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That is what in theory you think happens. What actually happens is that in very few app categories that is the case. For example, not a single game is losing market share to a competitor because they do not have a watch app.


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By and large the apps that are bad will be in markets where the purchasing decision makers are not buying based upon the quality of the app.

In which case you could create a better competing app and it wouldn't matter.


This is true of almost all apps. So what?

I agree that there are some apps that any mobile platform needs to be a contender. But I really think there aren't so many of these. If you look at iOS app store sales charts it's obvious that games utterly dominate there but I really don't think that games are dealbreakers for most buyers.

I predict that apps are going to be increasingly part of some larger overall business plan and less something sold for direct profit. Big players like Facebook and Nike need native apps in the store but they also have deep enough pockets to fund ports to Android and WP. We're already seeing that Apple's dominance in the app market doesn't translate to dominance in phone sales and I think platform-specific apps are going to be even less decisive in the coming years.


Isn't it the case for any app?

It's strange, you'd think almost the opposite would be true. Maybe it's just a matter of who you talk to, but I've heard a lot of people frustrated with companies trying to force feed them apps.

Yes, but the app ecosystem not so much.

It might be true that any app worth its salt simply doesn't need this service and if that's the case then the service won't succeed its as simple as that.

I think one of my underlying assumptions is that people are willing to pay to get out of the deluge of apps that are currently in the store. As an indie developer without a big company behind you its often very easy to get lost in everything. If the problem truly is that the app "got lost" then a service such as this could put it in the hands of people who will recommend it etc. That being said this is a fairly weak argument since an app that is good probably wouldn't have gotten lost in the first place.

Only time will tell I suppose


Provably false with the extreme example: Google.

Gmail, Maps, Hangouts, Search and a few others are regularly in the top 100, if not top 20 apps in the iOS app store. Thats at least 5 apps that stay on top. Several games are able to d the same for short durations of time as well... like the derivatives of Angry Birds and a few others.

The constellation works with a series of self established services. It only works as a spin off of the spin off is actually BIGGER than the core app, i.e. FB messenger. Otherwise you should just be looking to kill off the features you were looking to spin off.


They also favor their own apps or downright remove the competition.

Without apps does it really matter?

It's also possible that there is no killer app, and the whole thing just stays niche, like 3D movies or Second Life.

Exactly, which for many apps will be quite a while or will never happen.

Yes, but then how would they be able to mislead people into thinking their platform has a lot of apps, too?

I have to imagine the vast majority either don't care, or have other reasons for not having the app on there (like the company itself, for one).

The problem is that there is nothing else to compete on. TVs are two centimeters thick and have crisp displays. I don’t give a crap about 5k or whatever. So what can they market on except price? Apps.

I wouldn't assume all apps have similar competitive circumstances.

That may be true, but what's the difference? If there's no reason to go looking for an app in the first place, it won't get found anyway.

I was actually thinking about that - the number of paid non-game apps on my phone that I actually use? It's zero.

Most apps are free and are things like 2fa, chat apps, kindle, etc.

Would I be sad if the entire App Store shut down? Probably. Would it be enough to move me to Android? Uncertain, probably not.


You made your own correction irrelevant when you stated that this happens on every platform, which is true. But that's how great apps appear on a platform, and how great niche apps come to be born on the platform, too.

You can't say "there's an app for that" on a platform with 100 or even 1000 apps totally, even if you have the "top apps" in there.

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