Apple Creates a New App Store Category Called 'Catalogs' on Eve of Media Event

On the eve of the Apple media event for the iPad 3, Apple has added a new category in the App Store. The new category is called "Catalogs" and seems to be not yet fully deployed.

catalogs
Several existing apps have already been placed into the Catalogs category, including Catalog Spree (pictured above), SkyMall, MTG Merchant and more. These apps have long existed in the App Store and have now been recategorized to "Catalogs". The apps had previously been listed under the Lifestyle and Utility sections of the App Store.

The Catalogs category is not yet fully deployed to the App Store, and is not accessible directly from the App Store's category listings. Linking directly to the Catalogs category in the App Store presently shows an empty list.

Joaquin Ruiz, CEO of Catalog Spree, seems to believe that the timing could be related to the media event tomorrow. Ruiz said in an email, "Adding an app category is not something that Apple does lightly and we believe Apple's decision reflects the importance of this usecase in the Apple App Store ecosystem."

Apple is hosting a media event tomorrow in San Francisco. The timing of the App Store changes are suggestive that it may be related to the event.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 and iOS 27 Features Revealed in New Leak

Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28. The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Leak Reveals Foldable iPhone Details

Monday December 15, 2025 9:09 am PST by
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station. According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.2 With Alarms for Reminders, Lock Screen Changes, Enhanced Safety Alerts and More

Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. ‌iOS 26‌.2 is compatible with the ‌iPhone‌ 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation ‌iPhone‌ SE. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Coming Soon With These 8 New Features on Your iPhone

Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon. Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week. iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2 Likely to Offer These 10 New Features

Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...

Top Rated Comments

Lesser Evets Avatar
180 months ago
Scanned over that image quickly and had to backtrack. I thought it said, "Catalog Spree by Pedophiles".
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
scoobydoo99 Avatar
180 months ago
why do people just accept "Facebook login" as a fact of life now? You like linking all your activities to totally eliminate your privacy? You enjoy routing your FB username and password through as many internet connections as possible? You have just resigned yourself to the fact that you are nothing more than a drone to be tracked, marketed to, and sold? Or is it just laziness?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OrangeSVTguy Avatar
180 months ago
Pretty soon, we won't be getting anything else in the mail. It will all be delivered to our iPads digitally. Just baby steps, this won't happen overnight.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samac92 Avatar
180 months ago
Also Apple has tweaked the App Store on the iPad

http://www.cultofmac.com/150835/apple-introduces-more-speed-and-design-improvements-to-the-ipad-app-store/
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slimbek Avatar
180 months ago
If they make a new Catalogs App - it better darn well go into a folder when I want it to!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
guydude193 Avatar
180 months ago
NFC. Swipe your credit card to purchase something.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)