So, the Mac App Store is open for business. What’s most glaring seems to be what’s absent: no big new apps from Panic, Real Mac, Delicious Monster, or any of the studios you’d expect would be there to rake in the day one dollars from the Mac faithful. That said, as my buddy Sighmon suggests, that’s probably because it takes time to make a great Mac app, and development studios with a reputation for quality are unlikely to want to pump out sub-par product. Also worth noting: Panic and co are present in the Store – they just haven’t released anything new today.
Still, there’s some great stuff to check out: old apps and new.
Twitter (Free, pictured left)
The big surprise today is the App Store release of Tweetie 2 (rebadged “Twitter for Mac”). For those who clung on to the original Tweetie, but were considering jumping ship, this release is a clear signal that Loren Brichter and the Twitter team now consider the Mac platform an active development priority.
Pixelmator ($29.99, pictured left below)
Pixelmator has been around for a while now, but I suspect its presence in the App Store will give it a real leg-up as a legitimate Photoshop competitor (especially considering Adobe has no presence in the store whatsoever – and likely never will). I’ve been playing around with Pixelmator for the past half-hour: it does less than Photoshop – way less – but what it does, it does with grace. For those occasions when you don’t need the power – and hair-tearing hassle – of Adobe’s clunky beast (the iPad of image editors?).
Things ($49.99)
Still my preferred to-do-list app on the Mac. This is a difficult recommend, however: Cultured Code (the developers) are clearly over-charging for the app (I suspect that, once the dust settles, the sweet spot for sophisticated apps will land between $24.99 and $39.99), and the fact that they’re unable to come up with an over-the-air sync solution means that it’s impossible to share to-dos with multiple Macs.
LittleSnapper ($24.99)
Another oldie, but a goodie. For designers, this is a real gem: an app designed to allow you to snap, organise, edit and share screen and websnaps. I use it to keep track of my work and grab images that inspire, influence, and interest me – iPhoto for designers.
The Incident ($2.99)
The loveliest little game on the platform – and, at an iOS price point, an absolute steal.
Of the rest, there’s a huge amount of cruft: applications clearly developed by those either unfamiliar with the Mac platform, or have released hoping to profit on day one with no real interest in developing a quality product. As more developers create for the Mac, a larger slice of Mac apps will begin to look Windows-like, with sloppy design and no respect for the platform’s Human Interface Guidelines. Purchasing great apps is a vote of confidence, not only in the platform, but in sending a message to all developers that quality matters.
What great apps have you found on the Store today?