Facebook – the massive social network that has over 900 million users, including 488 million mobile users – has announced the Facebook App Center. This is a dedicated section on Facebook reserved to discovering iOS and Android apps via the web (either on your mobile or desktop). This will officially be rolled out “in the coming weeks” and is “a new place for people to find social apps.”
In order to be listed on the Facebook App Center you’ll have to meet their guidelines, first being able to login via Facebook (so they’ll probably start tracking your every move and what your sharing). In addition, Facebook is looking for quality apps over quantity and for now the apps for iOS and Android will simply redirect to the App Store or Google Play.
Facebook is looking for developers to jump on board and create a “app detail page” within the App Center. This is currently in beta and will support paid apps in the future, possibly helping Facebook monetize their mobile reach. However, there’s a social aspect to the App Center as it’s all based on “how users rate your app over time.” Facebook states that “Well-designed apps that people enjoy will be prominently displayed. Apps that receive poor user ratings or don’t meet the quality guidelines won’t be listed.”
This will give devs another avenue to promote and possibly make some extra dough on their apps. Will be interesting to see how the rating system unfolds and how it’ll show up on your timeline.
