App discovery gets social

Google is the latest to reveal that it will be infusing its Chrome Web Store with recommendations from its social media platform, Google+.

“You can now share all of your favorite Chrome Web Store items with people in your Google+ circles by finding them in the Chrome Web Store and clicking the +1 button located in their store detail page,” said Hui Guo, Software Engineer at Google, in a post on the Chrome blog.

The feature allows you to see app, extension and theme suggestions from people in your Google+ circles by clicking on the “From your circles” link. Google has also included recommendations from its Chrome team for people who are new to Google+ and may not have a big circle of friends.

“To make finding the right app even easier, all apps that have been +1’d by someone in your circles will be indicated as such throughout the Chrome Web Store, helping you decide which apps to install,” said Hui Guo.

Facebook recently unveiled a social app store for mobile users on iOS, Android and the web. The Facebook App Center enables mobile users to discover and download social apps with their friends.

In June Apple announced that social networking fans will soon be able to share apps with their friends on Facebook without having to visit the Facebook website on their computer or open the Facebook app on their smartphone.

"We have been working very closely with Facebook to create the best Facebook experience ever on a mobile device,” said Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iOS Software at Apple, during the opening keynote of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

Deeper Facebook integration and social app discovery will be launched with the release of iOS 6 and Mac OS X Mountain Lion, both of which will be available soon.