Survey Reveals Why Developers Hate the Mac App Store

A new survey carried out by DevMate by polling around 700 Mac developers on their feelings about working on OS X, has revealed that majority of them dislike the Mac App Store, which is whey they choose to distribute their apps outside of it, TheNextWeb is reporting. Almost half of the developers polled seem to take a dual-distribution approach, which suggests they’re hedging against relying on the Mac App Store for discovery.

While the sources of revenue are split almost evenly between the App Store and standalone distribution, almost half of Mac App Store developers say they would advise all new developers not to use it for their app distribution. Of those not using the Mac App Store to distribute apps, a staggering 97% say they would try to talk someone out of using Apple’s official App Store.

If you’re curious why developers seem to hate the Mac App Store, it comes down to revenue and features. Roughly two-thirds of devs think Apple’s 30 percent cut is too steep, while the inability to respond to reviewers directly or offer trial periods for apps is also a problem.

Apple’s changes for the iOS App Store are handy, but this survey shows us just how forgotten the desktop really is. While we look toward a name change for OS X and possible new MacBook Pros on the horizon, Apple really needs to make developing for the platform exciting again.

Will Apple bring something good for the Mac developers at this year’s WWDC?