Android app search comes to the web!

We just got into the Android app discovery business in a big way - here’s the “official” story on what we’re up to…

Leading iPhone app search engine AppStoreHQ announces full-store Android app search + discovery platform for consumers and publishers

Seattle, WA - Tuesday March 16, 2010 - Google is the undisputed king of the web, with one odd exception: the world’s leading search engine currently doesn’t offer a web-based version of Android Market, the app store for their fast-growing Android mobile operating system. 

Until recently, Android phone owners, tech journalists, bloggers and enthusiasts could only access Android apps via a proprietary store browser installed on an Android-powered handset, a surprising contrast to Apple’s ubiquitous iTunes shopping experience, which offers both desktop and web-based profile pages for every iPhone app.

Enter AppStoreHQ. 

Already the leading independent discovery platform for iPhone apps, AppStoreHQ (http://www.appstorehq.com/) has just released the first fully-featured web-based search and discovery service for the Android platform. “We’re huge Android fans here at AppStoreHQ”, says Chris DeVore, the company’s CEO and co-founder, “and there are thousands of great apps out there for Android users, but they’re surprisingly hard to find.” By offering an independent, web-based discovery service for Android apps, AppStoreHQ aims to help Android device owners make the most of their phones, and also to shine a light on the remarkable innovation taking place in the Android developer community.

AppStoreHQ’s Android app directory can be found at: http://www.appstorehq.com/android-apps

Simultaneous with the release of their direct-to-consumer Android offering, the company is also announcing a free Android app search and discovery platform for third-party publishers. Android news and reviews sites DroidDog (http://www.droiddog.com/) and AndroidTapp (http://www.androidtapp.com/) are the first to take advantage of the new program, joining a long list of top iPhone blogs already participating in the company’s related offering for the Apple platform.  ”Thanks to AppStoreHQ, we can now deliver a complete Android app discovery experience right on our own site,” says John Walton, DroidDog’s managing editor, “and for the first time since we launched we can also point our readers to an authoritative listing on the Web for any Android app we write about.”

For consumers and Android enthusiasts, this new service includes:

  • Keyword search + category browse for any app currently listed in Android Market.
  • Web-based profile pages for each app, including price, description, screenshots and recent user feedback.
  • Direct buy links for visitors on Android devices plus “email to phone” and barcode-based buy links for Web users.
  • Easy social share actions for any Android app via Twitter, Facebook and email.
  • “Hottest Apps” rankings based on worldwide Android app mentions on blogs and Twitter, with results updated several times a day.

For Android publishers, AppStoreHQ also offers:

  • App Search for Your Domain - a free “white label” Android Market search + browse experience that can be seamlessly integrated with the publisher’s look and feel, on their own domain. Participating publishers also receive a unique URL on their domain for every listed Android app. Current program participants include: DroidDog (Android), AndroidTapp (Android), modmyi (iPhone), AppCraver (iPhone), and others.
  • AppBack Widgets - available to any blog author, just embed the widget for any listed app in your article or blog post to have it indexed and listed on AppStoreHQ with full source attribution and links back to the source.

About AppStoreHQ

AppStoreHQ (http://www.appstorehq.com) is the leading independent search engine for smartphone apps, offering daily app rankings based on application reviews and mentions across dozens of tech blogs worldwide and app-related tweets from tens of thousands of Twitter users. The company was named “Best Mobile Service Startup” at MobileBeat 2009, and has been featured in VentureBeat, TechCrunch, and The New York Times | Gadgetwise. AppStoreHQ was created by Chris DeVore and Ian Sefferman and is backed by Founder’s Co-op, a Seattle-based venture fund focused on seed- and early-stage software companies in the Pacific Northwest.

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