Apple TV App Store adds Top Charts section, confirms popularity of games
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac :
Context & Ripple Effects
Weeks into the new Apple TV's life, the App Store is being fleshed out in public: this Top Charts section arrives just before Apple follows up with a new Categories section, both filling discovery gaps on a store that launched thin.
The chart data itself confirms what developers already suspected — by mid-December the store held 2,624 apps, with games the largest category at over 1,000. That makes Top Charts less a neutral utility than a spotlight aimed squarely at the platform's dominant genre.
First-order effects
- Game developers on Apple TV gain a download-ranked visibility surface overnight, which matters disproportionately because games are the store's biggest category.
Second-order effects
- Rankings create a race for chart position, pushing developers toward download-driving launches — and Apple's own apps soon appear in those same charts, per its later practice of showcasing first-party apps in Top Charts, blurring the line between measurement and promotion.
Third-order effects
- Algorithmic lists like Top Charts sit uneasily beside Apple's parallel move toward editorial picks — the June 2015 revamp that replaced algorithmic game lists with curated recommendations foreshadows the 2017 redesign built around Today, Games, and Apps tabs with Game of the Day features.
The trend: App Store discovery is being rebuilt around games-first merchandising, oscillating between algorithmic rankings and human curation as the store scales.