What apps do you have on your iPhone? Super Monkey Ball? A word game? Some calculators and flashlights? While the whole process of getting a new app on your iPhone seems devilishly simple—tap on the app store icon, confirm purchase, and wait for a minute—things aren’t always so simple and straightforward for the developers who are working hard to bring you these cool apps. A number of my developer friends have been writing in, eagerly but so far unofficially listing out the problems they have faced.

This article offers a detailed list of all the problems that have plagued the App Store, and outlines what Apple has done to fix these problems, and how far it has worked.

When the App Store launched, application developers, not surprisingly,  thought that the App Store was the perfect place to hit gold overnight, just so long as you have a good application. Some big and early players actually struck gold in the mad early rush, but the harsh reality is that getting your application noticed at all—no matter how good it is—is getting harder by the day. This is partly because of the staggering number of applications already there in the App Store and partly because of what appears to be the shortcomings on the part of Apple in maintaining the online store.

And today, many developers are not happy with the developments in the App Store for different reasons. The experience with Apple in some cases have not been good for those developers whose applications got rejected in the final stage. Other developers have various other reasons that makes them think that all is not going well with the App Store.

Lack of transparency

The App Store is the first of its kind and undoubtedly is also very successful for that reason. However, this does not mean that there is nothing wrong with the system. One of the most common questions developers ask that surprisingly has no ready answer is; how long does it take for an application to be deployed on the App Store after you submit it to Apple? For most developers, the process takes only a week after submission. For those unlucky ones, it is a very painful wait with no news from Apple and expectation of seeing their application in the App Store extending even to a month.

This fact unfolds from developers’ emails expressing their concerns what might have happened to their applications submitted long ago.  Accepting the fact that the checking of applications must have become a real headache for Apple with hundreds of app submission every day, developers understand that they need to be patient. However, it is unprecedented that the wait has to end up in frustration for some isolated cases. There are some cases where the wait spells disaster in the end when Apple writes back “your application cannot be deployed on the App Store.” MailWrangler is one example here.

As the App Store matures in time and number of applications growing every day, I think it is high time for Apple to come up with a consistent process of scrutiny ensuring that time taken for deploying applications is more or less the same for all developers. There is no question of Apple being biased to some developers; nevertheless the fact is that we are not aware of where the process starts and ends. Apple should also be more open and enthusiastic to enquiries from developers. Apple needs to talk more to stop developers from doing many guesswork and spreading rumors and anger.

No clear guidelines

Some developers have this notion that Apple does not encourage competition. This is derived from the record of rejected applications till date. Some applications rejected so far includes those handy ones that caters what Apple cannot provide and something that is better that what Apple gives us. NetShare for instance is something that we will all love to have on the iPhone. The application allows tethering of the iPhone. Apple pulled the rejection cord and the application was pulled out of the App Store.

In the same way, an application called MailWrangler was rejected on the grounds that Apple already has that application for the iPhone. Users would have loved the application. Podcaster an application that allows direct download of podcasts on the iPhone/ iPod touch without connecting to iTunes on the PC was rejected as Apple thinks that this was a direct challenge to Apple’s capability. The developer did something that Apple cannot do or probably has developed something that Apple plans to do.

The main concern here is the absence of clear guidelines from Apple that outlines what to develop and what not to develop. Of course, this will not be an easy task, nevertheless, because of this shortcoming some developers end up wasting time and resource on developing applications that got rejected in the final phase. Murderdrome, Pull my Finger are some applications that never made to the App Store. The reasons for rejection in some cases are surprising and also there are cases where users side with Apple. Lack of utility value and advocacy of violence are some of the reasons cited for the rejection so far. Developers whose applications got rejected starts questioning why Apple rejects my application when there are many useless applications in the App Store?

The issue here is a stalemate situation and there seems to be no happy ending. If at all Apple comes out with clear guidelines, many developers will be more dejected thus triggering more complaints. However, coming out with clear guidelines seems to be the only solution. For end users on the other hand, Apple pulling the control rope tighter on developer makes the App Store a more secure and safe shopping place. Apple in the present situation cannot make both the developers and users happy. There must be a way to resolve this, read on.

Too tough a competition

Those developers who deployed fairly good applications in the early days of the App Store met with success with relative ease since the competition was not as intense. Now that the App Store has become really crowded, it somewhat seems that only the cunning or the lucky ones are winning the race. Thanks to Apple for implementing the “buy to review” policy. Before this, the comments section can so much be manipulated that a single user can create five iTunes user accounts and give good comments for useless applications, which in turn misleads users.

The staggering number of applications as of today has become the greatest challenge for developers. It is becoming harder and harder to be noticed in the App Store for new players. Making to the hot/favorite section in the App Store is not easy and that happens to be the only way to get your application noticed at all.

The number of downloads decides your place in the hot seat. Now, the question is what can you do to ensure many users download your application that it makes to the hot or favorite list. There is no proven way to do that, I guess. The chances here seem to depend a lot on luck and good timing of your release. Luck, because there are many good applications out there, which never make to the hot list while other less useful applications that saw more downloads stay on the hot seat for long to gain more downloads. This is purely based on user behavior of applications. The competition has become so tough that those developer who miss the hot seat lose the race.

Now, why competition in the App Store has become so tough in so short a time? One main reason is most developers are mad about the gold rush and tend to depend on luck too much. Confused? Think of the application, I am Rich, which was removed for lack of utility value. The App did nothing, it was deployed to deceive users and make quick money. Six users actually got into that serious joke of buying the useless $999 application. All of us noticed this because the application was costly. However, we fail to realize that there are many more worthless paid applications in the App Store because some developers seems to bank on the mistakes of users to hit the purchase button. The anger of purchasing a worthless $10 application may not last long, but it is just unfair that someone is getting rewarded for what he doesn’t deserve. I too bought a near useless notepad like healthcare application for $50 dollars long time ago and have never forgiven myself for the mistake.

The crowding of the App Store today is partly because some developers are greedy, some are too eager to deploy something on the App Store that they do a simple coding and throws that into the App Store. For some developers, the online store is a waste application basket and this is not fair.

Messed up display of updates and release dates

Many App Store visitors have voiced the concern that new applications and updated applications should not be displayed together as new applications. The issue is not solved yet. The display here does not only confuse people but also have done some injustice to new applications. There is this report that a new application never showed up on the new list because the page is filled by updated applications. It is somewhat irritating to see two or three iTunes updates display on the iPhone everyday when I have only about 15 applications installed. I mean, some developers use updates as a means to be always on the front page. Some new applications get pushed to the back in the process.

This is mainly due to the messed up display of applications on the App Store. New applications and updated applications should be displayed separately: this solves the whole issue. The option to sort by name, popularity, and release date and update record will be ideal.

Where are we heading?

In a matter of three months, the number of application has gone well past five thousand. This is still the beginning; we are sure to see stiffer competition in the coming days. We will have more complains and see more rope tightening activities from Apple. As a user, I want Apple to be more stringent in its selection process so that applications have high utility value. This means bidding goodbye to many developers. Users want quality not quantity and if there is lack of quality in App Store today, we should say that the control measure in place is not effective. Does this mean Apple need to implement more stringent measures?

Developers complain that Apple is too autocratic. I have a different view here; there is lack of quality today even as we complain that Apple is autocratic. Will there be quality at all if Apple has a very free platform? I doubt it, and I wonder how dependable and secure will be the open Android platform.  I am not Apple prophet. One of the root causes of discontentment of developers about Apple is that the Apple seems to derive fun from remaining silent. Apple needs to talk more and be more open to responding to the woes and worries of developers. This is in addition to the need of giving clear guidelines to developers. To make the App Store a secure place, Apple needs a strong rein to maintain quality though this may be a reason for making some developers unhappy. Yes, Apple also needs to revisit the present content in the App Store and do the necessary cleaning of the online store. This will no doubt spark some angry protests, but this seems to be the only way to ensure rewarding those who really need to be rewarded.