Apple singles out shopping apps in new iOS App Store category [u]
Apple added a new Shopping category to the iOS App Store on Friday to collect mobile banking, marketplace and coupon apps -- including those that accept Apple Pay -- in one easy to browse location.
Details on Apple's new addition were first reported by TechCrunch, which noted a new, dedicated "Shopping" category will be available to users worldwide once it launches. Previously, shopping-related apps were found in the "Lifestyle" section. Apple later confirmed availability in all 155 App Store territories through an announcement on its developer webpage.
With the new category active, iPhone and iPad users will be able to surface online banking apps that were previously scattered across different App Store categories. Being lumped together in a single category, or more specifically curated sub-categories, also boosts discoverability for lesser known commerce apps.
Also made more discoverable are apps supporting Apple Pay in-app payments. Apple added a "Shop with Apple Pay" subsection to denote such apps, while also introducing Shopping-related app collections for wedding planning, deals, shopping for kids, fashion and more. Prior to today's addition the apps now included in Shopping were mostly relegated to the Lifestyle section, meaning that category is now less bloated.
As noted by Apple, developers can select Shopping in iTunes Connect when assigning app categories for new and updated titles.
Update: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Shopping was exclusive to the tvOS App Store. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.
Details on Apple's new addition were first reported by TechCrunch, which noted a new, dedicated "Shopping" category will be available to users worldwide once it launches. Previously, shopping-related apps were found in the "Lifestyle" section. Apple later confirmed availability in all 155 App Store territories through an announcement on its developer webpage.
With the new category active, iPhone and iPad users will be able to surface online banking apps that were previously scattered across different App Store categories. Being lumped together in a single category, or more specifically curated sub-categories, also boosts discoverability for lesser known commerce apps.
Also made more discoverable are apps supporting Apple Pay in-app payments. Apple added a "Shop with Apple Pay" subsection to denote such apps, while also introducing Shopping-related app collections for wedding planning, deals, shopping for kids, fashion and more. Prior to today's addition the apps now included in Shopping were mostly relegated to the Lifestyle section, meaning that category is now less bloated.
As noted by Apple, developers can select Shopping in iTunes Connect when assigning app categories for new and updated titles.
Update: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Shopping was exclusive to the tvOS App Store. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.
Comments
In fact, the entire Categories section only just debuted on Wednesday.
One man's 'entire Categories section' is another man's 'categories tab'. The categories tab was ready to be added when the apps began to fill up.
That's a fair request. Apple need to make the 50GB tier of iCloud free. Heck, I'd go further and say the first 100GB should be free. If anything it'd provide more user lock-in. Something we know Apple loves, thanks to those highly publicised court documents. We give them enough money as is, they shouldn't nickel and dime their customers for an extra $12 per year to back up our stuff. The main reason for backing up in the first place is to make it easier to upgrade to a new device. And to back up photos taken with these touted cameras. Probably costs Apple less than $5 per year to host a user's data. Make the user happy and have this stuff work out of the box without needing to pay more money and they'll buy a new iPad, an iPhone, a Watch, a Mac, an Apple TV and a car. And they'll back them all up (and be locked in through convenience).
Squeezing them for an additional $12 a year to back up their device only leaves a bad taste in their mouth. I've heard a number of people complain about it IRL now. "Don't I give them enough money already" seems to be the consensus. And no, it's not people feeling entitled. It's people literally giving Apple huge sums of money and being treated with no real respect. Apple need to walk the walk they always preach.
That's a fair request. Apple need to make the 50GB tier of iCloud free. Heck, I'd go further and say the first 100GB should be free. If anything it'd provide more user lock-in. Something we know Apple loves, thanks to those highly publicised court documents. We give them enough money as is, they shouldn't nickel and dime their customers for an extra $12 per year to back up our stuff. The main reason for backing up in the first place is to make it easier to upgrade to a new device. And to back up photos taken with these touted cameras. Probably costs Apple less than $5 per year to host a user's data. Make the user happy and have this stuff work out of the box without needing to pay more money and they'll buy a new iPad, an iPhone, a Watch, a Mac, an Apple TV and a car. And they'll back them all up (and be locked in through convenience).
Squeezing them for an additional $12 a year to back up their device only leaves a bad taste in their mouth. I've heard a number of people complain about it IRL now. "Don't I give them enough money already" seems to be the consensus. And no, it's not people feeling entitled. It's people literally giving Apple huge sums of money and being treated with no real respect. Apple need to walk the walk they always preach.
You mean like selling ATV4 before it's ready and therefore making all their customers Beta testers??? I mean zero Bluetooth Keyboard so it takes for ever to enter all your services....The "user experience" is not quite there yet with ATV4....
Until now there hasn't been an appletv that needed backup, so it isn't here at launch. Give it a little time and they will add it when they see people needing to factory reset or exchange hardware under AppleCare.
You know you could have used you iOS device to configure your new ATV and its keyboard. It only takes a few minutes to setup. I guess that feature was too obvious considering Apple was not first to do that. Works the same way on a Roku box.
I'd argue it needed one from the point they added apps like Hulu, Netflix, MLB and legacy broadcast and cable content like HBO and CBS. Painful moving from the 2 to 3 then the 4; re-entering the same credentials over and again. I was also beta test so each wipe was added annoyance.
I'm also sure it will come in time. Hopefully an SSO too although I can imagine getting a common directory service will be a pain for security and vendor agreement/alignment.
I'd settle for 10GB for each device I have using my iCloud ID. iPhone, iPad x3, MBP, iMac, ATV4 x 2, ATV3. That said, $.99 a month ain't a bad deal.
Ios9 only, and initial iCloud and App Store only. Tell me how you signed into Hulu, Netflix, HBO, showtime, abc, cbs, ESPN, mlb, nhl, and the rest?
Appletv 3 did this better by letting you use the remote app in initial setup.
A system like that would reward people for owning more than one device and encourage them to buy larger capacity devices. It would be a great marketing strategy. 5GB per account almost seems like you're being penalized for owning more than one device.
I'd also like the ability to back up all of my iDevices to a local Time Machine at LAN speeds and then have the Time Machine (optionally) trickle the data up to the cloud when bandwidth is available instead of having to go directly from my device to the cloud. It would be especially beneficial for restoring my data to a new device if I could pull it at high speed from storage within my home. (I know I can do this from iTunes on a PC - but it would be more convenient to do this from a dedicated always-on device on my network such as an AirportExtreme.