Facebook App Center to have 'Send to Mobile' app installs
updated 09:31 pm EDT, Tue May 22, 2012
Easy install feature coming to Facebook app portal
Facebook's forthcoming App Center portal will feature a "Send to Mobile" option, allowing users to purchase apps on a desktop or tablet and have a notification delivered to their phones. The feature duplicates capabilities already found in Google and Apple's app stores, but uses Facebook's notification system. The Send to Mobile option is expected to be ready in time for the App Center's launch later this year.
Users choosing apps through Facebook's App Center on a mobile phone will have the option to directly launch an app if they already have it installed, or to go to the iOS App Store or Google Play to download it if they don't. The App Center will be the first storefront to sell apps for both platforms together. Facebook will not be directly selling or making money off of iOS or Android apps.
The App Center is part of a push by Facebook to gain a stronger foothold in the mobile world. The social network hopes to build its App Center in to the main repository for socially-oriented apps across all of the major mobile platforms. Facebook's app portal will leverage the social network's demographic information on its users to give developers greater insights into the kinds of users that are downloading their apps.
