There's been an interesting shift in terms of how developers find and utilize their tools. Until a few years ago, the process was fairly messy. You had to bookmark everything, check various GitHub repositories, Twitter recommendations, and even that one tool you always forget about. It got the job done but was far from optimal. More and more developers are now leaning towards web app marketplaces.
Tools have become overwhelming - We've seen thousands upon thousands of new SaaS tools, APIs, and micro-products hit the web every single month. Filtering what you really need from all of that noise has become increasingly difficult.
Context beats search - Rather than search for "best x tool," developers need environments that will allow them to easily find, group, and categorize different tools.
Workflow > isolated tools - In other words, they're not just using tools—they're creating a full-fledged workflow out of it, and they need something where they can do that efficiently.
Web-first mentality is prevalent - Since most apps are now web-based anyway, the demand for native app stores is becoming less and less relevant.
Rather than managing multiple tabs or Notion lists, I've moved on to explore tools via curated platforms like Unstore. It’s more aligned with how tool discovery is supposed to be: streamlined, direct, and exploratory rather than search-driven hacks.
While this may seem convenient, it goes beyond that in terms of how developers view tools:
Less tool hoarding
Intentional selection
Tool discovery speed
Streamlined processes
Quite frankly, it’s been long overdue.
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