Apple Mac App Store initially I was dubious

Initially I was dubious or even skeptical about the new Apple Mac App Store - and everyone from Mashable to ReadWriteWeb to Download Squad have already done a post about first thoughts or white washed the Apple PR news item.

Things that are surprising in the Mac App Store

I was surprised to find this week that Mobile App Developers are using this as the opportunity to port their Apps off of the phone to the desktop. This is Great! This challenges the divide between mobile and desktop! But your big screen Mac is not touchable (yet).

I’m still finding surprises in pricing - one App I previously brought via the web is cheaper in the Mac App store by about £5. Considering the app is £29 in the app store and 38 Euros on the Web - guess where I’d be buying! Clearly this is just one App.

In terms of Apples own pricing - you can buy iLife 11 as a package on the Mac Website for £46 or just buy each app (eg GarageBand) for £8.99 each - that’s a bargain.

These Apps are ok to download but slower to install

These apps download with a nice progress bar icon in your dock - you can then click to open them straight away. But it takes a couple of minutes before the App is copied to your Application folder or to the Spotlight search bar. After they are in your Applications folder - I guess you can remove them from the dock *poof*.

There’s about 1000 Apps to choose from

You have the official Twitter App for Mac (I guess its a port of the iOS app) and you have newer interesting apps as well like Alfred (a launcher app developed in UK).

And Yes - my favourite iPad ‘MacGyver’ app for notes, sketchs and photo stuff is now on the Mac and if its as good as the mobile cousin, I’ll buy that!

1000 doesn’t seem enough compared to 100,000 or more in the iOS app store - but there’s a lot to look at. I still think this is a place to come occasionally and

It doesn’t know I had Evernote and other apps already installed

A nice feature in the future is to sync your ‘other’ apps with the list in App Store. For example, I already have Evernote on my Mac - but the Mac App Store tells me I can download it.

You can’t rate apps that you own

Magically it does know if you previously installed an Apple app so I can’t see the pricing for Aperture or Keynote for example, and boringly I can’t rate these applications - or any others I own.

Have you Not got Mac App Store Yet!

To get the Mac App Store, download the Mac OS X v10.6.6 Software Update or visit www.apple.com/mac/app-store. To find out more about developing for the Mac App Store visit developer.apple.com/programs/mac.

Meet the author

Damien Saunders
An experienced management consultant and business leader interested in digital transformation, product centred design and scaled agile. If I'm not writing about living with UCTD (an autoimmune disease), I'm probably listening to music, reading a book or learning more about wine.