Is there ANY way of finding out how many downloads an app has had?

[OM2]

I'm coming from the Android world
One way I decide if I want to download an app is by seeing how many downloads its had - if I see something has had 100,000+ downloads - then I know it's a quality app - and I know I'll be safe to download

I haven't got my iphone yet!
(One on it's way as we speak)

I've asked other friends and a development company that I know well
Everyone tells me: there isn't anyway of knowing how many downloads an app has

That seems really bizaare to me!

OK... forget sales: do they have a chart of the top 10, top 50, top 100 apps of the year, past 2 years anywhere? My assumption would be that such a chart was based ONLY on the number of sales apps had!

Thanks


Omar

[AppMunch]

Originally Posted by OM2

I'm coming from the Android world
One way I decide if I want to download an app is by seeing how many downloads its had - if I see something has had 100,000+ downloads - then I know it's a quality app - and I know I'll be safe to download

I haven't got my iphone yet!
(One on it's way as we speak)

I've asked other friends and a development company that I know well
Everyone tells me: there isn't anyway of knowing how many downloads an app has

That seems really bizaare to me!

OK... forget sales: do they have a chart of the top 10, top 50, top 100 apps of the year, past 2 years anywhere? My assumption would be that such a chart was based ONLY on the number of sales apps had!

Thanks


Omar

I'm afraid this is only on Android at the moment. You can get a rough idea by analysing the apps position in the charts.

[OM2]

Originally Posted by AppMunch

I'm afraid this is only on Android at the moment. You can get a rough idea by analysing the apps position in the charts.

ok
these charts - are they apple charts?
i've seen charts on a few different websites - where do they get their data from?
thanks

[AppMunch]

Originally Posted by OM2

ok
these charts - are they apple charts?
i've seen charts on a few different websites - where do they get their data from?
thanks

Yes. Apple have their own charts which are easily accessible from the iPhone appstore app, the iTunes computer app and online.

All the chart websites you have seen are just taking their information from the official Apple charts.

An example of an Apple App Store chart.

[ilmman]

If everyone thinks like you and only downloads based on the number of downloads an app has then in theory NO ONE will ever download an app regardless of how bad and good it is. We are lucky that there are those people who are adventurous enough to go out there and seek for the best apps that deserves to be in the top and not sheep around..

but sadly apple has not implemented this feature otherwise i wouldnt mind showing off my 2 million dls ...

[OM2]

Originally Posted by ilmman

If everyone thinks like you and only downloads based on the number of downloads an app has then in theory NO ONE will ever download an app regardless of how bad and good it is. We are lucky that there are those people who are adventurous enough to go out there and seek for the best apps that deserves to be in the top and not sheep around..

but sadly apple has not implemented this feature otherwise i wouldnt mind showing off my 2 million dls ...

Yes, of course you have a point - no denying that

But I still say you're wrong and Apple is wrong

People like to follow the masses
If something on amazon has 500 reviews and an average of 4.5 stars, then you know yyou can't go wrong
I would argue that MOST of the world works like this

Or maybe that's part of Apple's clever plan - to artificially not allow people to know - and maybe thereby cause more purchases as a result

Me: I'm a hypocrite who wants to have my cake and eat it
I'm only just about to being learning development for the iPhone
When I release an app I'd love to rank along big sellers - simply because the buyer doesn't know which has sold more
(OK - I'm sure there is more to it and I'm over simplifying)

BUT as a pure consumer - I want I be lazy and only buy what others have been buying - I don't want to experiment and find out which is the best