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Developer claims Apple 'messing' with tvOS App Store algorithm
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MacNN Staff
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Equinox, the developer of LiveTV (German TV streams) claims that a new Apple tvOS App Store algorithm is hiding apps from its Top Charts once a user installs the app. The developer spotted the change after it released an update to its app. Where it had been listed in the number 42 slot prior to making the update available, Equinox noted that following the update, it had apparently vanished from the charts completely.
After the update, which presumably rolled in with the latest requirements from Apple for tvOS, the developer discovered that its place on the Top Free chart was taken by another app. "We checked and double-checked iTunes Connect, refreshed the App Store, checked our crash logs, but nothing stood out," the developer wrote. "Apple's intention with the change is presumably to make the charts appear 'fresher' and users see more apps that they haven't installed yet."
 Before update After update
Developers who utilize Apple's iOS, tvOS, OS X, and watchOS platforms have long had issues with App Store discovery and search. The latest change appears to make sense from one perspective, as it makes apps that have not been installed by a user more visible to customers, instead of presenting them with possibly redundant information. However, as Equinox argues, "the downside is that the charts don't really show an accurate picture of what the 'Top' apps are, instead they show 'Top apps that you haven't installed yet'."
So far, the purchased app removal from the top list only manifests on the tvOS charts.
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Last edited by NewsPoster; Jun 16, 2016 at 12:21 AM.
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Jun 2008
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That kinda makes sense to me. If I have a bunch of the top apps installed, and I go looking for new apps, I'd rather not be inundated with a list of apps I've already installed.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Nov 2003
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I never noticed. But then again, I would never think to reference the Top Apps list as some sort of scoreboard.
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: California
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I saw this being reported elsewhere as a straightforward positive change, and I certainly think it is.
Fine, "top" technically becomes "top you don't already have", but really, I've already got it installed--why the heck do I need to see it when I'm browsing for *new* stuff? Which, by definition, I am if I'm in the app store, unless I'm looking at the updates section.
It's hard enough to discover new stuff on the ATV store without half the things in the recommended section being stuff you already have.
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