Chrome Web Store Redesigned
If you have visited the Google Chrome Web Store today you may have noticed that Google redesigned the store completely.
The layout of the page has been streamlined to display a minimalistic listing of apps, extensions and themes.
The page has three core elements. First the sidebar menu linking to application categories, extensions and themes for the Chrome web browser, then the main area with big thumbnail images and little information about each application, theme or extension and then the search to find specific items in the store.
Some categories use a different display. The family category for instance uses small icons instead of thumbnails so that more applications fit on a single page.
Each application or extension listed is displayed with its name and either a rating or the number of users. It feels rather strange that some applications show ratings while others show the user count instead.
When you move the mouse cursor over a thumbnail you will see a short description and a button to add it directly to the Chrome browser.
A click on an application opens the application's page in an overlay on the same page. the page includes an overview, both ratings and user counts, details, reviews and thumbnails.
Reviews have been moved to their own tab in the overlay so that it takes additional clicks to access those compared to the previous layout of the Chrome web store.
The listing pages load additional apps and extensions automatically when you scroll down eliminating the need to switch pages manually.
Extensions and themes are the only two categories with sub-listings. It does not seem to be possible anymore to sort the extensions or apps by popularity, last update or other metrics which limits the usability of the listing tremendously. It is for instance no longer possible to identify new extensions in the store as you cannot display those anymore.
The only extension listings that you get are curated by Google or displayed after searches.
The new Chrome Web Store layout and design looks as if it was optimized for touch based devices. You find big thumbnail images in most categories that are easy to tap on. Desktop users will miss sorting options as well as options to change the display of the listings.
Have you been to the new Chrome Web Store yet? If so, what do you think of it?
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I kinda like the new design, the old one, as with much of the chrome aesthetic, looked too cartoonish.. Besides the slightly more adult look, I am not finding much else to like. Is there any organisation to the themes section? any at all besides “by artists” and “by google”l? before, at least, you could see the latest themes added — now they appear to be just dumped onto the site with no rhyme or reason/ Then again, google often chooses minimal over usable, perhaps the sorting is enabled by a tiny button that is the same color as the background and I am just not trying hard enough.
It seems like this conversation will not end here, will it continue till 2012? Who knows! But anyway, I will not going to make anymore bad comment about Chrome web store, you see most of the time when we want to help a company to improve their service but at the end we became a bad guy instead. As a developer I certainly don’t want to anger any party here but I still need to say this, chrome web store needs a better plan to promote those apps and exts, create a page and put everything on it then forget about it and walk away is not the method to do it. Google has lots of properties and all those are the best place to promote the app and ext, or maybe Google just doesn’t interested to do that at the first place, I beg Google pardon if I really say something wrong so please forgive me, GOD.
Well they are sort of promoting the web store now. On all new tab pages you have the web store right there in your face. Unless you are like me, and use speed dial, but still I visit it daily, and even have it as a speed dial page. Well I used to visit it daily to see what was new, but with the redesign, I don’t because they removed that part of it.
This comment topic should close now because there is nothing to talk about anymore. If you are in any business and looking for developer partner to develop chrome ext, let me know, I am interested in it, but before that please tell me how many people will use it first because it is no point to develop ext or app for just a few users @@
So if you are a developer or even you are not you are welcome to talk business as long as these two things are there
1) Good opportunity for earning.
2) Lots of users using it.
Sorry for that Martin , have a nice day @@
Do not feel sorry. I can understand your position. Have you thought doing your own promotions, e.g. your own website, sites like Softpedia or forums?
You see Martin, you really need to understand our position as a developer…
1) If we push too hard, then people will report us as a spam to Google, you know what will happen next.
2) If we don’t push at all, then our app will stay there without anyone use it, why? Because it doesn’t even shown up on the right place at the right time. If there is no viewer on our app then how are we going to get the download.
3) I have mentioned before on my comment, Google just brings in traffic to us and we will keep on improving on our app, if there is no traffic then what is the point of doing improvement? I can upload nice and beautiful promotion graphic but what is the point of doing that if I can’t even get 10 views per day?
Anyway, I think this conversation should come to the close now as I already said what I need to say, see ya next time and nice to meet you. @@
I wont comment anymore on this post because I have said what I need to say, and one more time I need to mention this before I leave this post is : Chrome web store team really needs to wake up now and start to find a new method to promote those apps and exts or else developers might not feel happy anymore!
Just like I have thought, nothing really change for the developer, still the ‘peanut’ download for me. It is a bright idea at the beginning but when it goes on it becomes like their other project…I don’t even think about thousands of download per day now, at least maybe expose my app to hundreds of viewers I will be happy enough, but even this I can’t get it, only like 10 views per day (look, I am not talking about 10 downloads per day, I mean 10 views per day for all my 9 apps combine) which is a total nightmare, and now I am asking myself why am I wasting time to learn those API. I rather throw my app to Firefox and waiting for weeks of approval (or maybe reject) than upload my app to chrome web store and see myself continue to suffer like hell, those people from the web store don’t understand the method of modern promotion at all, actually they can do it better but they simply too lazy to think about it instead just build a new store design and let it sit there, do the chrome users really know there is a web store at there at the first place? I bet not many of them know that. Another thing I don’t like about the store management system is it just select those app they like and put it on the top of the front page, those they don’t like will never appear there, do they really want to help the developers and also helping themselves? I really have a BIG ? about this. Google top management should really comes down to the store and takes a look at what his stuff is doing now because I really feel concern if thing goes like this then the store will be in danger when some really powerful super heavy weight in the same business comes into play next year, I think Google is a great company (and maybe the greatest of all time) the only problem of Google is some of it stuffs simply don’t know how to get their project to the right path, thats why you can see one project falls after another, Google can’t afford this anymore and developers can’t as well, so it is really the time for the Google top management side to come down and take a look at the store at this moment.
Google does not care about the individual developer nor the individual webmaster (unless you are famous or someone in big media takes your case).
Yes I agree you need to be big, but don’t you see the point I am talking about here? How many of the chrome browser users actually visit chrome web store? I am not talking about taking care of particular developer (I believe no body needs a special care from Google include myself) but I am talking about the method of promotion. You see if Google can consider to show those apps or extensions on its properties such as
1) bottom right hand side of the search result page.
2) Google+ social network
3) Gmail sidebar
…the list keep on going and going, I think they really need more flexible promotion method instead of let those apps just sit on a single page. I think starting to promote the store to the users will be the first step Google needs to do now after the new design of the store, then only comes the app and ext promotion, hope this suggestion will help.
Your suggestions would probably infuriate a lot of users as it adds lots of noise to those pages.
New search algorithm of chrome store sucks big time. Searching for “gmail” returns me “angry birds” on top. Apps and extensions are displayed together. Very annoying.
I can’t find stuff now. Example: I’m using a classic blue theme. Before I would be able to enter “blue theme” in the search, and it would pop up. I use this example because within the theme page is a link for the non-aero version too. I switch back and forth. Well I can’t find it by search now, and not even scrolling through all the themes can I locate it. I had to “Google” it, and find it by a link in my search results. Wow! Also you used to be able to view top themes, new themes, or popular themes, but that’s all gone now. Bummer.
The old design is still helping the developer to get some download per day, but the new one is a total nightmare and now I can’t even get 5 downloads per day, I was actually thinking about going into developing app for Android but now I totally give up. Talking about theme, I strongly encourage those who want to develop for the store to go for theme design instead because the theme developer is really enjoying high download as compared to app and ext developer like me. Maybe it should call the chrome ‘theme’ web store instead. What is the point of redesign the store if the result is still the same? Do the store stuffs really know what they are doing? The main point here is not to redesign the store and keep on asking for developer to upload a nice ‘promotion image’ but to concentrate on promoting those app and ext instead. I think all the app and ext should have a fair chance of showing up in front of the users instead of a few of them keep on appearing in the front page but the rest hardly been seen by the users, sad, really sad, if I know this is the situation I rather throw my app to Firefox instead paying to list my app there on chrome web store, there is no different between need to wait for week or so to get approved by Firefox and upload our app to chrome web store and let it sit there for month with only 5 DOWNLOAD for the entire month, I am not saying my app is the best but at least the web store stuff should let the market to decide whether our app is good or not instead of just showing those app and ext that they like on the front page, feel really sick when I saw lots of app and ext from CHINA but the rest of Asia developer bit dust!!! Sorry for too rude.
It is really a disappointing one, as a developer who has uploaded around 9 extension plus app to the store I see nightmare now as the download number has fallen to less than 5 downloads per day, worst than before. However, I think maybe Chinese developers will really enjoy this new design as there are tons and tons of Chinese apps up there. But for a developer from other part of Asia country such as Malaysia, Singapore and even Japan, no luck after all. I have tried really hard to improve my app and spend hours to do it but due to this unfair situation I will stop develop for Google for a while, really a big disappointment, sorry about that.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/list/new_additions?category=ext
Does anybody know the replacement URL for recently added extensions?
Trolls…
but anyways, I think it looks great! It fits with the overall feel of the browser.
I really hate Google Chrome, and just about anything Google.
It is the worst redesign of Chrome Web Store. I just want to close it and never open again!