The iOS App Store got a new look last fall, and the change has greatly benefited developers of third-party applications, as Apple intended. A new study found that getting named Game of the Day results in an 800 percent increase in downloads.
Inclusion in the other segments of the App Store Today screen brought improved performance as well.
The pre-iOS 11 design emphasized lists of most popular applications, which didn’t change very often. There was little reason to visit the store other than to download software that you’d heard about somewhere else.
A Curated App Store
The design update that came last year brought the Today screen, a sort of digital magazine about software. The stories, and highlighted applications are intended to bring new titles to the attention of iPhone and iPad users. A goal that’s clearly working.
Photo: Sensor Tower
Analysis company Sensor Tower compared the number of downloads for applications before and after being featured on the Today screen somehow. The study began last September, when the software store redesign debuted in iOS 11.
Getting named Game of the Day resulted in a 685 percent increase in downloads, almost as good as App of the Day. Apple writing a Today screen story about an application resulted in a 222 percent increase.
And Apple continues to improve the App Store, recently adding the ability to sort reviews.
