INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
When Apple introduced its completely redesigned App Store last fall, one of its goals was to improve app discovery by placing a larger
emphasis on editorial content & including things like &app of the day& picks, lists, how-to and even interviews with app developers, among
Now, a new study from Sensor Tower reveals those changes appear to have been working.
According to Sensor Tower findings, more apps are
being discovered by way of browsing the App Store following the redesign launched in September.
Before, browse-driven downloads accounted
for around 10 percent of all downloads
With the new App Store, they&ve grown to more than 15 percent
And that increase has held steady into 2018, even as the initial excitement around the App Store revamp has worn off.
Despite the growth
in app discovery by browsing, searching for app by typing keywords into the search box is still, by far, the primary way consumers are
finding and downloading new apps
Today, search accounts for 65 percent of downloads & well ahead of browse, referrals, or other methods.
Sensor Tower based its findings on
data collected on app downloads between May 2017 and April 2018, it says.
The report also delved into the differences between how consumers
discover apps and games.
As it turns out, browsing plays a much more significant role in game discovery than it does for non-game apps
Only 56 percent of game downloads came from search, compared with 69 percent for non-games
Meanwhile, browse contributed to 24 percent of game downloads, compared to just 9 percent of non-game downloads.
What this seems to indicate
is that iOS users are turning to the App Store and its editorial recommendations in greater numbers to learn about what new game to try next
Plus, the fact that games can now include a video preview, and labels like &Editor Choice& are better highlighted in the new App Store also
likely help people get a better sense of which ones to install, as they browse.
Sensor Tower findings about game downloads line up with
research released last month where it found that games that were featured as the &Game of the Day& could see their downloads increase by 802
percent, compared to the week prior to being featured
Apps, by comparison, saw boosts of 685 percent.
The new report findings are good news for Apple which had a sizable challenge to tackle with
its App Store redesign.Its app marketplace had grown almost over-crowded over the years
And even after the big app cleanup, it still stands at over 2 million apps.Finding a way to better introduce favorites and newcomers to iOS
users at this scale was a tall order, but the growth in apps discovered by way of browsing indicates Apple has seen some success on this
