Apple has offered the first look at a completely redesigned App Store for iOS.
The new layout offers sections such as ‘Today’, games and apps in an effort to make it easier to discover new titles and learn more about the apps.
The ‘Today’ tab offers up a brand new app released on the App Store, as picked by the Apple Editors. Apple refers to the 'Today' tab as a "daily destination all about games, apps and app culture".
Each day, a new app of the day and game of the day will be added to the page that users can see as soon as they boot up the App Store.
If users miss a day, they can scroll down to see stories and apps from earlier in the week.
There will also be new content such as in-depth interviews for people to discover stories about the developers behind the games.
New games section
Games is getting its very own homepage, and as well as showing off games within the section, there will also be previews, gameplay videos and how-to guides.
An interesting change to the App Store is the ability for users to start making in-app purchases from the App Store description page. Users will then be taken into a developer's app or game to complete the purchase.
App Store description pages will now fit up to three video app previews and five screenshots, which can also be localised so users in specific countries can access special customised versions based on where they are based.
Accolades such as Editors' Choice and the app's chart position will also be highlighted.
An Updates tab meanwhile will allow users to quickly see what has changed in their apps and games with new updates.
Search has also been enhanced to include the aforementioned editorial content with the 'Today', games and app tabs. Users can search by name, category, developer or topic which will return results of specific apps and games, as well as editorial, collections and even IAPs.
The new App Store will be included with iOS 11 - available to iOS Developer Program members from today.
A public beta of the redesigned App Store will begin later in June 2017. iOS 11 itself, with the new layout, will be available in the autumn.
“Together with our incredible developer community, we’ve made the App Store the best app platform in the world, and more than 500 million unique customers visit it every week,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing.
“Now, we are taking everything we’ve learned from the App Store over the past nine years and putting it into a stunning new design. Every element of the new App Store is richer, more beautiful and more engaging.”
