Finding an app can be a HUGE hassle.
You open up the App Store and you’re hit with hundreds of apps from “Feature apps,” “New and Noteworthy,” “What’s Hot,” to “Top Paid” and “Top Free.” The whole thing feels like I’m standing in the middle of Time Square trying to figure out which way to go. The whole experience feels so overwhelming.
Then, as I’m looking over all the apps my skepticism starts to set in. Millions of apps that exist, and this is it? Why these apps? What’s the process in choosing these apps? Who chose these apps? Is the person that chose these apps qualified? Is this app really worth the download or the price?
Appsfire put an end to all this uncertainty for me. It’s a free app that I’ve been using, ever since I saw it on The Next Web. It has made my app discovery experience simple, efficient and cost-conscious.
Co-founded by Ouriel Ohayon and Yann Lechelle, Appsfire was initially created as a way to efficiently find and share apps with friends. Now, along with fast search and sharing, Appsfire provides app scoring, price alerts, wish-lists, smart recommendations and is a great way to find app deals.
Check out the video that explains Appsfire:
After using Appsfire for a few days I wanted to get more insight on this great product. I reach out to one of the co-founders Ouriel Ohayon, via twitter (@OurielOhayon), to find out more about Appsfire. I was interested in learning how the idea started, what the process was and what the future holds for Appsfire. Ouriel was more than happy to take the time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions and more.
7 Questions with Appsfire Co-Founder Ouriel Ohayon
Wil: Appsfire will be celebrating its 3rd year anniversary very soon, can you talk about the company? How it got started? Where the idea came from?
Ouriel: We started way before it became a company. As the App store was released we struggled with sharing apps with our friends so we created an app to do that. But we then realized we could build something bigger, something that could help both users and developers. Six months later we decided to build a company to create a service for app discovery and promotion.
Wil: How long did it take to bring Appsfire from concept to completion? What was the development process like?
Ouriel: Appsfire had several ups and downs. The first twelve months were kind of lost because we worked more on technologies rather than an actual product that would get traction. We realized that we had to make something simple but also a lot more powerful than improving the way the App store was browsed.
The real beginning of Appsfire started early 2011 when we entered the deals space and started to understand how powerful this axis of discovery was, although insufficient to build a sustainable business.
What makes Appsfire very distinctive in that space is that we are constantly improving and iterating. We don’t have a single competitor that can claim that level of edge and innovation, and our users feel it.
Wil: What were some of the struggles when you first began Appsfire?
Ouriel: Appsfire was way too complicated both as a product and as a concept. We wanted to put into one box too many ideas. That’s the price you have to pay when you’re entering first an ambitious space, but also when you have to pave the road. It took us 12 months to realize we were not going in the right direction, although all the key ingredients were there.
Wil: One of the first things I noticed with Appsfire is the blazing fast search results. How is it that Appsfire can provide results so quickly but the App Store can’t?
Ouriel: Like I said we’re focused on innovating and being at the edge. We believe, with all modesty, we have built the very best discovery engine for mobile apps. Search is a dimension of discovery: the reason it is so fast is simple. Because we ….mmm…..mmmm…..actually I am not going to reveal here our secrets…. 
Wil: Another great feature I love is the App scoring. How are these scores determined?
Ouriel: The App score is the very first initiative to create a reliable, consistent quality score to every single app in the App store. It computes daily, for every single app, tens of parameters that qualifies the app. Those parameters come either from the app store (ranks, ratings, patterns, cheating patterns) or the web (review sites, facebook likes, etc). It is highly complex behind the scenes, but overall very simple to users. Even some of our competitors are using it for reference.
Wil: It seems like for the most part there are 11 apps recommended per stream. How are these apps chosen?
Ouriel: App score first. Appsfire core promise is that we recommend apps because they are “good”. Not because we’re getting paid (this also differentiates us from 95% of the rest of the discovery space).
Wil:: The Appsfire app has to date, over 9 million downloads with a lot of 5 star ratings. What has been some of the additional features that users have been asking for that was not included in the latest update, but may appear in future updates?
Ouriel: More and more users have both an iPhone and an iPad. They want a consistent browsing experience and to be able to port their preferences. At some point we’ll introduce that possibility. It is being asked every day.
- Category: Utilities
- Released: Jan 28, 2013
- Version: 4.1
- Size: 13.4 MB
- Languages: English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
- Seller: APPSFIRE
- © 2012 Appsfire SAS
