MANILA, Philippines — Social networking giant Facebook on Thursday lifted the lid off of its own app store, called App Center, for all of its more than 900 million active monthly users worldwide — including the Philippines — as it attempts to become more relevant to mobile users.
Announced in early June, Facebook’s App Center collates all of the Web, mobile, and social applications created by developers for the social network platform. Through the App Center, users would know which games or apps their friends are using, as well as which apps are garnering popularity among users worldwide.
“The App Center is now available to people worldwide! Discover new and fun apps you can enjoy with friends today,” said the official announcement on Facebook.
But the apps available on Facebook’s store extend beyond apps developed specifically for the network, as they extend to mobile apps on the iOS and Android platforms that interact with the social network through what is known as Facebook Connect.
These apps include mobile food social network Foodspotting, mobile music streaming app Spotify, and mobile photo-sharing network Instagram, which Facebook bought for $1 billion in April, among others.
“The App Center will become the new, central place to find great apps like Draw Something, Pinterest, Spotify, Battle Pirates, Viddy, and Bubble Witch Saga,” said Facebook’s Aaron Brady.
Facebook’s recent App Center move dovetails to its widely publicized struggle with the mobile space, where Facebook currently doesn’t have any form of revenue-generating implementation.
The problem was compounded with a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Facebook saying that some 102 million of its users accessed the service through their mobile phones alone in June, suggesting that the company’s revenues may be affected if it doesn’t act fast on its mobile versions.
The company is reported to be planning an overhaul its mobile apps for the iOS and Android platforms soon, with an initial update that will improve the app’s responsiveness on mobile devices, a common gripe expressed by Facebook users on smartphones.
Following the release of its first financial report following its initial public offering in May, Facebook’s stock fell to a record low of $23.97 last week, or 37 percent below its IPO price of $38. While revenue continues to grow for the company, growth has been slowing down this year.
source: interaksyon.com