

Ask HN: What is the point of Chrome's web store? - mcrittenden

It seems like 99% of the apps just link to the web sites, and the rest of them could just as easily be plan web sites.<p>Why would a company spend time developing for a specific browser instead of just building a site that can be seen by everyone? Lots of people seem to be excited about this, so I guess I must be missing something?
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thomas11
I think the biggest difference is in how non-technical users perceive the
safety and quality of the apps. The internet is a scary place with viruses and
scams and loads of crappy stuff. An official app directory by Google or Apple
is safer, and _seems_ even more safe, as users perceive the content as curated
and approved.

Developers, on the other hand, can charge money for the premium of having gone
through the curation process. Users are more willing to pay a few bucks on an
app store than for the same website when they entered the URL into the browser
themselves.

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jonafato
All app stores, IMHO, are about app discovery for people who want to search as
little as possible. The iPhone app store is the only way to get apps "legally"
on the iPhone, but other than that, app stores don't do a whole lot other than
search. Android apps can be sideloaded, Mac store apps won't be anything new,
and Chrome apps aren't either.

Having a button for the average user to press is what it's all about. "Press
this button, and you can find apps." It just serves as a way for people to
most quickly find something that meets their needs. For developers, it gives
those people a place to look and hopefully increases exposure.

~~~
gaiusparx
App Store for smartphones is more about lock-in than app discovery. If a
consumer has too much invested in iOS apps and games for example, his/her next
phone upgrade will most likely be still iPhone.

~~~
jrockway
Apps cost so little compared to a phone + 2 year contract that I doubt this is
the reason. You are certainly locked in if iOS has an app that $foo doesn't,
but you are not locked in by having to pay $1 to re-buy it for the other
platform.

~~~
ams6110
People look at the phone + contract costs as fixed: "I'm going to have a
contract with somebody" so if they have an investment in iPhone apps that they
like they are going to be more likely to stay with iPhone/ATT then move to
Android. Even if it only amounts to a few tens of dollars, there's also simple
inertia at work here.

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malandrew
Webstores basically allow Google, Apple and others to monetize discovery for
users that don't know better.

Many people have a seriously difficult time comprehending the concept of a
URL. In fact, most of the time if you give some technologically illiterate
people a URL, they will not enter it in the browser address bar, but instead
type the URL into Google. Google will then give results for something like
www.mydomain.com and people will click through to that site.

It is entirely conceivable that Google eventually puts links to it's Chrome
webstore apps as sponsored links in the future, once this happens, users who
look for your site through Google should find two links for you, one sponsored
via the Chrome store and one unsponsored which is the actual link to your
site.

If you use the Chrome store for monetization, you ostensibly give up margin to
Google. For this reason I would put a free app to my site in the Chrome
appstore and monetize people directly on my site. To do otherwise would mean
giving up margins unnecessarily to Google.

Of course, this doesn't happen now. But I imagine that it is only a matter of
time until Chrome AppStore results show up as sponsored links in Google web
search.

On the otherhand, it's possible that Google only sponsor results for paid apps
only.

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patrickk
My guess is that it's a way for Google to get developers making apps for
Chrome before their new OS comes out (officially). Any kinks will be worked
out in the app store, so there should be a good range of apps available before
the OS launches.

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karterk
I know a lot of people are thrashing the chrome webstore (especially in the
developer community) - and yes, it does seem ridiculous on the outset.

Some people have already mentioned the benefits for the users, but, even from
the point of view of the developers, I feel that an "installable" web app
(which is actually nothing but a bookmark) helps developers by putting the
apps right in front of the users' eyes. It makes a lot of difference. As a
normal bookmark, it will get buried - but when it sits in that extra special
screen space as an icon - my gut feel says that users will tend to use it
more.

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mvalle
Because App Stores are the new trend and everyone wants one. Most iPhone/iPod
apps could too just as easily be plain web sites.

~~~
omaranto
Not only is it true, as you wrote, that most iPhone apps could be websites,
but it even happens that some things are available as both and the website is
better: Facebook (the app is actually slightly slower and doesn't let you like
comments on wall posts, for example) and YouTube come to mind. Note that in
both cases the app came out before the highly capable Mobile WebKit-specific
version of the site (i.e., the app was the best way to use those services on
an iPhone before).

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arpitnext
There is a special category of such apps: packaged apps. Which are capable of
running inside the browser - and even offline. The concept of webapp store is
useful only for such types of apps. Google can't develop apps - it is
developers' job (and opportunity). The concept is in its earlier stage, and
you will see magic in coming days.

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benologist
Because people will pay for it which attracts developers to build on it which
in turn builds a richer ecosystem for their platform.

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jonknee
The same point as Apple's Web App gallery? (<http://www.apple.com/webapps/>)
To make it easier for their users to find what they are looking for. For
developers it's enticing because it can get you in front of a big audience
without any marketing expenses.

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tmlee
Chrome Webstore, in the QnA session, it is said that these apps are
essentially just web apps that all browsers can view them right?

How does paid app works? If i paid for a webapp/game on the webstore... and
some day i have no access to Chrome, am i still able to open that webapp on
any browser at all?

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woodall
Google now has:

Chromium OS

Chrome

GoogleTV

Youtube

Paid rentals on YouTube

AppStore

...and a lot of other things. It wouldn't surprise me if a set top box was in
the works. Chromium OS is also going to have a lot to do with the AppStore, as
it is browser based/centered.

~~~
JeremyBanks
<http://www.google.com/tv/getit.html>

~~~
woodall
Google has time machines. Only explanation for this.

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pdelgallego
With Chrome you have access to NaCi so you can use installed libraries. For
example you can use imagemagick to convert, compose and edit using only client
side code.

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__Rahul
Web/app stores = one stop curated collection with some potential plan for
monetization.

You'll hear the word "curated" a lot in 2011.

