July 30, 2009 9:30 AM PDT

Apple makes finding iPhone apps easier

by Eric Franklin

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Yes, yes. "Arvale: Journey of Illusion" was exactly what I was looking for...

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

Ever had trouble finding a particular app at the iPhone App Store? Who hasn't? A couple weeks ago I spent like 10 minutes trying to find a game a friend had just shown me. That may have had more to do with me being intoxicated and less about the App Store's search functionality, though.

Still, things may be improving. According to AppleInsider, Apple is now asking iPhone developers to enter 255 comma-separated characters as keywords to iTunes Connect to be used for search in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch.

iTunes Connect is the application that developers use to upload and submit their iPhone and iPod Touch apps to Apple.

Definitely a welcome change, and it can only improve sales, so I'm sure most developers will be taking advantage of it. I would not be surprised to see some developers exploit this, though, by entering popular keywords for apps that are completely unrelated just for the chance of added exposure.

Hopefully this addition will also improve my app-finding luck as well. Whether I've been drinking or otherwise.

Eric Franklin refused to write a bio, saying, "Why are you bothering me about this bio business again? If I wanted people to know more about me, I'd send them to the Inside CNET Labs Podcast" (shameless plug). E-mail Eric.

Topics:: Applications,; News

Tags:: iphone,; iphone 3G,; iphone 3GS,; Apple,; App Store,; App Store Search,; Apple App store,; ipod Touch

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by pinksteady July 30, 2009 10:34 AM PDT

Any chance this might mean that developers can now flood their apps with keywords related to competitors and anything else people might be searching for in order to increase the number of search results their app will appear in? <br /><br />Have already seen this behaviour in the description text of apps. Hope this won't dilute the accuracy of the search results to an extent that it will become even harder to find an app you want!

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by junkyardheart July 31, 2009 3:53 PM PDT: Yeah, I've noticed this too. They put the names of very popular apps as keywords even though the apps have nothing in common and are of completely different genres. This makes the feature fairly useless.; Like this


by efranklin July 30, 2009 12:30 PM PDT: Yeah, exactly. I mention in the blog and try to point it point it out in the pic I included. It's annoying, but as long as I can find what I'm looking for it's not too bad.; Like this Reply to this comment


by deftdrummer July 30, 2009 1:02 PM PDT: I can already see the keyword schmooze: pRon, twitter, facebook, iphone, 3.0, dog, pRon, Verizon, SMS, LOL!!, ****!!; Like this Reply to this comment

by iphoneappquotes July 30, 2009 7:11 PM PDT

You would think search functionality would be important with thousands of apps in the store. The real question is why didnt Apple look at search as a crucial feature to get right in the first iteration of the app store.

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by Markus2008 July 30, 2009 7:30 PM PDT: That kind of statement is useless, it's kind of like saying, "The real question is why didn't any of the entrenched phone makers make an app store as compelling as Apple's in the first place?"; Like this


by July 31, 2009 1:59 PM PDT: On the contrary, Apple has screwed up the process so that if ANY keyword is also found in the description your app becomes almost not findable at all. My sales dropped 80% overnight. My app is called Invertebrate Pocket Reference, amazingly enough I used words like aquarium, saltwater, reef, fish, tank, etc. in my description as well as keywords - - - goodbye finding my app. This is a huge bone of contention by developers and there are several huge threads about it on the Apple iPhone developer forums. People are extremely upset and btw, it's 100 characters not 255, they announced that erroneously.; Like this Reply to this comment


by SiVola July 31, 2009 8:19 PM PDT: We just released our application with integrate with Facebook (it let you send virtual gifts on Facebook taken from our collection or your own pictures, update your own status with a colorful image, etc). We then called it "Facebook iGfit4u" but if you search for Facebook only, before us you see many application that has nothing or minimally to do with Facebook. I'm sure things will get better when the application will become more popular, but still it was interesting to notice that behavior. I'm sure Apple will find smart ways to fix also this :); Like this Reply to this comment


by July 31, 2009 9:32 PM PDT: A followup - more apps are coming up in keyword related searches (my two included) so Apple listened and is fixing it as they go. As to developers manipulating keywords, the keywords will be part of the approval process so that we can't put in keywords that are not related like every app using fart as a keyword.; Like this Reply to this comment

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