Have you ever tried to find an app on the App Store? Yeah, good luck with that.
With Apple’s iOS app catalog ballooning to somewhere around half a million titles, the impending 25 billion download milestone, and the proliferation of counterfeit/fake apps, it’s getting harder and harder for mere mortals to find apps with the traditional iTunes search box.
Enter Chomp, which bills itself as “the search engine that finds the apps you want.” According to its site:
Chomp’s proprietary algorithm learns the functions and topics of apps, so you can search based on what apps do, not just what they’re called. Try searching for “puzzle games”, “kids games”, “expense trackers”, “tip calculators” or “chat” and start finding great apps.
According to Businessweek, Apple paid about $50 million for Chomp. Apple confirmed the deal yesterday but wouldn’t comment on the purchase price.
In addition to its web portal, the company also released Chomp for iPhone (App Store) in January 2010, (no, it’s not the Pac-Man knock off) and Chomp for Android (Android Market) in February 2011.
Earlier this week I reported that Apple is close to releasing a re-designed iTunes Store, but it’s unlikely that the Chomp integration will make the cut.
What’s been your experience with finding apps in the App Store?
