There are more than 1.4 million apps available on iOS and finding them can be an absolute nightmare. Now, Apple and Pinterest have announced a new collaboration that will allow users to pin and download apps directly to and from Pinterest boards.
The new tool, launched today and called App Pins, allows you to stick apps to Pinterest boards. Arguably, it’s quite a sensible idea, allowing themed apps to be placed in-line with the usual array of media on Pinterest: there might be a specialist recipe app on a food board, say, or a smart fitness app on a marathon training board.
The thing that actually makes this feature useful is that Apple’s involvement means you don’t need to visit the App Store to install an app you’ve found on a board. Instead, you can just download them right there, meaning you longer need to search for something that then doesn’t show up until the 57th result.
“We can be a really powerful service for app discovery, which is a problem that still really hasn’t been solved,” said Evan Sharp, a founder of Pinterest, to the New York Times. “Our specialty is really connecting people to the things they want to do.” Indeed, with 75 per cent of Pinterest traffic coming from mobile devices, it seems like a very sensible move indeed.
And so enamoured with Pinterest is Apple that it’s also set up its own App Store board, which currently features a set of fashion and shopping apps. Apple has usually relied on featuring apps in its own market places, so this is somewhat of a departure.
Pinterest denies any plans to make money from App Pins, but it seems like a logical initiative to monazite. Maybe that’s the next step. [Pinterest, New York Times]