Apps Tech News

The highly-publicised Facebook App Center, described as “the place for people to find great social apps on the web and mobile”, has been officially released to US users, with apps available on iOS and Android platforms as well as on Facebook.com.

Many of the apps are already-popular games and services, such as Spotify, Pinterest and Draw Something. The Center categorises best apps in terms of top rated, trending and top grossing.

The App Center differs from Google Play and the App Store in that it sends users to the aforementioned sites if a hosted app needs software download, as well as being a central hosting store.

However, Facebook will use its social media data to categorise the most popular apps. The first thing users will see having logged in are two columns of recommended and friends’ apps.

Similarly, for developers who wish to create unique apps hosted on Facebook, the social network will take the standard 30% cut. Developers will be able to gauge their app’s progress in an App Dashboard.

Over 600 apps have been deemed of sufficient quality to be listed in the Center. Facebook had stated, in the announcement of the store last month, that each app had to fulfil certain criteria to be published in the Center.

Engineer Aaron Brady claimed that Facebook will “use a variety of signals, such as user ratings and engagement, to determine if an app is listed in the App Center”.

Facebook did not mention any specific dates for a worldwide rollout, apart from that the process should be complete within a few weeks.

Is this a shrewd move on Facebook’s part? Even if they’re not getting money from downloads on App Store and Play, won't the level of interaction and engagement surely go through the roof? What does this mean for app developers?