Apple TV App Store Gains Categories Section for Better App Discovery

Apple appears to have updated the tvOS App Store to add a new Categories section, which should make it easier for new Apple TV owners to discover apps on their devices. Like the iOS App Store, the new Categories section arranges apps into different sections based on purpose, like Games and Entertainment.

First noted by iDownloadBlog on an Apple TV running the new 9.1 tvOS beta, the new Categories section appears to be rolling out to Apple TV users now. We were able to get the Categories feature to show up on an Apple TV running tvOS 9.0 following several device restarts.

Shortly after the Apple TV was released, there were multiple complaints about the state of the tvOS App Store. At launch, the App Store displayed only a list of featured apps, leaving the rest to be discovered through searches. Apple has been improving the tvOS App Store over the past few days, with the Categories section joining a Top Charts section that was added to the App Store on Monday.

Apps that are displayed when selecting the “Entertainment” category

Game and app developers were previously concerned with app discovery on tvOS when the App Store was limited to featured apps, but the inclusion of the Top Charts and the Categories section will go a long way towards bolstering the discovery process.

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