Apple redesigns its online store, makes it more like the iOS app

Late on Tuesday, Apple’s website went down for a brief period of time, prompting speculation that the company might launch new products.

Not this time, though — when the site went back up, it had a new “Store” tab on the top left side.

As MacRumors pointed out, Apple’s website had a “Store” tab some years ago, but it was removed in a redesign. Now, however, the Store tab leads to a thoroughly redesigned store front, which lists all major Apple product categories, but also has an overview of deals and new items, as well as a few support links and documents.

Mashable Image
Horizontal scrolling? Cards with product sub-categories? Very iOS-like.
Credit: apple

Clicking on a particular product category will open a page that lets you horizontally scroll through cards with major sub-categories, which is similar to the way it’s done on the Apple Store app on iOS. Try browsing it on a phone and you’ll see what I mean.

Finally, choosing a particular sub-category will lend you on that product’s webpage which appears to be identical or at least fairly similar to how it looked before the redesign.

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These types of redesigns are best judged when you’re actually shopping for a product, but my gut feeling is that this is a good change. Having a dedicated “Store” section which lets you start picking your way through product categories can sometimes be better than finding your way through Apple product pages.

Also, the new Store has a lot of content that should help you decide what you want, either through various support documents, or one-on-one sessions with Apple staff. There’s nothing really new, here, mind you, but it’s nice to have it all in one place.

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