Today Facebook announced their very own App Centre which they describe as a “a new place for people to find social apps”. It is basically an alternative way to access mobile apps that use Facebook which positions the App Centre as a bit of a rival to Apple iTunes and Google Play.
Despite that, Facebook App Centre still needs to leverage all the apps that exist within iTunes and Play and, in fact, it will direct people to the Apple iTunes store and Google Play if the mobile app requires installation.
The Facebook App Centre is currently in beta mode but basically:
- Facebook has positioned it as a way for developers to gain more downloads and app exposure
- Apps simply need to use Facebook Connect to login to grant them a place in the FB app centre
- Paid apps will be an option but it will just be a flat fee, developers won’t be able to choose what price to charge
- Facebook will offer you analytics, mostly demographics, on the users of your App which seems to be a direct hit at Apple and their notorious closed wall around analytics of mobile apps.
You can find even more details about Facebook’s App Centre in their developer blog-post.
Will you put your app in the Facebook App Centre?
This post originally appeared on Switched on Media’s blog.