There are a lot of apps out there. Every once in awhile we like to separate a few from the pack and point out some that we think are particularly useful, but this time we’re showing you an app that helps you discover other apps. Whoa.
App discovery isn’t an entirely new field, but AppFlow’s approach to it is very refreshing and is the first to make it a social experience. Rather than act like a search engine and simply churn out results based on your query, it makes the process more involved and almost feels like a fun task in itself.
I might liken it to browsing books at a library or bookstore compared to browsing them in an online store; you can see the content in an online store, but being able to interact with the product and see it and its competition is a different experience altogether. In the same way, AppFlow allows you to quickly move from app to app and get a quick taste of each one through screenshots and brief descriptions. If you see one you like, place it in your “bucket” to look at in more detail later. This is where the social aspect comes in.
In addition to the bucket, AppFlow encourages users to form lists of their favorite apps that fall into different categories (such as their favorite film apps) and share them with the broader community. Users can browse these lists and quickly and easily swipe from app to app, getting quick visual snippets of what the app looks like and text descriptions of how each one functions should the user decide to read up on one. Users can then thank the creator of the list, giving that list more visibility.
AppFlow focuses less on ratings and reviews and more on forming a visual connection between the user and the apps he or she is browsing. It shows off full-screen screenshots of the app, provides written details regarding app functions, and links directly to Google search if you want more information.
On top of all this, the app is beautiful. It has gorgeous graphics and a wonderful UI with plenty of tips to help you figure out anything that’s giving you trouble. After just a few minutes with it, I found that it was very intuitively designed and that things just worked the way I expected them to.
If you’re looking for a new app, get this app first. Then continue your search for that other app you were looking for – in style.
Currently AppFlow is available for Windows Phone and iOS.
