Apple has launched a new campaign for developers in its App Store called Founders, which aims to put certain developers in the spotlight with editorial support across Europe, alongside celebrating the apps that are currently available from them.
There are three developers taking part in this new initiative, such as Turborilla (opens in new tab), Snowprint Studios (opens in new tab), and nada studio (opens in new tab), all of whom were picked by Apple due to their potential for growth, innovation, and how their apps can reflect the countries they’re based in.
It also means that these will be given editorial support for the App Store, so you may spot some stories or additional content featuring them in the ‘Today’ tab when you open up the store on your iPad, iPhone or Mac, or perhaps through a newsletter and social media handles.
Encouragingly, this looks to give smaller developers their due on the App Store, to help shine a light on projects where their budget for marketing could be next to nonexistent. This is a great start, and there’s plenty more that can be done for this program for other developers.
Analysis: more support for developers is always welcome
If you go to the App Store, you’ll most likely see something akin to the above, where footballers, Call of Duty, and icons of popular games featured throughout the years will shine. But for someone merely starting out in the store, it’s going to be difficult to break through.
Since the App Store’s launch in 2008, it’s gone from a respectable market stall to a supermarket of stratospheric proportions, but this doesn’t mean Apple forgot the up-and-coming developers. This is where Founders can do a lot of good here, especially for Europe.
Having extra support and exposure in Apple’s curated newsletters, social platforms and obviously, the App Store is going to help these thousands of developers, not just the three featured above.
However, while this is a great start it would be good to see others feature in areas where Apple is trying to help under-represented users, such as accessibility. As iOS 16 and the other software updates are scheduled to arrive later this year, let’s see other barely-represented developers that can take advantage of what’s coming for visual and hearing-impaired users.
Currently, when you’re in the Apps tab of the App Store, you have to scroll past the featured charts of many categories until you almost reach the bottom, where Accessibility apps are.
Let’s see that be more prevalent, and also have developers in the new Founders program who are showcasing this category in every aspect.
Regardless, it’s a great start for developers with this program and encouraging that a behemoth like Apple is clearly trying to take care of other developers who just want to make their apps more widely known.
