San Francisco, CA
AppAide is an iOS app that helps you find new apps people actually use, and it has greatly expanded its reach of what apps you might come across with the addition of app categories.
The AppAide program comes from the founders of find-a-beta-tester site BetaBait, including long-time VentureBeat contributor Cody Barbierri. The three founders were working on a mobile app for BetaBait but instead found themselves trying to fix the app discovery process. They were frustrated that the iTunes store didn’t do a good enough job of showing new and cool apps, so AppAide uses the pool of anyone who has AppAide installed to recommend apps people actually use.
“AppAide is mixing up how app discovery has been traditionally done,” Barbierri told me. “Rather than focusing on what apps get the most downloads, we want to focus on what apps get used most.”
But now AppAide has gotten better with a vital update this week. The app now lets you search through categories such as Newest Apps, Books, Health & Fitness, and Social Networking. You can even search the “Random” category to roll the dice. It makes for more satisfying experience, especially because you can look at one category and a week later the results could be completely different.
“The new categories will help users find apps based on their moods, activities, and more,” Barbierri said. “Especially the ‘Apps Near Me’ category, which will show you apps being used around you.”
The only big potential roadblock in AppAide’s future? This fall, Apple will finally take advantage of that Chomp acquisition, and it will add better app discovery in the iOS 6 App Store.
Check out the new version of AppAide here.
Top photo: AppAide
Homepage photo: Compass via Laborant/Shutterstock
Filed under: Mobile, VentureBeat
