Please. Fix. That.

iTunes Store featured album navigation

Update: Fixed as of iTunes 11, which changed the featured item presentation entirely.

This is a minor nit, but one that has been bugging me for years. When you open the iTunes Store, you're greeted with a panel at the top that rotates through some of the featured albums or applications (this is now repeated in the Mac App Store and iPad App Store). The problem I have with it is that it only lets you scroll this list one way. Here's the button they give you to view the next thing (Mac App Store UI pictured here, but it's the same problem):

When you use that button, the thing at the bottom scrolls off and moves to the big panel on the left. Or, if you just sit there, it does that itself after a few seconds. But there is NO WAY TO MAKE IT GO IN REVERSE. So, if your eye catches a glimpse of something you find interesting on the big panel but it swaps out with the next thing before you can click on it, you have to sit there and wait for it to roll around again. Or click-click-click the little down button to get back to it.

Now, Apple could fix this by adding an up button to the top right panel. That seems like a small thing to ask. One teensy extra button? Oh — right. Apple has a thing about extra buttons.

This bad apple in the iOS App Store

This isn't a software bug, but a process bug. There's an app in the App Store called "All Phone Tracker Real Spy HD". This app claims to "Locate any phone in the world, on any network, anywhere in the world on iPhone/iPod/iPad". Sounds great, but it's completely fraudulent to claim such a thing. Yet, somehow, this app has managed to evade the iOS App Store police.

Worse, right this moment, it sits at pretty high on the App Store's Top-Grossing chart (minutes before this screen shot was taken, it was #12):

Perhaps it is top-grossing partly due to selling a few copies at a new price of $449.99 (it had been priced at $0.99).

And somehow, this app has managed to get 20 5-star ratings since releasing version 1.0.1, an update summarized as "BUG FIXED."

I'm afraid that simply being listed on that chart is drawing extra attention and maybe there are just that many iPad users who are willing to spend $449 at the drop of a hat?

This app is a total scam (the 60 1-star ratings and negative reviews of the 1.0 release make that plain). It is in the "Entertainment" category, but claims it works ("WE GUARANTEE 100%"). Please Apple, remove this thing from the App Store and ban "Bendary" as an iOS developer.

Also, Apple shouldn't allow App Store submissions that specify an "App Support" URL of "www.Apple.com".

UPDATE: It's been less than 30 minutes since publishing this post and the app's price is back down to $0.99. The developer must really be having fun gaming the system. And now there are 50 5-star ratings.

iPad App Store showcase navigation

Noted on November 17, 2011 that these panels now support swipe gestures and the arrow buttons are no more. There are some lingering arrow buttons on search result pages, but those should be replaced in the near future as well.

It strikes me as odd that the iPad App Store relies on good old-fashioned buttons to scroll through pages of applications. It'd be a little more forgivable if touch-and-slide worked in addition to the buttons, but nope!