Apple has made slight changes to how its App Store will appear to users. Now, the category page on the App Store features more apps and each app category will have its own "Featured" page.

The tweaks to the App Store are available on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, as well as iTunes on a Mac. Prior to the redesigning there was just a single "Featured" section and separate categories provided only a list of the best-selling free and paid apps.

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Now, by featuring different apps in category pages and the main Home page, Apple is trying to give extra exposure to third-party developers. The new design brings large banners across the top of a category page and smaller banners in the middle of the page.

"Human curation would be an important aspect to consider for the growth of the App Store. In just a few months, in fact, Apple has revamped the weekly features of the App Store with Editor's Choice, App Collections, and subtle design tweaks applied every week. Today's visual refresh stands out for the use of animated promotional banners that can easily catch a user's attention, directing him towards an app recommended by App Store editors," reported MacStories.

The home page of iPad's App Store now features a collection of apps called "New to iPad? Start Here". This new feature sums up apps Apple suggesteds to new users. The suggestions include both free and paid popular apps like Flipboard, Letterpress, Facebook, and iPhoto.

"I don't think the categories will get anywhere near the traffic the main featured list gets. So getting featured there won't have quite the same impact on a developer's bottom line. It'll be interesting to see how often Apple rotates the category featured spots. If they rotate them less, the long-term increase in downloads might make up for the smaller burst of downloads," said David Barnard, founder of App Cubby.

The redesign may now let users discover more apps which would have never been seen before.

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