The Biggest Problem in App Discovery

I completely disagree. Most app/website referrals aren't verbal. Verbally communicated referrals are easily forgotten (e.g. "what was that photo sharing site Mike was telling me about at the party last night?") Most referrals are via an email that includes a URL, a blog post or tweet from someone you follow, or an email generated via the "Share" feature within the app itself. All of these eliminate the "search" problem, and reduce the time to launch significantly.

While amusing :) it's not really accurate. The Web part is missing "finding the correct link on search results (damn Google keeps changing, also everybody is running out of unique names it seems)", "finding the signup button or free plan on plans&pricing (sometimes you need to find the p&p first!)", "oauthing via twitter/fb or registering (if registering, then creating another pass, verify email, log in)". Unless the Web example is a simple, non-interactive content site. But where's fun in that?

But after the user downloads the app, it's a fixture on their home screen. They can use it now, use it later, use it repeatedly.<p>The web side needs a 0th step: "What was that URL you sent me last week again? I forgot..."

Ah, but sudo apt-get cal&#60;tab&#62;&#60;tab&#62; brings up virtually all the apps I need.

He forgot a few steps for web apps revolving around registering -&#62; checking email -&#62; validating -&#62; load first run page

The only advantage of native app stores is in gaining initial visibility/traction. Things like the google chrome store are not good enough for that. We should have something effective for web apps instead of infesting HN, reddit and various blogs. Are there any startups working on making the process of bootstrapping a new web app easy?

I think you can download Android apps directly from the web to whatever device you select. Yet, I use an iPhone.

iOS 6 now lets you update your apps without a password, but you still need to enter your password to download a free app.<p>I don't understand why you need to enter your password to download a free app. At the very least, you should be given an option to turn off the password protection.

But...the chart stops at "Open App", at which point the comparison is "Rrrruuuunnnn" vs "RunRunRunRun".

the app store does make up for this deficiency in other ways though.<p>- app reviews (incl. facebook integration now) that make it a lot easier to know whether the app is working/useful/great.<p>- highlights in the app store app itself. sure this is limited to what Apple chooses to show but there's no perfect equivalent on the web (maybe HN or TC?).

"But once a user has signed up, make sure you take them by the hand along the funnel." A few weeks ago, Danielle Morrill of Refer.ly, blogged about a her company's new user onboarding process (<a href="http://bit.ly/QZ9cxt" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/QZ9cxt</a>). She was apprehensive at first to "hand-old" first time users, but ultimately the strategy worked for getting people to share their first piece of content.<p>My question follows: What's the rate of returning users that create more than one piece of content when using a hand-holding on-boarding strategy compared to using a very minimal on-boarding strategy? That might be the next step in Gabor's chart.

I think the point is right, but comparing is to web was a poor choice. They both have their own challenges that are unique to the platform.

I've never had to enter a password to install an app.