Apple’s App Store gets a new web interface

There are apples The web interface has been redesigned for this App StoreThis actually makes it usable for people who aren’t viewing the store on an Apple device.

Before this update, users could see separate pages for apps on the web — which they likely found through a search engine — but no way to browse within the App Store. On a MacBook, navigating to an app’s iOS Store page in the browser will prompt the native App Store to launch the software. But on non-Apple hardware, it will take you to a dead end.

The new interface lets users browse apps by category, as well as by platform — there are separate categories for apps on iPhone, iPad, Watch and other devices. Although users cannot currently download apps from the web, this functionality may be added later.

Admittedly, the subset of people trying to learn more about iOS apps from Microsoft devices, for example, is probably a small one — perhaps it would be useful for app developers or researchers working on iOS and Google ecosystem products.

The redesign also signals Apple’s continued push to portray itself as a more open ecosystem. Over the years, Govt around D the world filed a complaint against Apple, accusing the company of acting in a monopolistic manner to discourage competition — any steps Apple takes to make its products more accessible outside of its own ecosystem are relevant to that ongoing legal battle.