Facebook today expanded its App Center, which launched Saturday in the U.S., to users in all English-speaking countries including Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom says Malorie Lucich, a manager of platform communications at Facebook.
The App Center was developed to give users an easier way to find social apps. Users can find the App Center page as a bookmark on their Facebook home page, as well as on the mobile Facebook app, according to a press release.
The App Center works as a compliment to other app stores, such as Apple’s App store and Google’s Play store. Once the user finds an app of interest on Facebook, he or she is directed to another app store to purchase it. “The purpose of the App Center is to facilitate discovery among friends and give apps another way to grow,” Lucich says.
“The App Center gives developers an opportunity to have another growth channel,” Lucich adds. Game developer Kixeye found that App Center traffic has produced above-average income for the company, according to Lucich.
Users are also given the chance to find an app on their desktops and “send to mobile” in order to install and use it on their mobile device.
“Over the past six months, more and more types of social apps have launched, from food apps to fashion, fitness, and travel, etc.,” Lucich says. “We recognized the need for people to have an easier way to discover great apps through their friends on Web and mobile, while giving developers another way to have their apps be found and installed.”
“Early tests have been positive,” says Lucich, “which is why we announced today that we are continuing to roll out the product around the world.” Lucich adds that Facebook will next continue the global rollout of the App Center in Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey.
When asked about mobile ads based on app use, Facebook refused to comment.
