Details in the iOS App Store App
I understand what’s going on during those 5–10 seconds. The badge on the app’s icon might have been out of date because it isn’t updated continuously, so now the app is communicating with Apple to get the correct number of updates that are available. What I don’t understand is why they can’t just use the same number that was showing on the icon as a placeholder until the new information has been retrieved. It’s disconcerting to launch the App Store because I see that two updates are waiting, only to see—initially, at least—that there are no updates waiting. Apple’s apps should be more polished than that.
More annoying is what happens when I tap the Search button. I get a lot of whitespace, a list of suggestions I have absolutely no interest in, and a search field at the top of the screen that I have to tap on before I can start typing.
You think that's bad? Wait until the App Store icon is showing a badge, then connect your phone to a computer and use iTunes to sync the updates across.
The badge is never removed from the icon on the phone, presumably because of this nonsensical "use the placeholder, then look to see if there are any" logic. You need to wait until there is another update in the pipe and make sure you do it *on the phone*.