Pinterest has announced a new feature that lets users download apps to their iPhone and iPad straight from the Pinterest mobile app.
The social network's new App Pins will let users discover new apps they want to use and download them directly to their devices. Currently, Pinterest is only offering App Pins for iOS devices.
"Let's say you're Pinning workout inspiration to your Marathon Training board," said Pinterest. "If you see a fitness app that helps you reach your goals, you can download it right from Pinterest."
App Pins are differentiated by a prominent blue Install button on the pin's upper right corner. When a user taps that button, Pinterest automatically downloads the app straight from Apple's App Store and installs it on the user's device.
Apple, for its part, has created a Pinterest profile for its App Store with multiple boards featuring App Pins curated by its own editors. At present, the App Store profile on Pinterest features fashion apps, in conjunction with this week's New York Fashion Week.
Huge news: we’re now on @Pinterest! This week we'll be pinning live from #NYFW. https://t.co/bSpUWUKPcK pic.twitter.com/oadXbauiIt
— App Store (@AppStore) February 12, 2015
Pinterest differentiates itself from other social networking websites as a discovery tool. Its aim is to silently push its users to do something, such as take up that bedroom DIY makeover project or buy those faux fur handmade rugs, and it hopes to do the same thing with its App Pins. For instance, if a user searches for "paleo recipes" on Pinterest and discovers an app he wants to download, Pinterest will allow that user to download the app without ever leaving its platform.
Pinterest is not the first social network to promote developers' apps; Facebook and Twitter already do the same. However, Pinterest believes it is better suited for helping users find new apps because that is part of Pinterest's core offer: to help users discover new things to like, buy, and do.
Facebook and Twitter, on the other hand, are focused on connecting people with their friends and getting people updated on the latest news.
Moreover, more than three-quarters of people using Pinterest are on mobile, which means majority of the site's users are more primed to download new apps.
Users previously had no way of sifting through the 1.4 million apps sitting in Apple's App Store, where Apple editors carefully pick a handful of apps that are placed in the App Store's Featured section. That leaves out plenty of other apps that go undiscovered by users who might be interested in them.
"We can be a really powerful service for app discovery, which is a problem that still hasn't really been solved," said Evan Sharp, Pinterest founder, in an email sent to The New York Times. "Our specialty is really connecting people to things they want to do."
