Mac App Store: First Impressions
Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 9:17AM 
Look familiar?Apple has opened the doors on the Mac App Store, bringing the iPod/iPad app buying experience to the desktop. We've given it a quick run-through, and here are some quick observations.
How do you get it?
You will need to install the 10.6.6 update, and agree to updated terms in iTunes.
Where is it?
After you install the update, an App Store icon is loaded in your dock. Unlike certain apps on the iPhone, you can remove the App Store icon from the dock.
Where do apps go?
By default, an icon to launch each purchased app is placed in the dock, and the app goes into the applications folder. This could lead to some housekeeping if you like a tidy dock. This probably lends itself to the dock functionality becoming more iPhone/iPad screen-like in the future, and 10.7 previews tend to confirm this.
What does it look like?
It looks a lot like iTunes. In fact, when the store was announced, some people said they hoped it wouldn't be part of iTunes. Well frankly, the layout is so similar, it would make a lot of sense to combine them. Then again, this is the "App Store" and within the iTunes store, you also have the "App Store" tab which is where you currently access iPhone and iPad apps. It would make sense to add a third button for Mac apps here. Don't be surprised if these are combined in the future.
What kind of apps are there?
There are titles that you'll be familiar with from the iOS store, like Angry Birds. These titles are mostly priced at $4.99. Then there are free apps like Twitter, that seem more like something you would've found in the widget gallery in years gone by. In fact, a large swath of the store are apps with this kind of single function purpose. Of course you also have Apple's iLife and iWork apps, but no heavy duty software like Final Cut, Word, or PhotoShop. There are a thousand apps out of the gate, with surely thousands more just around the corner.
Thumbs up or thumbs down?
We'll say thumbs up, with the assumption that more and (hopefully) bigger titles will be in the store soon.
The App Store is thoughtfully laid out, but Apple may have made a miscalculation in not allowing demo versions of software through the store. Buying a no-name Office suite replacement for the iPhone for $2.99 is different than paying $49 for something similar on the Mac: You want to have a better idea of what you're getting as the price rises. Maybe there are practical reasons to separate the App Store from iTunes, but for a company who prides itself on elegant design, it doesn't seem like an extra icon/app just to access what is essentially a separate branch of the existing iOS store ecosystem. The buying experience is seamless and effortless. Whether Adobe, Microsoft, et al bring their software to the store remains to be seen.
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Reader Comments (5)
The app store appears to recognize apple applications that are already installed (pages, iMovie marked as installed on my system) but third party applications are not recognized. (eg Evernote, Rapidweaver).
Anyone find a way to persuade the app store to inventory the system so that third party applications can be tracked for updates?
A line of info on each app would be nice, if tabs or "open in new window" links are too much to ask for. As it is, browsing takes way too much clicking and back-and-forth-ing.
You are missing the whole point!
Developers the size of Adobe and Microsoft don't need to put their products in an app store; they can sell direct and cut out the middle man. Think about it. The existence of the Mac App Store probably will not result in any noticeable increase in sales of Photoshop or Office. The Mac App store doesn't need the likes of Adobe or Microsoft, either.
It's the small developers that will benefit from the Mac App Store. It's the startups that will benefit from the Mac App Store. Apple wants more Mac developers to succeed; Apple wants more Mac developers, period.
Apple wants everyone with an idea in their head to buy a Mac, download Xcode, and give it their best shot. That's the reason for the Mac App Store.
Another thing!
Small programs that do one thing well: that's the UNIX way. Mac OS X is UNIX. It will be really interesting to see if small productivity apps designed to be used with Automator find success in the App store. I'd like to see it.
While the App Store provides a much-welcomed organized means of purchasing/downloading Mac applications, some useful applications from smaller companies still won't be available because of the restrictions against including apps in the App Store that aren't sandboxed and install tools/resources into the System: i.e. command-line utilities, system prefs, etc. SuperDuper, and Little Snitch are two that come to mind.
Regarding Steve W's comment about hoping to see apps that provide Automator hooks, Pixelmator (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pixelmator/id407963104?mt=12) ships with a built-in set a very powerful image manipulation Automator actions. They're perfect for creating Services for manipulating images in the Finder. I use them all the time for prepping materials for web deployment. I hope to see more apps that include Automator support as well.
One important difference between the App Store app and iTunes: The App Store is a 64-bit app, and iTunes is not.
Perhaps developing the App Store app from the ground up, as a separate app, will give Apple a chance to make improvements over the iTunes experience, and then incorporate those improvements when it merges the two.
In other words, perhaps Apple can end up incorporating iTunes into the newer, faster App Store app, rather than incorporating the App Store into iTunes.