This is a private gripe, but one I feel like I need to get out there. Maybe once you read it, it’ll make sense to you as well.

The iPhone App Store has become a breeding ground for some wonderful games, and both big and small companies are realizing that a way they can get people to buy their game is through offering  a demo version, or as it’s always referred to in the App Store world, a lite version. This is fine to do. In fact, I enjoy that they do.

The problem arises from how the rankings system works. Because these are free downloads, they get dumped in with all of the other free downloads, and thus are viewed as strictly free, they take up almost all of the spots for the free downloads! Demo and lite versions really are different than truly free!

So, in the next iteration of the stop especially with the 3.0 OS, I would love to see a differentiation somewhere. Ideally, I would love a demo section, but would settle for breaking out “free apps” and “free games” as two separate entities. I think it would allow people who are genuinely making a free app, or a gateway to their web service (like Evernote) more recognized, as they should be, compared to the demo of the game they want you to pay for.