Steve Jobs, although a true visionary, may not have foreseen how powerful and influential the iPhone would be when they first introduced it to the world in 2007. The Apple iPhone was the one phone that changed what “smartphone” meant. Six years into the future and with Jobs absent, the iPhone has indeed come a long way since its launch.
Four successful versions later, the iPhone remains to be a force to reckon with in the smartphone arena. If you ask what made the iPhone a huge success, the list will just go on and on because there really are many reasons but perhaps one reason most consumers should know is the fact that Apple is all for app development. Applications, commonly known as apps, are what make the iPhone more interesting, fun, useful, and certainly worth every penny consumers spend on them. They make the iPhone even more amazing. In fact, the home of these applications, the Apple App Store, is actually one of the most successful and reputable online markets in the world today.
The Apple App Store and Its Past
The Apple App Store started in July of 2008 with a measly 500 applications under its iOS belt. As soon as it was introduced to the public, Apple received such an overwhelming reception which encouraged them to strive harder to capture a wider range of the market without losing their reputation for class and exclusivity. Barely a year after it was first launched, the Apple App Store had an incredible milestone by reaching one billion downloads, from iPhone users, of course. 2011 is also a memorable year for the App Store because it was the year when they hit ten billion downloads. At the time, their store was home to over 350,000 iOS applications that users could fully take advantage of. Reaching ten billion downloads in just four years of operation is a seriously huge feat for Apple. Experts believe that no other industry players can top this record. It is well worth every word of praise.
The iOS Applications
Although there are many applications on the App Store that can be downloaded by users for free, like games, VoIP apps, and editing tools, there are still those that require fees. This should not be a cause for worry especially for Apple converts and new subscribers because most of the iOS applications are reasonably priced with rates anywhere between 0.99 to 4.99 USD. The App Store is overflowing with free applications any user can download and this must be the reason behind iPhone and the App Store’s popularity and success. Consumers tend to download so many games even if they are not able to play or utilize most of them. The obvious love for applications is what prompted the increase of aspiring application developers in the tech arena. This is also what made iPhone app development a very interesting process, especially with a long list of gaming and software companies wanting to hitch a ride with them.
The success of the App Store made these companies realize the great potential of their games and apps in the iOS market. With this thought, it has become their aim to create seamless iOS versions of their applications so that they can increase sales and improve their rankings in the app department. No wonder almost every game and application that we see today has iOS versions and most often, come to iOS first. The perfect example for this is Plants vs. Zombies 2. The wait between the first and the second installment is quite long and the anticipation of users escalated. When it was finally launched, iOS users felt sorry for all the Android fans who had no choice but to look over their shoulders as they took pleasure in killing all the zombies that attempted to enter their homes.