Redesigning the App Store’s homepage

Making the iOS App Store much more personal

I’m a big user of apps. That’s not to say that I have tons of apps on my iPhone at all times, but I try my best to experiment a lot when deciding on which app from a certain category to use. Through doing that, I obviously spend a good amount of time on the App Store, and I think that the App Store’s homepage has a pretty obvious flaw: it’s not personalized.

The problem

A huge variety of people undoubtedly use the App Store. From the casual gamer to the businessman. And that’s just painting the problem in broad strokes. Some gamers enjoy highly-polished games like Monument Valley, while others enjoy quick getaways like Candy Crush. Some workers prefer simple productivity apps like Clear, while others would much rather use something more complex like Omnifocus. And the list goes on.

The fact that each and every one of these people, when launching the App Store, are presented with the same exact “Featured” page just feels wrong. This one-size-fits-all approach is, I believe, hurting both customers and developers.

For the customers, the issue is easy to see. They’re simply not getting the best recommendations based on their tastes. If the only games I’ve downloaded are games like Alto’s Adventure, Monument Valley, and Her Story, do I really need to know that there are new levels available in Candy Crush? Well, no.

As for developers, their apps might greatly benefit from the added exposure. Having just one homepage forces Apple to focus mainly on apps targeted for the mainstream. Photo-sharing apps, social networks, and games are abundantly found on the front page. But, what if I wanted to release an app for book-readers (shameless self-promotion right here)? Wouldn’t it be much more beneficial, for both me and my customer, if people who have downloaded apps like Goodreads would get this app as a recommendation?

The solution

What I recommend is something that Apple is actually doing for the music industry. Apple Music learns from people’s tastes, and recommends songs, albums, artists, and playlists based on the music they listen to. And their playlist curation is, in my opinion, pretty top-notch.

So here’s what I came up with:

Instead of the “Featured” section, it would be replaced by a “For You” section (exactly like Apple Music). This would have everything from recommended apps to recommended collections. And, every time you download a new app, the store would learn from that and improve its recommendations. I think this would make the App Store a true joy to browse.

Apple could still highlight apps that they think deserve it, of course, like their Editor’s Choice. But, mixed with that would be personalised picks that will simply make sense to the customer.

If done correctly, I believe this would be a win-win-win situation for Apple, its customers, and its developers. Obviously, Apple wants people to buy and download apps (they get a 30% cut of developers’ profits after all), and I really think such a redesign would encourage people to browse more and download more.

Now, I’m not at all claiming that this is the perfect solution for the App Store. I’m still just a 20 year-old developer/designer with a lot to learn. What I do know is that I trust websites such as MacStories way more than the Featured page because of how unpersonalised it is, and I bet many people feel the same. If you think otherwise, have something to add, or have a different suggestion for the App Store, I’d love to hear what you have to say. Hit me up on Twitter, or leave a response to this post.