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Mar 29

Video Gives a Glimpse of What’s Inside iPad App Store

Posted in: Apple, ipad, Media Players, Today's Chili, videos

Browsing the iPad App Store: A Video [By @viticci] from Federico Viticci on Vimeo.

With the iPad launch still days away, a developer appears to have leaked a video showing the iPad App Store.

Multiple independent reports over the weekend included purported screenshots of the iPad App Store. Those screenshots match the images in the screencast above, lending credence to the video’s authenticity. Posted by MacStories, the video appears to have been made by a developer with special privileges to access the App Store through the iPad’s software development kit and emulator.

As expected, the iPad App Store closely resembles the UI of the iPhone’s App Store. From the video, we can extract a few key tidbits:

Cover Flow

A brand new “In the Spotlight” section utilizes Apple’s Cover Flow interface to showcase highlights in the store. We’re guessing those are Apple staff’s picks for what they feel is interesting — and if that’s the case, expect developers to be more sycophantic than ever in their effort to win Apple’s affection.

Pricing

Developers are pricing iPad games a bit higher than iPhone titles. The iPad game Flight Control HD, for example, is listed for $4.99; the iPhone version costs $0.99. And the iPad game Flick Fishing HD costs $2.99 — $2 more than Flick Fishing for iPhone.

This is just an early sample, and prices are subject to change based on market reactions, but it’s interesting to note that some game developers appear to be experimenting with the price bubble. $0.99 was an extremely popular (and successful) price point for many iPhone apps and games. Perhaps the standard price point for paid iPad apps will be around $2.99? We’ll see soon enough.

Titles

Many developers appear to be titling their apps and games to tout their iPad compatibility. Some app titles are tagged with “for the iPad,” and some games are tagged “HD” or “XL” to denote their iPad-ness.

That raises the question of whether iPad apps will be difficult to discern from the 150,000 iPhone apps in the store. A screenshot published by App Advice suggests that iPad apps will have their own separate section. But in most of the screens shown here, iPad apps seem to be sprinkled among iPhone apps, which may exacerbate the issue of overcrowding in the App Store.

Update: MacStories has posted a second video revealing more details about charts, categories and switching to iPhone apps in the store, viewable below the jump.

Browsing the iPad App Store, Part II: Charts, Categories, iPhone Apps from Federico Viticci on Vimeo.

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