I just updated the B-Rhymes Android app with a bug fix. A side benefit of releasing bug fixes on either the Android Market of iTunes App Store, is that it gets your app in the “Just In” list for a little while, until it’s pushed out by other freshly updated apps.
But, post update, when I checking the Reference category’s Just In list, I see it’s full of these:
App Spam!
There were 80 or so of these that seem to be just text pasted from old, presumably out of copyright, books. I have know Idea who would buy one of these, but I’m sure the shotgun approach to get into people’s app searches will catch some people who don’t know better.
In the mean time, it takes more effort for millions of people to sort through the spam crap apps in order to find the good ones, if they bother at all. They damage consumer confidence in the App Market to make a quick buck. New era, same old spam.
After looking into this a bit, it seems the Android situation is worse off. One analysis recently determined that of the 28,963 apps on the Android Market, about 10,000 are spam. The iTunes App Store has similar problems, but maybe not to this extent.
I really hope there’s something to be done about this before many people give up buying apps all together.
I never look into that “Just in” category, it usually is filled with crap. There may be alot of bad apps out there, but I’ve never had a hard time finding the quality apps I need, like this one!
I do see a slight bump in downloads when I publish a bug fix, so there seems to still be some minor benefit to the Just In list. Despite the innate abilities of you and others to identify app spam, it’d be nice if there was a way to flag it or something.
Anyway, thanks for the compliment Jeff!
BTW, compliments also appreciated, as well as stars, on the App Store/App Market