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STATES CHRONICLE – It seems that Apple might be playing dirty when it comes to ranking apps in App Store. Instead of giving equal chances to all apps that might deserve Top Chart positions, Apple may be beefing up its own apps, which isn’t fair.
App rankings differ when checked from a desktop and an iPhone; for example, apps like iMovie and Keynote weren’t ranked in the Top 20 Free category on desktop, but they appear to have boosted their ranks on iPhone. Seeing that both these apps have more popular rivals, they shouldn’t be occupying those top spots.
According to a TechCrunch report, rankings seem to be influenced by the model of iPhone you’re checking the App Store from. When it compared iPhone 5s with 6s – both running the latest version of iOS – TechCrunch found different apps in the Top Free Chart section.
For instance, the app Pages was ranked seventh and sixth place on the Top 20 chart, on the iPhone 5s and the 6s, respectively. The same goes with iTunes U; the app is listed on 11 on the 5s, but only on the 6s on 13.
Different types of devices could be using different algorithms for ranking the apps in charts, but the same type – two iPhones, for example – should not pop up contradictory rankings. Some argued the algorithm ranking the Apple Store’s apps is the problem, but if that’s the case, the situation needs to be fixed and give back to all developers the chance to make it in the top.
Starting last week, Sensor Tower, a company working in Mobile App Store Marketing Intelligence, has been looking into this matter. Similar errors were found during tests on different smartphones running 9.1, the latest version of iOS. If Apple apps were already downloaded on the device, they would also show up in the Top rankings, even if their rating was much lower.
More testing on devices running iOS 8.3 showed the problem was inexistent on previous iOS versions. Sensor Tower’s data revealed that GarageBand and iTunes U are the only Apple apps that deserve their spot in the Top 10. But even if the errors cannot be duplicated identically, the problem remains.
This isn’t the first time Apple was frowned upon for playing favorite, but hopefully the Silicon Valley giant isn’t actively cheating third-party developers out of their deserved rankings and sales.
Image Source: The Next Web
