It may be the fact that a lot of those apps aren't worth downloading being a reason why they aren't downloaded.

And I don't understand why the closed system has anything to do with low downloads of certain apps. You can search google and find iOS apps. Companies have links on their websites, that link to their App Store apps etc.There are more ways to find apps than just the App Store storefront.

So what makes the system "closed"?

It would be nice if Apple had an App store and a Game center.
Look at the top 250 "apps" and it's 98% games.
I do not want games on my iPhone. Separate the apps from the children's games and
Maybe grown ups can find Useful apps.

These guys missed one key point - lots of Apps don't need to be "discovered" because they are part of a company or organization. When the internet first started everyone scrambled to get a website for their business so they didn't get "left behind". Today companies are doing it all over again, this time with Apps.

Walking down the street in my neighborhood and several local merchants have their own Apps specifically for their store. For example, last year I ordered a brined turkey for a holiday dinner through an App my local butcher has. How may websites have you ever visited where you got the banner "This site has an App - would you like to get it?" Local sports teams, clubs, schools and others often have Apps made up.

And guess what? None of these would be something people would "discover" by searching the App Store. They are Apps people found out while visiting a website, seeing a billboard or even a small window poster in a store.

While I agree there are a lot of "orphan" Apps out there I don't think you can fault the App Store. If you're a developer then I think it's your repsonsibly to promote your App - not Apple's. There are too many Apps to make this Apple's responsibility. How about getting some blogs to review your App for you (for example)?

The "long tail" theory also posits that only a small number of apps have very broad appeal, while many more apps would be too niche to make it to the main page, if you don't count the inevitable clones like "yet-another-to-do-list-app". I've purchased a few niche apps from the long tail, and some of them are practically abandoned by their developer, or, in one case, the developer's "hello world" (not literally hello world, but it was like their first attempt at an app (The person was trying to cash in on the early App Store gold rush, but didn't develop the skills needed to stick with it).

I don't know that it's right to say these apps would never be discovered. You can find them, but usually only through keyword searches by people looking for the specific type of app.

This is fricking retarded. Just because devs have no money to advertise and get famous doesn't mean Apple has a closed system. 

I'm sure that it's true, just like two thirds of all books and music are zombies as well. I wonder how much higher that percentage is for Android and Win Phone, where the apps are said by reviewers to be worse, on average, and where Google never removes an app, unless a third party proves it's malware.

I don't see any way around this. With 400k app's to chose from it's always going to be difficult to get your app known unless you're a big name developer with an advertising budget. No downloads means no reviews which probably puts people off downloading your app. Maybe Apple could have a section for undiscovered app's. 250 app's you might like to try which changes on a weekly basis. Or more sub categories to make search easier.

Apart from the search box in iTunes on mac / pc... and the Search box in the AppStore App on the iPad... and the search tab on the AppStore App on the iPhone / iPod Touch... and not forgetting google of course, where a search for pretty much any word and "app" will return a direct link to the itunes store in the top 2 or 3 results...

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider 

new mobile analytics and ad firm Adeven and its Apptrace tool

Oh, now I see... A new ad firm releases a report implying app developers need better advertising to not get lost in the crowd.... hmmm..... wonder if there may be an ulterior motive here somewhere...