I'd like to raise an issue with how the Connect IQ Store handles "Recent" sorting, because the current system appears to be unfair to new developers and makes discovering genuinely new watch faces unnecessarily difficult.
I've noticed that the same developers and watch faces repeatedly appear at the top of the "Recent" list, often on a daily basis.
It looks like some established developers have figured out EXACTLY when to publish updates to maximize their visibility. By timing their updates, they can repeatedly push existing watch faces back to the top of the list.
The problem is that an update doesn't necessarily mean anything meaningful has changed.
Technically, a developer could make a trivial change, such as adding a comment to the source code, submit a new version, and potentially get the same visibility as someone publishing an entirely new watch face.
This creates several problems:
-
New watch faces get buried. Genuinely new releases, particularly from smaller or newer developers, struggle to get visibility.
-
The same apps dominate the list. Users repeatedly see watch faces that have already been available for months or years.
-
Update timing becomes more important than actual development. Developers who understand how to time their updates gain an advantage over those who don't.
-
Users lose the ability to discover genuinely new content. A "Recent" list dominated by repeatedly updated older apps doesn't serve the same purpose as a list of newly released apps.
I'm not suggesting that developers shouldn't be allowed to update their applications or that legitimate updates shouldn't receive visibility.
However, the current system appears to create an incentive to submit frequent updates primarily for ranking visibility rather than meaningful improvements.
A few possible solutions:
-
Separate "New Releases" and "Recently Updated" categories. This would allow users to discover genuinely new apps without competing against years-old applications receiving updates.
-
Limit how frequently an existing app can return to the top of the Recent list. For example, an app could receive a visibility boost from an update only once every 7 days.
-
Prioritize first publication dates when sorting new releases. An app published yesterday should not immediately disappear beneath older apps that have simply been updated.
-
Make sorting behavior more transparent. Developers should understand what determines visibility, without having to reverse-engineer update timing.
I believe these changes would benefit both users and developers.
New developers would have a fairer opportunity to reach users, established developers could continue maintaining their applications, and users would have a much better way to discover genuinely new watch faces.
Could the Connect IQ team clarify whether this is the intended behavior of the "Recent" sorting mechanism, and whether any improvements to app discoverability are planned?
