24 March 2016

App Stores

There are many app stores on the web now. The three primary ones include Google Play Store, Mac App Store, and Amazon App Store. These seem to have the largest market share and potentially ones with good monetization potential. However, it seems app stores still need to converge, integrate and provide better services. So, far only Mac App store has a decent enough quality assurance process in place. And, Amazon App store provides the widest amount of device coverage as long as it is Android specific. There are certain functionalities that all app stores need to provide these days in order to make life easier for developers.

  • An app store that can support many devices, languages, and platforms not exclusive to a few
  • A separate analytics option to measure app performance and churn rate
  • A separate analytics option to measure sentiments, marketing, and monetization channels
  • An app integration option to drive packaging with ease across multiple platforms
  • A demo section where consumers can get a preview of the app before buying or downloading
  • A docking facility to support on browser, desktop, and mobile
  • A gateway or fusion service that seamlessly makes upgrading, deployments, and publishing easier
  • A widget and theming service
  • A push notification, synchronization, and upgrade management service
  • A separate option for desktop and browser
  • A separate option for mobile, tv, and other ubiquitous devices
  • A better way of monetization for free apps and a way to control viral amplification on the web
  • A secure way to download and upload apps, and app security checking during QA review process, as well as continuous identity and apps screening
  • Also, a standardization process across all app stores to make monetization and publishing easier
  • A more secure and flexible payment processing workflow both for seller and buyer
  • A better semantically searchable option for apps that can be queried across app stores
  • Access to public and private controls for downloads for enterprises, DRM, and country restrictions
  • Age and parental control restrictions
  • Ability to check app compatibility on the fly
  • Simpler and more accessible policy and code of conduct guidelines for developers
  • Better selection criteria for app stores
  • A central administration console
  • Device registration and management
  • Auto-scalability, CDN, and uptime features via public and private cloud options
  • Options for added promotions, offers, and discounts for further upselling on the apps 
  • Also, app stores should only be commission based no flat fee for membership should be necessary, and if the fee is necessary then it should be fairly nominal like $9.99 rather than $99 per year

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