The macosxhints Rating:
[Score: 9 out of 10]
- Developer: Apple / Product page
- Price: Varies
Prior to my iPhone, I owned and used a Palm Treo. One of my frustrations with the Treo was finding and installing software for it. Although there's a huge universe of programs for the Treo, I never managed to find the best way to discover, install, and keep up-to-date with the various programs I wanted to find. With the App Store, all of those difficulties have vanished.
Whether I'm on my iPhone or my Mac, the App Store makes it simple to find and install anything in the universe of (Apple-approved) iPhone applications. One button tap is all that's required to see any updates that have been released for programs I've installed. It really doesn't get much simpler than that.
Developers seem to have embraced the App Store as well, with over 500 applications at launch (and over 225 more added since then). For the most part, I've been impressed with the pricing of the applications -- many are free, and there's a huge selection available for $4.99 and less -- including a number at the "iTunes standard" of $0.99, which is clearly in the "impulse buy" price range for many users.
The App Store isn't perfect, of course. I'd love to see a "view by date" on the iPhone version of the store, along with some method of doing batch installs on the iPhone, instead of the currently-required click-buy-download-install-repeat cycle that's in place now. However, those are relatively minor quibbles -- the App Store is a game changer for both users and developers of software for mobile devices, and for that, it's this week's Pick of the Week.

