There are three types of App Store Short Links, in two forms, one for iOS apps, another for Mac Apps:

Company Name

• iOS: http://appstore.com/ <companyname> for example, http://appstore.com/apple

• Mac: http://appstore.com/mac/ <companyname> for example, http://appstore.com/mac/apple

App Name

• iOS: http://appstore.com/ <appname> for example, http://appstore.com/keynote

• Mac: http://appstore.com/mac/ <appname> for example, http://appstore.com/mac/keynote

App by Company

• iOS: http://appstore.com/ <companyname>/<appname> for example, http://appstore.com/apple/keynote

• Mac: http://appstore.com/mac/ <companyname>/<appname> for example, http://appstore.com/mac/apple/keynote

Most companies and apps have a canonical App Store Short Link. This canonical URL is created by changing or removing certain characters (many of which are illegal or have special meaning in a URL (for example, “&”)).

No SDKs

We simply pull the data on your behalf via iTunes Connect, Google Developer or Amazon Appstore accounts. No recompilation, no added bugs.

Over the past few months, I’ve been researching the kinds of apps that get featured on the iTunes App Store home page for different countries around the world. Here are my initial findings.

This site tracks the average App Store review times for both the iOS and the Mac App Store using data crowdsourced from iOS and Mac developers on Twitter.

So, should you launch a paid app?

Maybe.

Every entrepreneur is different. If you want to build a big/impactful business, it’s not the right path (…). If what you want is a bootstrapped freedom-from-employment effort or are passionate about an idea that’s a lousy fit for in-app purchases, paid apps are a great path.

Developing a mobile app is the easy part. Getting that app noticed is difficult. And getting the app to go viral is like winning the lottery. Yet many developers get millions of downloads time after time. How?