Apple launches redesigned App Store as part of iOS 11 launch, with Today section including daily features, tips, and dev interviews
Apple today is releasing its completely redesigned iOS App Store to the wider public as part of the launch of the new iOS 11 operating system.
Context & Ripple Effects
The public release turns Apple’s June App Store redesign announcement into the default storefront for iOS 11 users, with Today, Games, and Apps organized around editorial presentation. It follows Apple’s removal of the App Store from iTunes, concentrating app downloading on iOS devices.
The redesign’s emphasis on larger imagery, curation, and reviews later carried into Apple’s matching web App Store interface, indicating that Today was part of a broader storefront model rather than a one-off iOS feature.
First-order effects
- iOS 11 users receive a storefront where Apple’s daily picks, tips, and developer interviews sit alongside app listings, changing how apps are presented at the point of download.
- Developers gain an editorial route to visibility through Today features, while app discovery is more explicitly organized through Apple’s Games and Apps tabs.
Second-order effects
- With iTunes no longer offering a built-in App Store, developers and users must rely more heavily on the iOS storefront for downloading and discovering apps.
- Apple’s curation-heavy presentation raises the value of being selected for prominent placement, alongside search and category browsing within the App Store.
Third-order effects
- The later web redesign suggests Apple is standardizing app discovery around an editorial storefront across surfaces, not simply maintaining a transactional catalog.
- As Apple adds further store-level disclosures such as app privacy labels, the App Store increasingly serves as both a discovery channel and a policy-setting interface between developers and users.
The trend: Mobile app stores are evolving from searchable catalogs into curated, policy-bearing distribution surfaces controlled by platform operators.