App Store Loses Free/iPod Touch/iPhone Filters
by Eric March on September 29, 2008 at 2:19 am
Okay. I overlooked the fact that Apple have done some futzing with Safari Mobile where clearly it wasn’t needed. But this … this simply will not do.
For the last two days something odd was going on with the App Store. Whenever I clicked on the filter for “All Free Apps,” all apps from September 16th onwards were mysteriously missing. The apps were still there, but it was like the category filter for free apps wasn’t catching anything newer than that. “Odd,” I thought, and kept on working.
Now, I’ve found out why. Apple has quietly removed the option from the App Store entirely, along with the “All iPod Touch Apps” and “All iPhone Apps” filters. Just take a look at the screenshot on your left. Those filters simply aren’t there.
This hits me particularly hard because, as you all know, I do regular installments of the Free App Store Review, and that particular filter enabled me to see all the latest freebies in the App Store with one simple click. Made my job a hell of a lot easier, that did. Now I can’t do that. Now I have to go hunting through every motherfreakin’ category one-by-one and sift through everything to find out what’s new in the land of no-money-down apps.
Use the “New” feature panel? Ha! Have you looked at that thing? It only lists two pages worth of new items, and it doesn’t include everything that’s new — not by 1/100th. It’s just a completely random list of releases that made it into the featured section since the App Store opened. Useless as tits on a bull.
So thanks, Apple. Thanks for making my job ten times harder than it needs to be. Yes, yes, I understand that people who plunder the freebie section are less likely to visit the regular sections, but screw you. There are some of us who spend a great deal of our time spotlighting those things, and those of us who do are now going to be spending a good half hour searching for it when we could have just clicked a link and gotten it all in one lump sum.
Bastards.
If you enjoyed this story, join the growing number of subscribers to our RSS Feed for live updates!Related Stories:
Posted in App Store, App Store Removal
September 29th, 2008 at 7:12 am
You can use the following RSS feed to be informed of free apps as they are released : http://feeds.feedburner.com/RecentlyAddedFreeIphoneApplications-PinchMedia
September 29th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Hey, thanks for the tip — that’s just what I need. Is it still being updated since the change in the App Store though? I don’t see any newer items than the 26th, which is about when the free app filter stopped working.
September 29th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
I would like to have that in the appstore. A tab to only choose free apps like in top 25.
Also a “what’s new” list would be really cool like in cydia/installer
September 29th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
No idea if it’s being updated, sorry! Maybe you can contact PinchMedia and see if they are still supporting it?
September 29th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Ugh! I am so mad Apple took away features in the App Store. I used the “All iPod touch Applications” link to check any new iPod touch apps that are released. So now I have no idea what is new. And the “New” apps panel doesn’t even display the newest apps, it looks like they need to be manually updated or something, and Apple is slacking at updating it. Ugh, why Apple? Why?!
September 29th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
@Dustin – Yeah, I’m not too happy with it either, but what am I gonna do? It’s Apple’s game, so I’m gonna hafta play it their way. I don’t have to like it, though.
September 29th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Yeah, that totally sucks. Another easy way for them to make money.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:50 am
The pinchmedia feed didn’t appear to have been updated last time I checked it.
It’s bloody stupid removing the iPod Touch filter, but I can understand removing the free one. Why go out of your way to point people to stuff you don’t make money off of? (I still think they should have left it, but understand from a greed standpoint.)
I’ve largely given up browsing the App store these days anyway. So much utter garbage released on it, it’s become the worst kind of hell hole, and I’m tired of digging through crap to find the occasional nugget (that doesn’t turn out to be pyrite.)