Since Apple announced app preview videos at WWDC, I’ve been thinking a lot about the implications. I may be wrong, but I’m hopeful this will be a big deal for quality apps, maybe even — dare I say it — paid apps.
For years now developers have been suggesting Apple clear the App Store of cruft. But as was evident again this year at WWDC, Apple loves to brag about the number of iOS apps in the App Store, no matter how meaningless the number is given how terrible a vast majority of them are. So, rather than culling the App Store by forcing developers to update apps or face removal, app previews may have a similar effect. Updating App Store screenshots (and I assume by extension app preview videos) requires the submission of a new binary, and submitting a new binary requires that the app be optimized for iOS 7.
My hope is that within a few months of the release of iOS 8, App Store shoppers will come to see app previews as a sign of quality, actively developed apps. I’m also hopeful that app previews will go a long way in demonstrating the value of an app and give developers another tool to communicate differentiation in a crowded App Store.