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Latest App Store redesign for iOS shows 800% increase in downloads for Featured apps

The latest iOS 11 update to the App Store seems to be getting a ton of praise, and today it looks like developers are joining in on the fanfare.

A new report from Sensor Tower (via TechCrunch) indicates that developers that get featured on the App Store are seeing up to an 800% increase on downloads, specifically with the “App of the Day” or “Game of the Day” spots.

The firm looked at data between September 2017 (launch month for iOS 11) and today.

During this time, median U.S. iPhone downloads for apps that snagged the “Game of the Day” spot increased by 802 percent for the week following the feature, compared to the week prior to being featured.

While not as large, being featured in App Store Stories or in an App List saw an average increase of between 222 and 240 percent in terms of downloads.

However, it is interesting which publishers Apple is choosing to promote. Sensor Tower shows that it is mainly big developers and publishers that are being promoted, rather than indie developers. Hopefully this changes in the future.

It found that 13 of the top 15 featured publishers (by number of features) had at least one million U.S. iPhone downloads since the launch of the new App Store last September. It’s not surprising that Apple wants to highlight these publishers. Many of them, and particularly the game publishers, have multiple popular apps. So when their apps get an update or they have a new release, consumers pay attention.

What do you think of Apple’s App Store revamp? Let us know in the comments below!


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