Publishing on the App Store is not really relevant. I can experiment, write code, and publish that code without Apple's blessing.
Any curated stores (stores for web apps are no exception — like the Chrome store) are going to put limits on what can be published. That is where their value lies.
Here's the dilemma: To have a degree of openness and accessibility for developers while also maintaining convenience for end-users, you have to accept the submissions of new developers that meet a certain (in practical terms, low) bar of standards. So to curate such an ecosystem, while being relatively open to new developers and users at the same time, the below-par apps have to be punished through discover-ability. This is what Apple has done, and it explains why their ecosystem is painful in exactly the ways it it painful. (It's not as painful if you are working at a good company with sharp marketers, or if you have an in with a community that exists outside the app store.)
The web simply has its 'knobs' set differently to mediate the curation/openness dilemma. Discover-ability is better. Curation is DIY/free-market. Caveat emptor.
Any curated stores (stores for web apps are no exception — like the Chrome store) are going to put limits on what can be published. That is where their value lies.
Here's the dilemma: To have a degree of openness and accessibility for developers while also maintaining convenience for end-users, you have to accept the submissions of new developers that meet a certain (in practical terms, low) bar of standards. So to curate such an ecosystem, while being relatively open to new developers and users at the same time, the below-par apps have to be punished through discover-ability. This is what Apple has done, and it explains why their ecosystem is painful in exactly the ways it it painful. (It's not as painful if you are working at a good company with sharp marketers, or if you have an in with a community that exists outside the app store.)
The web simply has its 'knobs' set differently to mediate the curation/openness dilemma. Discover-ability is better. Curation is DIY/free-market. Caveat emptor.