The Mac OS X App Store
It has been awhile since Apple announced the Mac App Store but it has taken this long for me to decide what my opinions are on the subject. The fact that the announcement will have a huge impact on the Apple developer community as a whole is undeniable.
Although I am late to the party when it comes to discussing the new Mac OS X app store I think it should be noted that this post comes after some thought on the subject. The major disadvantage of the Mac app store is the fact that Mac OS X customers will start to see it as the only legitimate place to buy Mac software from. Apple have been very careful to make it clear that developers are free to distribute applications separately from the app store if they wish but I worry about it when I think of a consumer choosing between an app which is conveniently located on the app store and one which is not. Which app do you think they will be most likely to purchase?
The fact that Apple do not deny developers the chance to distribute applications on their own does not mean that the effects of the app store on the greater developer community will not be the same. If customers are trained by Apple to use the app store to look for application purchases (it seems likely that Apple will make the app store a prominent part of the next Mac OS X release) then why would a consumer even bother looking outside of the app store? Heck, they might not even think it is possible to get software anywhere else.
This kind of situation is one in which developers need to find a way in which to keep their applications in the publics minds if they are not going to be deploying their applications to the app store (for whatever reason, Apples restrictions seem unnecessarily harsh). This will take some very creative marketing and is something I do not envy those who are stuck with legacy applications that they have no hope of ever making compliant with the requirements that Apple have laid.
The other important issue at stake here is one of price. The iOS app store has basically centred around 99 cent applications, anything more than that is considered a premium price. By their very nature Mac OS X applications require much more developer work on average than iOS applications and that should be reflected in the price. Unless Apple bring iAds to Mac OS X (something that I feel is very likely) most developers may well feel they are going to be forced to lower prices to below what they would expect to charge before the app store existed.
Even though I have laid out some problems which I foresee occurring once Apple release the app store for Mac OS X I still think in general it will be a positive boost for Mac OS X developers. It will give them easy access to every single modern Mac owner and that is a lot of people. Those who design a popular application have the chance to make an awful lot of money on the Mac OS X app store, assuming of course you can comply with Apples requirements.