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Facebook brings web, iOS, and Android apps under one roof with Facebook App Center

The host with the most

Facebook brings web, iOS, and Android apps under one roof with Facebook App Center
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Facebook is uniting iOS, Android, and its own social games under one roof, in an effort to become the primary destination for Facebook users seeking mobile apps online.

Announced yesterday, the Facebook App Centre is pitched as a haven for consumers trying to locate the best free-to-play and premium software for their mobile devices, regardless of platform.

"For the over 900 million people that use Facebook, 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," Facebook developer Aaron Brady stated.

One-stop shop

For developers, the Facebook App Centre is an opportunity to take advantage of the social network's well-established infrastructure and push their software to as many of Facebook's near-1 billion users as possible.

Each developer will be obliged to create an app detail page, which will make its app eligible for listing.

The dev will also be able to monitor the popularity of its app via a tailored app rating system. The data gathered from this system will determine whether or not Facebook continues to host the app.

According to Brady, "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."

Credit where Credit's due

Facebook games will be downloadable direct from the App Center. If a game is hosted on Apple's App Store or the Google Play Store, however, users will be able to click through to the relevant app market to purchase the title directly from the respective platform vendor.

This will be the first time Facebook has offered its own paid games, with all previous titles adhering to the free-to-play model.

As with the platform's in-app purchase system, customers will be able to pay for these "flat fee" games with Facebook Credits. You can sign up to a beta program if you want to be first in line to test the new system.

The Facebook App Center will go live in the next few weeks.

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James Gilmour
James Gilmour
James pivoted to video so hard that he permanently damaged his spine, which now doubles as a Cronenbergian mic stand. If the pictures are moving, he's the one to blame.