The app store is broken, and we all know it.

The mobile/smartphone space today is where personal computers were back in the 80′s. Multiple platforms (Amiga, Tandy, IBM PC, Apple Macintosh, TRS 80, Commodore 64) and little standardization. The market is ripe with innovation and people have a lot of choice, which is great for the consumer. But it makes it hard for app developers.

How do you decide what platform to build for and what application to build? Once you build an application, how do you spread the word so that you can get it in the hands of as many people as possible? How much do you charge for it? Most of just scratch our own itch, pick a number and leave the rest to Cthulhu.

Right now, it is hard for an app to stand out amongst the hundreds of thousands out there, and this has led to the crazy pricing that dominates the top 50 lists in search of a hit.

Earlier this summer we realized that what was needed was a cross-platform out-of-band solution to allow users to not only discover and promote the best apps for their platform, but also to bring apps from other platforms and from other cities to their city and their platform.
Effectively, a central meeting ground for developers and their users, that lives on the open web and outside the proprietary platform stores.

So, today we launched the Appify Developer Preview. Danny puts it very well when he calls appify a marketplace, discovery platform and innovation engine.

Appify will allow app developers to set up their own app pages on the open web and get them in front of a much bigger audience, even those that aren’t on their platform of choice. It will allow users to look at and get the apps offered not just for their device or city but around the world and on every device. It will also allow users to help promote the apps they think are worthy and to participate better in the app development process.

As a developer, you could still set up a webpage for your app, and you should, but then you have to promote your app, build an audience and spend time doing everything other than writing code. Why not let appify do all of that for you so that you can focus on what you do best, build awesome products? Do you want beta testers? We’ll find them for you! Do you want early-adopts who will find and spread your app? We’ll find them for you! Feature requests? Feedback? Exposure? We’re going to do all of that, and a whole lot more.

Currently, appify focuses on just local apps, although we’d like to encourage every app developer to create their app page. We’re building a community and since we’ve done local before, we decided that was the best place to start. Also, there’s been an explosion of mobile apps that help make cities work better and we’d like to give these apps as much exposure as possible.

So if you’re an app developer, go create your app page right now! If you have questions, concerns, suggestions, or flames, direct them to developers@appify.com

Wow.  The more I read about Honda, the more impressed I am. This is exactly how you should run a company, find the smartest people you can find and then let them figure out what needs to be done. A sample from the second article above:

A funny thing happened on the way to the solution. Try and picture this. On my first day of work, no one told me what to do. On the second day, the same thing happened, and on the third. That’s as much as I could take. I decided to meet with everyone I was coming in contact with to find out more about their individual talents and personalities, and to find out what was going on. Before I knew it, I was developing a picture of how things really were, and who needed what, and I became creatively involved in defining my own participation in relation to the skills I could bring to the table. In the process of doing this, I had complete access to everyone in the company, from other newlings to the President. Nothing but open cubicles no higher than 3 1/2 feet. I was allowed to learn, interact, and find solutions to every problem and need I recognized. I always found something important to do, and it became natural to provide effective solutions as needed. I am not a very unique individual, but I am effective because I am allowed to be. I also know it may be different for some people, experiencing this kind of freedom. I know that some people are petrified by this kind of freedom, and equate it to abandonment, and it drives them crazy not knowing what to do. I also know that even under the best of circumstances, people become sedate sometimes and settle in to patterns of repetition for false comfort. The answer, then, is to have them all switch places every few years, no matter how well they may be doing their job, because it is just as important to let everyone see their own position from someone else’s position. It also allows for the surprise of finding how much fun change can be when your creativity meets a new challenge. See what you end up with. It’s either this, or that.

That’s all there is to it.  Maybe you need more self-directed individuals than your average college grad but I think its worth it spending the time to find such people, and then helping them flourish both professionally and creatively. Don’t you?

If you haven’t seen this post from Chris yet, you have to check it out. Awesomely inspiring!