Ask HN: Is anybody else sick of the app store as a developer?

[alamgir_mand]

I've had the unfortunate chance of having submitted several apps and every time I look at the App store, I get a pain in my side. Here are the problems I see:

- a suboptimal browsing experience: a list?? Really? Sure the featured tab gives a bit of real estate to some apps, but what about the rest? They all just blend in with only the app icon giving any sense of identity/branding.

- the recipe for success: success is only rewarded for already successful apps. It's gotten to the point where devs are paying for installs with this formula in mind - pay for boost in ranking = boost in organic installs - rinse and repeat. Not a good model for discovery when there are over 200k apps in the store.

- a lack of analytics on the storefront: so many unanswered questions - where are my referrals coming from? Are my screenshots optimal for downloads? What does a change in screenshots reveal about the activity on my page? The app page is my app's storefront and the only info Apple gives me is how many people bought something. I don't even know how many stepped in the front door!

Please tell me someone else sees this too! Sorry for the rant but I really thinks its a bad experience and needs to be fixed elegantly.

If someone came out with an alternative portal to the app store with a better experience and these problems fixed, would you use that portal? Try to answer that without the old "yea that's cool!" bias.