There are dozens of apps in the App Store that promise to revolutionize the way you discover apps. Sort of meta, but this seems to be Silicon Valley’s latest dream: to simplify the way users find interesting apps they might like. Too bad basing the old App Store navigation system on poor Facebook and Twitter integration won’t make the process any simpler: indeed, it’ll just add an extra useless layer that most users will get tired of in a matter of minutes.
It is clear that the problem lies in the structure itself. The way the App Store presents applications doesn’t offer the possibilities power users – or just users willing to go beyond charts and categories – would like to have when it comes to app discovery. For this reason I can’t recommend AppShopper enough: I mentioned the service many times in the past here on MacStories, and in case you missed our coverage and mentions go check it out by yourself now. The latest update to the official iOS client, version 1.3 available for iPhone and iPad, adds new options and filters that make it, plain and simple, the best app discovery tool ever made for iOS.
In-app purchase option to remove ads aside (yet totally worth it), the app now comes with category and country filters. You can block apps from specific categories, countries and currencies from being displayed, and you can also hide non-Western apps – which trust me, are a lot. Blocking non-western apps made browsing the App Store through AppShopper easier and faster.
AppShopper 1.3 comes with bug fixes, overall performance improvements and has been tested on iOS 4.2. The “Popular” and “What’s new” have been updated as well, and they don’t depend from each other anymore.
There’s really nothing more to be said about AppShopper, except that it has become the best way to find, share and collect apps for iPhones, iPods and iPads. Hands down. You should go download it now, as it’s free in the App Store.
