Apple redesigns App Store web interface to match design of iOS 11 App Store with larger images, focus on curation and reviews, and more
Chance Miller / 9to5Mac :
Context & Ripple Effects
This closes the loop on a curation push that started years earlier: Apple shifted the Games section toward editorially curated recommendations over algorithmic lists in 2015, then unveiled the Today, Games, and Apps tabs in mid-2017 before shipping the redesigned App Store alongside iOS 11.
With the web interface now mirroring that iOS 11 design — larger imagery, editorial features, review prominence — Apple is extending the same merchandising surface beyond the device, following the template it set when Podcasts got its own web overhaul with dedicated URLs and playback.
First-order effects
- Developers now have a second, browser-reachable storefront where large screenshots and review scores do the selling, making web-visible asset quality part of App Store conversion.
- Users browsing apps from a desktop or non-Apple device land on the curated Today-style experience instead of a bare catalog, putting Apple's editorial picks in front of traffic it previously served thin pages.
Second-order effects
- App marketing shifts further toward Apple-controlled placement: if the web store showcases App of the Day-style features, earning an editorial slot becomes a distinct acquisition channel alongside search ranking.
- Rival app marketplaces face pressure to treat their web presences as discovery surfaces rather than download portals, since Apple is demonstrating that curation travels off-device.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — native redesign first, web parity after — Apple's services converge on one design language across device and browser, positioning the web as a storefront for the ecosystem rather than a fallback for outsiders.
- Editorial curation becoming the default merchandising model concentrates discoverability power in Apple's editorial team, sharpening the long-running debate over how apps get surfaced on the platform.
The trend: Apple is systematically porting its native service designs to the web so that curation-driven storefronts like the App Store work identically inside and outside its devices.