So I had this idea, and while it might not be all that original, it's surely the direction I think Apple should take regarding the app store and future methods of software distribution.

Let's postulate for a minute here:

What if the App Store had an "Apple Approved" section, and then a "3rd Party" section.  Imagine if if you will, that this App store in all of its glory was on all of your Apple devices: Mac, iPad, iPod, iPhone.

Now imagine you purchase a new application for your Mac - maybe it also now comes with a mobile version, and an iPad version!  When you sync your iPhone and iPad respectively, these versions are installed to each of your devices.

Imagine if the App Store instead of a gated community protected by Apple, was a quality control service AND a package manager.  The ability to shop and acquire applications safely that are approved, as well as distribute them to all your devices would be a boon to users who required the ease of use.  This could also be extended to third party apps that are currently unapproved, or pending approvals to the App store if the user chose to enable it (maybe obfuscated by an advanced setting), but would still allow those Apps to still be managed by a centralized system.

A unified app store that could hold any app and intelligently sync the appropriate type of app with the appropriate device, would hugely simplify the process of managing applications across devices (ie, you need to format your computer? The app store could maintain a list of applications you had purchased and downloaded), and also be a sales boost to companies who might look to bundle different versions of their software together, and could distribute them as such.

Just some thoughts on the matter. Feel free to leave yours.