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Rate my startup: Zwapp, a unique social view of the App Store
- anupam_tulsyan 16y agoNice idea. Apps are one niche it can be extended to other things utilizing social networks to get real time recommendations from friends.
- start123 16y agoThe site is down!
- vanelsas 16y agoWhere are you accessing it from? Seems to work fine here, although we are getting a spike in traffic now
- bradhe 16y agoCool idea, but I wouldn't give you any money for this. How do you see this growing in to a startup?
- vanelsas 16y agoIts a three month project that we did. The app is free and will remain free. It is born out of a frustration that finding apps is becoming more difficult and that browsing the App Store just isn't working. In real life, the first thing we do is compare apps on our phones, so why not do that on your phone too.
- KingOfB 16y agoMight want to consider getting some app review people on board and feature their accounts as accounts to follow.
- vanelsas 16y agoWe have thought about things like that but to be honest, we want to keep the experience focussed on your friends. There are already enough top app lists around. What makes Zwapp different imo is that it gives you direct access to the apps and reviews of your friends instead of strangers.
- tled 16y agoHow do you get the apps list on other people's phone
- vanelsas 16y agoJust connect with your friends (using Facebook, Twitter, or your contact list) and you can then browse your friends apps. Zwapp detects apps automatically on your device with a few clever tricks. Also the real-time feed shows you the apps your friends are downloading now, reviews, likes etc.
- KingOfB 16y agoBy Clever, do you mean a private API? I'd be interested in how if not!
- vanelsas 16y agowe do two things: 1) We check on custom schemes (btw: watch that space as we will open source our work on that shortly!) 2) We check processes on iOS4 devices and match those as well. The algorithm learns and will detect better and more with increased usage.
- gavingmiller 16y agoI'm interested in what you've done to make money off of this? Is it via affiliate links?
- vanelsas 16y agoWe have affiliate links set up which will provide some revenue. The site is still very clean, almost Instagr.am -ish, but we are also working on a web view where you can see and share each others app profiles (see http://www.zwapp.com/users/237 http://www.zwapp.com/users/237 for a work in progress example).
- Gimpson 16y agoThank you so much for only requesting the permissions you need when looking for friends via Facebook. I'm so frustrated by the number of apps that request permission to post just so I can find friends. (And I'll never grant that permission.) Edit: Though it looks like you're asking permission to update Twitter, and that's making me hesitant.
- jeroenvandijk 16y agoWe'll look into that, it shouldn't be like that. We will not actually post anything though.
- vanelsas 16y agoThere is only one point in the app where we ask (politely) if you are willing to tweet about Zwapp. That is in the autoshare section of Settings. You remain in control at all times about posts. You can turn sharing to social networks on/off but everything defaults to off.
- arnodenhond 16y agoisn't iphone almost out of business? what about an android version?
- vanelsas 16y agoWe really want to do an Android version, it is a great platform too. We are working on Android already. We want to strengthen our Android team so if you know any good Android devs they can contact us for a job!
- jogo 16y agoI agree. You should definitely do an Android version. The Android Market could use a social interface too.
- anupam_tulsyan 16y agowhy not allow login directly using facebook or twitter account?
- vanelsas 16y agobecause not every user wants that, and tbh we're a bit unhappy with the reliability of both FB and Twitter.