Google has taken a step toward opening a Google Glass app store/directory with
today’s launch of a Glassware Review Process for developers. At the same time, the company has also announced the approval of five new apps for Glass Explorers.
The Glassware Review Process will help developers get their apps added to “MyGlass,” the individualized, web-based control panel that every Glass Explorer uses to turn apps on and off, add contacts and do other management tasks. Until today, Google only gave its official blessing to less than a dozen big-name apps — like Facebook, Twitter, CNN and the New York Times, among others. Other apps are listed if the Glass wearer adds them, but they show up with a warning that Google hasn’t reviewed the software.
Now, any Glass developer can submit apps for review and formal inclusion via the just-published Distributing Glassware guide.
Google: This Is A Temporary Step
Google confirmed for us today that this is a temporary measure — a first step in the process of helping developers earn visibility for their Glass apps. The permanent solution won’t be to list all available Glass apps in MyGlass; Google says a public Glass app directory/store is coming in 2014.
That makes sense for a couple reasons:
The MyGlass control panel would become unwieldy as dozens and, eventually, hundreds/thousands of apps are added to it. As an individualized control panel, it makes more sense that only the user’s selected apps would be listed there, not all Glass apps.
The MyGlass control panel is private. Google — and developers — will want a public-facing app directory or store to serve as an advertisement for Glass itself; i.e., “look at all the apps available and thing you can do with them on Glass.”
There have been indications that Glass apps will eventually be listed in Google Play, a move that seems to make the most sense all around.
Five New Apps
Along with the Glassware Review Process, Google also announced the addition of five approved Glass apps: SportsYapper, Thuuz, Fancy, Mashable and KitchMe.
The first two offer sports news and information. The Mashable app shares alerts of popular news articles. And we’ve already written about the Fancy app here on Marketing Land, and about the KitchMe app on our sister site, Search Engine Land.
PS/Reminder: We have a Marketing Land app for Glass and we’ll see about it getting it added officially, too.
Opmerkingen