (A good example are Finder alternatives - I use PathFinder). And, indeed, CAN’T be implemented by a website. I guess you don’t have any need for them though.

As to whether to buy from the App Store or directly from the publisher that is your choice. The publisher will make more profit usually if you buy directly. And in some cases, apps downloaded from the publisher can have additional functionality that isn’t allowed in App Store apps. In the App Store column, apps there have had some vetting from Apple, have to meet certain standards, etc.

I think there is yet a third confusion here. Actually, I tried to search for an answer to how many apps are in the Mac App Store, and actuslly didn’t get any useful answers. But certainly there are at least thousands and probably much more than that. Maybe OP is expecting to find their favorite iOS apps also in the Mac App Store and is disappointed they do not exist.

Apple is actually encouraging developers to support all of iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and MacOS and has recently announced “universal apps”. Good luck with that! Great idea, but very difficult for developers. It’s a lot of work, and as well not every app “translates” well to the different environments.

will be lots of issues with touchpad vs mouse/keyboard. And the fact that Apple STILL doesn’t have a touchscreen laptop (like Microsoft Surface). When Apple should have been the FIRST company to implement that!

I like all of your points. I think it was a great idea initially just on costs alone -- no more need to press cd's, create packaging and then ship to retailers that will get questions they can't answer. However, like the Touch Bar, I think they were hoping developers would just jump all over it. It's not been as successful on that front. Of course, I could be way off on that. I use a core set of apps and just don't download that much anymore. I don't game (#lame) so I'm never in the market for anything new there.

 

[throAU]

The only apps I can find on there of any use are twitter and WhatsApp. Everything else you just go through the browser.

I understand apps on iPhone/iPad as they are built with touch interface in mind. So what benefit does a Mac app have over just either using the browser or downloading the app directly from a site?

The point is that app-store apps are code-signed and sandboxed - and vetted by apple.

This means that they are more secure than non-code-signed and non-sandboxed standalone applications.

Some developers don't want to jump through the hoops required to make their applications sandboxed and signed, because they're either lazy or don't understand, and thus they continue to put out applications that, if exploited are not contained to their sandbox.

Fun fact: many/most developers are lazy and many/most know and/or care very little about security



edit:
for those who don't know what sandboxing is - if an app is "sandboxed" the OS will only permit it to access specific parts of your computer (you may have noticed that you need to give newer/sandboxed mac apps permission to access specific folders). a non-sandboxed app has free reign to whatever your account can access without you knowing what it is doing.

 

[tonyberinson]

Not nearly cynical enough.

The point of the App Store is to provide a captive revenue stream to Apple. Nothing else.

What about the programmers?