The App Store is much better on iOS 8

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On June 4, 2014

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Apple conducted what they claim to be the “greatest WWDC since the App Store“, yesterday in San Francisco and among a hundred other things, they discussed the changes they’re bringing to the App Store in iOS 8. Though it took the spotlight for only three minutes in the two hour keynote, the new features are very appealing.

1. Better ways to find new apps

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Till now, finding the best apps have been limited to Apple’s weekly Featured Apps and the Top Charts. However, with iOS 8, the App Store will be smarter and will allow you to find good and popular apps, even if they’re not trending currently. This will be achieved by an Explore feature where you can find the best apps in each category, subcategory and even sub-subcategories.

Also in the iOS 8 App Store, you’ll be able to see what the world is searching for with the Trending searches option. Similar to the trending keywords on Google search, you will have a list of the most commonly searched terms on the App Store and join the lot with just a tap.

2. Better search results

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From now on, the results page on the App Store will be taking an infinite vertical scrolling UI  and on top, you’ll have a Related Searches bar, where you can find other similar keywords and avail the best app catalog for your needs. (Apple was caught testing this feature, back in March.)

Also, the App Store on iOS 8 will assist users to pick the best ones from the endless menu, with the Editor’s Choice badge on featured apps.

3. App Bundles

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Yes, my favorite! Starting this fall, developers will be able to create bundles of their apps and sell them together for a discounted price – not only is it a steal for users but will also boost the sales for developers. However, the ability for multiple developers to create bundles together doesn’t seem to be supported yet.

Personally, I think that this would make more sense and be more welcome and hope to see that too, before the final build is out.

4. App Previews

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The iOS 8 App Store will be bring a feature from Google Play: video app previews. Developers can now showcase the live action of their games and usage of their apps with the help of videos so that users can get a better sense of what they’re buying.

5. Test Flight

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We had already heard plenty about Apple’s acquisition of the beta testing platform TestFlight, but none even thought that it would be melted right into iOS 8. Developers can invite users to beta test their apps or games, let them download the builds and gets stats, feedback or reports, all directly within the AppStore and for free.

So these are the new features which Apple mentioned during yesterday’s keynote. You can catch the whole video on their website; the talk on the App Store starts around 1:22:00.

Also read: Top 5 iOS 8 features