Revamped iTunes And App Store Coming This Year To Desktops And iDevices Everywhere
February 20, 2012
With a company philosophy built on the tenets of "simpler is better," Apple's often come under fire for its needlessly convoluted and complex content distribution platforms. While iTunes and the App Store represent the best-known, most trafficked sales arms for the music industry and mobile markets respectively, neither is close to the seamless experience Apple is known for.
9to5Mac says that's all about to change. And soon!
Alongside this summer's release of Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Apple is expected to release a revamped desktop iTunes experience. While it remains unknown if the actual iTunes software will see any major changes (God, we hope it does!), the iTunes storefront -- both for desktop and iOS -- is in for a major redesign. Tops on the list of changes will be enhancements to the cumbersome discovery methods employed in the music, video, and television sections, but we wouldn't be surprised to see some significant interface refreshes and faster browsing built in, too.
The App Store's restructuring, however, is expected to come a bit later, with Cupertino's engineers focusing on the iOS experience above that of the Mac and PC versions. Opines 9to5Mac,
...many users have complained about how difficult it sometimes is to find new and exciting software for their iPads, iPhones, and iPod touches. Apple is likely working on a more interactive way of locating iOS device software to solve these concerns. The interactivity that Apple wants within the digital store is something Apple could only likely pull off by housing the store within a full-fledged application, not a pure web browser experience.Certainly, Apple's technical approach remains to be seen. However, it's a safe bet that, whenever these changes go live, they'll probably apply to the iBooks experience, as well. Apple has a lot of work to do in mechanically unifying its multiple sales platforms, and who knows? Maybe we'll even get that separate game store everyone thinks we all desperately need...