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Apple's New App Store Categories

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App Masters11:43Open on YouTube
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The bottom line

Apple's two new iOS categories, Developer Tools and Graphics & Design, are already live, so developers who move in now get early visibility. Apple is also pushing the Mac App Store, so Mac apps are a second opening.

Key takeaways

  • The two new categories are already live but unlisted. 2:58
    • The App Store doesn't show Developer Tools as a category yet, but apps can already be pushed into it.
    • Open an app in the category, tap the category name, and you see its paid and free top charts.
  • The charts are nearly empty, so ranking is easy for early entrants. 3:42
    • The Behance chart lists only nine apps, where top charts usually run to hundreds.
    • The paid Graphics & Design chart holds just three apps.
  • Moving in early beats waiting to see if the categories take off. 5:32
    • Early paid app makers did very well, while the sticker apps wave was smaller, but a developer who hit number one there still gained a lead.
    • Switching category needs a new app build, so rivals can't move instantly and the window lasts about a month.
  • Apple is pushing the Mac App Store, which makes Mac apps a second opening. 1:21
    • Mac buyers expect higher prices, and a $25 app counts as cheap there.
    • SwiftUI gives one code base for all platforms, so iOS developers can publish on Mac with almost the same code.

If you just sit and wait you're just gonna watch everybody else make action and you're gonna be like, ah, I should have done that.

Steve P. Young

Chapter summaries

0:00 What iOS 13.4 changes for developers

One universal app now covers iOS and macOS, and iOS gets two new categories for the first time in years.

  • One universal app can now be sold on both iOS and macOS. 0:32
    • Buyers no longer pay once on each store.
    • Apple has made publishing on Mac easier.
    • These are the first new iOS categories in a long, long time.
    • Apple's motive is revenue. The Mac store earns less than iOS, but Mac buyers spend more per app.
  • Graphics & Design and Developer Tools join iOS, and Photo and Video becomes one category. 2:04
    • That makes two new iOS categories.
    • Photos and videos merge on the App Store into a single category.

2:47 Checking the charts and moving early

Apple opened the categories early to fill them, and developers who push in now get a head start.

  • Apple opened the categories early so they wouldn't launch empty. 4:23
    • The official announcement is expected at the end of March, with iOS 13.4.
    • Behance is the example app: find it, tap its category and read the charts.
    • Each category has two charts, paid and free.
    • A popular tool like Behance lets a newcomer ride its wave of awareness.
  • Moving early beats waiting, even if the category flops. 4:46
    • Steve's habit of sitting back and waiting is the wrong strategy.
    • A sticker-app developer who hit number one said the money isn't there.
    • If it fails, the cost is only the time invested.

5:52 The Mac App Store is an overlooked opening

Paid Mac utilities are a gap most iOS developers have ignored, and SwiftUI makes filling it cheaper.

  • Paid Mac utilities are worth building now. 6:40
    • Alfred and Magnet are paid utilities the speakers use all the time.
    • Apple's category changes hint that it wants to push the Mac store.
    • Most developers have sort of ignored what they can do on the Mac store.
    • The speaker has paid for many different Mac apps himself.
  • SwiftUI lets iOS developers reach more than iPhone and iPad. 7:22
    • A single code base can serve every platform.
    • SwiftUI has a real learning curve and is very different from UIKit.
    • Apple's hardware announcements are still unknown, so the speakers only wait and see.

8:42 A screenshot tool that fits the new categories

Render, a tool for making App Store screenshots, shows how a developer's own need can become a product for these categories.

  • An app-making tool can fit Graphics & Design or Developer Tools. 8:45
    • Render builds App Store screenshots, and its maker is unsure which category fits.
    • It could take one as primary and the other as secondary, and it will be a paid app.
    • The maker built it because an app is only half the battle, and it must also look great in the store.
    • Screenshots go into 3D device models, with adjustable angles and animated videos.
    • A public test is running, with release expected in one or two weeks.

In the growth library

Romain, App developer, building the screenshot tool Render. Apple is adding Developer Tools and Graphics & Design categories to iOS and pushing the Mac App Store with universal apps, and these categories are already live though unannounced. The episode shows how to check the thin top charts and move early before competition arrives.

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Transcript132 lines
0:00

what is up app nation it is Steve P. Young founder of Appmaster.com the place you go when you want action-packed content in the app business and was I was thirteen point four there's a lot of changes happening and I reached out to my friend Romain to say hey man what are these changes and how's that going to impact what developers do what kind of apps developers create and any ASO changes that we might see so remain welcome to the show man let's talk about this hey Steve thank you for having me yeah very exciting I think I was thirteen point four it's it's the first time in a long long time that we have two new categories with the new universal app that you can push on the App Store now we've got at least you know you can push to iOS and Mac OS at the same time and they're just one app so if you had to pay that before people would have to pay for it on the iOS App Store and then they would have to pay

1:05

for it again on the Mac App Store that's gonna be that's gonna be merged now does it change anything from a developer side like from the code perspective does that change anything cuz I know you're a developer you can answer those questions basically made it easier Apple has made it easier to publish apps for Mac and I think they are going to push the Mac App Store a bit more heavily I think it's just you know it's a revenue thing at the end of the day right the Mac App Store probably doesn't well surely doesn't generate as much revenue but most of the apps that you would go and pay for on the Mac App Store I'm sure you would pay more you would expect you know a $25 app is cheap but on you know spending two bucks on the App Store is it's you know a bit more of a decision right so yeah lots of lots of opportunities I think if they are merging some of the the categories so photos and videos is

2:17

going to merge I think with graphics and design so graphics and design is going to iOS as well as developer tools so that's two new categories for iOS and I think this is what is most interesting yeah so the iOS App Store and then what they're doing with photo and video is just one category now photo and video combined on them app store and then in the iOS app store there's two new categories developer tools and graphics design and you were talking before we hit record you're talking about like how to actually access and see who is number one in this new in these senior categories yes so they haven't been announced but they're actually already live and you can already push apps onto into those categories they're just basically unlisted right so if you're going to the App Store you won't see the developer tools written as a category but if you find one of the apps within one of those categories then you can see

3:22

if they are number one in developer tools etc and then you should tap on that category you can see the top charts for paid free of the three new categories yeah and you can look at so the the the app that we kind of talked about was Behance and there's only number there's only nine apps in the top charts and usually top charts go you know hundreds of top charts so it might be an opportunity in the early days to utilize these categories get awareness and like ride the wave of a popular tool like Behance in this particular category definitely yeah the actually paid the paid category for it's actually four categories cause you to have paid and free right but you had to pay the paid category for graphics and design is only three apps right now oh wow there's only three so you know this I'm sure you know when hopefully it's gonna be there's going to be an event but at the end of March when they will announce iOS 13.4 I don't think Apple wants to have you know

4:37

empty categories the day they announced them that's why they've they've opened the gates but it's not official it's not officially announced so you gotta utilize it now remain like here's what I feel like you know back in the days when people got into the rescanning days early on like when there's a new thing even if it doesn't hit then it's better to be early and miss because if it does hit then you're early wave will really help out right like you even think about the App Store in its early days the people who are making paid apps back then they were very successful in people who kind of rode the wave and you know when sticker zaps happened it didn't hit as big cuz I was talking some developer and hit number one under like the stickers like paid app and he's like you know what the money isn't there but if it does hit you're gonna ride that wave and you're gonna be very successful if it doesn't hit all right hopefully you

5:29

did invest too much time so I always feel like when these new things happen I like to sit and wait but I think that's the wrong strategy I think you have to jump on it and capitalize because if it hits becomes really successful things you ride the wave if it doesn't all right cool but if you just sit and wait you're just gonna watch everybody else make action and you're gonna be like ah I should have done that yeah I mean it's an opportunity right now how many you know it's how many category is only have three right yeah it's it's definitely going to increase visibility for people who even you know for the first month I would say before it ramps ramps up to you know people switching to this category you need to update your app to do that so you know it will slow down people from from doing this you know they can't just do it instantly basically you have to release a new build etc so yeah it won't come with

6:31

with time I'm sure but there's right now an opportunity because it's it's already available yep and I think another indication is maybe start thinking about the MAC store as an opportunity I think a lot of us developers or we've sort of ignored what we can do on the MAC store but you're right man like I've paid for a lot of like different apps I think paid ABS under the MAC store are gonna be really useful and if you think about the MAC store and think about utilities you know I think there's certain categories where there's an opportunity for all of us like some of my favorite apps like Alfred there's one that I have magnet you know these are all like some of these are really paid apps that I use all the time and so I think there's an opportunity some of these changes apples indicating like kind of what you said to that there they want to push the Mac store a little bit more and so think

7:22

about things that you can develop on the Mac store as well yes with Swift UI now you can you know have one code base that works for all platforms that's cool so yeah that that makes a big big difference because lots of iOS developers well now know be able to publish on the Mac App Store with pretty much the same code is there anything that you want to make sure we cover with some of the new changes to it I mean we'll see what happens obviously issues

8:00

those are not rumors because we can we can see them right but yeah what is going to be announced you know we we don't know yet exactly hardware for the hardware apart from that yeah I just I just wait for better Swift you why I've been you know coding heavily in Swift UI and and it's really a learning curve it's really different from UI kids and what we've been using in the past but yeah I think I think it's going to enable lots of iOS developers to you know code for more more than just iPhones and iPads what are you I know you're working on something you what are you working on right now yes I'm working on render which is an app that helps you create screenshots for the app store so I'm actually wondering if it's a design tool or a developer tool I'm not sure which category that would go in but kdd primary and secondary maybe yeah I guess but yeah probably more graphics well anyway yeah

9:11

it's you know scratching my own age you know I have apps that I've put on the App Store and I it's always the same once you know once the app is made it's only half the batter all you need to make it look amazing on the App Store so I started to develop my own tools and now I'm thinking actually I need to I can put those out there in the world if they help me they will probably help other people so yeah those those two new categories I think are all really welcome for me it's gonna be yeah it's gonna be interesting when when is render coming out I'm not exactly sure yet I think I think one or two weeks I've probably about the same as I was 13.4 you can find actually you can try the it's on test right there's a public test right right now so if you type r r n dr does app you go straight to a website where you can subscribe for this fine I'll link that up RN D and then you guys can check it out too great tool you know

10:24

what before you even said I was like I was thinking the same long the same line so I was like you know what this is for developers to have so you put your screenshots into 3d devices you know the iPhone trolls etc and you can animate you can you know change the angle you want you can record videos in animates and one angle to the other yeah it's quite cool nice man you gonna be charging for it's gonna be paid app right I think so yes yeah I think so yeah developer tool alright well thanks for bringing this up man like I don't pay attention enough attention to some of the changes they have stores making few and I think I feel like I should probably do that but I will cover that and I'll kind of so thanks for bringing this up to me and take sure I was like hey you want to come on and do this with me and talk about it so thank you for doing that as well man thanks - yeah and I'm gonna link up your other website so you be

11:24

color calm for those who want to check the other stuff that you have going on as well excellent thank you very much thanks brother all right all for what thank you all for watching I'll see you on the next video