iTunes App Store “Release Date” Sorting Sorta Broken?
Swing by the iTunes App Store, pick a category, and get/go to the Sort by: Release Date listing and it may look like Apple hasn’t added any new iPhone and iPod touch apps since November 19 — only they have, and it’s just the iTunes listings that are broken.
Rewind: We started getting questions from users who thought no new apps were being released, or that Apple had somehow frozen the App Store. Then we got reports from developers saying their apps weren’t showing up in the release date listings even though they’d been approved and put into the store. Finally, we got reports of the release date listings being flat out busted, and that’s what looks to be the case.
What does this mean? For users looking to find new apps in iTunes, good luck with that. Absent sort by release date, you’ll have to hit up third party tracking sites like AppShopper until Apple fixes the App Store proper. For developers who were hoping for the brief spotlight that listing provides for those users, well you’re out some primo free marketing. And for many, that’s going to hurt.
So, to sum up, yes Apple is still posting new apps, but no they’re not updating the release date lists, and yes this sucks for both user discovery and developer exposure.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in -- in all forms!]
November 24th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Must be the same reason the updates after they are installed keep coming back and back and back and back.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:38 am
I am a developer who has been “harmed” by this issue. We had an app come out last week that never made the new releases page. Consequently, our sales have been severely damaged by this issue.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:42 am
That sucks Bryan, its funny how one day the app store goes south, and it takes a while for them to fix or notice it. They should just leave it alone. Top grossing apps really do nothing for a consumer. Does it?
November 24th, 2009 at 9:52 am
The developers of those apps are very lucky.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:15 am
We also had an App released last week and are missing out on not having it listed. This is a major issue! We have sent some emails to iTunes Connect with no response as of yet.
November 24th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
We’re in the same boat. Our new app went live last night. This makes the second time an new app release has gone awry. Not cool. This potentially will cost us a lot of money.
November 24th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
I was happy to have an app approved last night, but without a fix the app is essentially lost. Until you have a chance to sell a few copies you won’t even appear near the top of any search results. Sales so far have been zero; I contacted Apple via email and the radar bug tracker but I seldom hear back when I try those avenues.
November 24th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Most of an apps sales are from its first exposure. Then make or brake. Its what the consumer wants. I’m cool with that. My app was just approved and the sales have been negligible. No list exposure and no consumer knows. It makes me cynical but thats three months of development down the tubes. With the new policies an update gives no exposure either. Totally reevaluating the platform. btw, love the iphone and the mac but the marketing is broken. My view about Apple is changing too. Not a fan of android either.
November 24th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
This is so unfortunate! It happened a few times for our Mark On Call app, but only for updates thank goodness. Now that Apple no longer allows updates to appear under the new Release Date section, it really is becoming more of a challenge, especially when developers actually improve their product. If it’s any help, really focus on the keywords users will type in to find you and make your app’s name up of some of these words if possible. People need to understand quickly what it is you’re offering. Tweaks in our app’s name have spiked our sales and conversely negatively affected them at times, especially with their policy of no keywords in the app name (so you have to be creative).
November 24th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Apple posted on the dev message boards they recognized the issue and were going to have a fix in soon.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Is it possible that Apple’s IT backend is having trouble handling 100K apps? As for myself I currently have 55 apps on my iPhone. In iTunes I’ve never looked at apps by release date. I look at apps that people in blogs and forums recommend.
November 24th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
im having the same prob as steve, after installing a new update, the update badge keeps coming back no matter how many times i install it… is anybody else having this issue?? why is it happening.. its quite annoying!
November 25th, 2009 at 1:19 am
I wonder if this problem is also behind the recent phenomenon where after updating some – but not all – apps, the update remains stuck on the app store’s updates page for up to a day..?
(The updates apply fine, but the notification of an update refuses to go away once the update is done).
This is in Australia, btw. I had initially wondered if a time zone problem was to blame.
November 25th, 2009 at 8:43 am
I was wondering why I couldn’t see any new apps
Such a shame – I love checking to see what’s new out.
You can still see the new apps if you look via your PC/Mac, but that kinda defeats the point of being able to access them via your itouch….. :/
Hope they fix it soon.
November 25th, 2009 at 11:02 am
No, Apple’s new policy is not to show updated apps on the new release lists now. But I get the feeling the update change led to the other issues.
I don’t think a database or file system with 100K entries is that big.
Looks like new apps are showing up again in the list.
Seems like lots of marketers are pressuring devs now that updates don’t show up. So, rather than the consumer knowing there is an update without the product you’ll just have to browse or look at the shinny new add.
December 1st, 2009 at 8:37 pm
John is exactly right on this issue. I’m almost positive this is not a bug. Apple has stopped placing updated applications on the front page of their respective categories. Instead they added an “Updated” field on applications.
This is a pretty big blow to small developers like myself. I recently released an app. It was delayed and never got on the front page of photography. I just released an update and that too was not on the front page of photography. So I’m not getting any of the great exposure that iTunes gives you for free. Small developers cannot compete with large companies when it comes to marketing. I simply cannot afford the advertising needed to gain significant exposure for applications.
The updating route was great for me. I have four apps now and relied on making constant and significant updates in order to keep my app in the spotlight. I now have no incentive other than to add features that I want. Releasing an update will do nothing for my sales. I really can’t justify the amount of time I spend on these apps if I don’t see at least a little money for my work.
This is a really disappointing turn in the app store. Hopefully Apple will reconsider this and see that they are doing much more harm to the store than any good that can come of this.
December 16th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Seems broken again. I haven’t seen avatar on the release date sort, but it was release two days ago
January 30th, 2010 at 3:13 am
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