The social network just unveiled its App Center, and it's accessible on iOS and Android devices, as well as through the Web on Facebook.com. Here's what you can expect to see. 
 
 (Credit: Facebook) 
 
 Facebook's App Center has arrived, and it's got more than 600 apps in tow, including big hitters like Pinterest, Draw Something, Nike+, Path, and Ghost Recon. Let's take a look at how it all works. 
 
 The first thing you should know is that App Center is not a Facebook marketplace akin to Google Play or Apple's App Store. Rather, it's a hub for discovering new and interesting apps based on your Facebook activity and your friends' activity. In fact, whenever App Center recommends a mobile app, it actually links out to Google Play and iTunes so you can easily download it. 
 
 On the Web, you can access the App Center through a bookmark on the top left of your news feed page. Once you're in, you are greeted, front and center, with recommended apps and friends' apps. Also, along the left is a menu of categories like Games, Entertainment, Music, and News, through which you can browse. 
 
 App Center recommends apps based on the apps that you are already using. The more apps you use with Facebook log-in, the more attuned it will be to your tastes. The Friends' apps section also shows you recommendations, but these are based on, you guessed it, the apps that your friends are using. 
 
 Once you find an app you're interested in, you can click through to get all the details. If you'd like, you can also play it right then and there (if it's a Web app) or send an iTunes or Google Play link to your mobile device (for mobile apps). This latter feature is hugely convenient, but when using it, be sure to check what platform the mobile app is available for first. Case in point, I was able to send a Pinterest app link to my Android phone, when in fact, Pinterest is only available on iOS. This caused a Google Play error on my phone. Perhaps a more prominent display of the platform compatibility would help, because as it is now, that information is tucked away at the bottom of the app details page. 
 
 (Credit: Facebook) 
 
 Meanwhile, on a mobile device the App Center provides a significantly pared-down experience. In fact, it looks quite different from the desktop App Center, which, to me, was a bit disorienting. The App Center on mobile opens up directly to your Friends' apps, but on the phone it's called "Social Picks." Top Apps is another section that you can explore, which lists the most popular mobile apps for Facebook users. 
 
 One thing that needs work on the mobile interface is browsing. You can browse through Apps or Games, and that's about it. There are no other categories to help you navigate, like there are on the full desktop version of App Center. 
 
 Conceptually, App Center seems like a winner to me. I found its recommendations helpful and the Friends' apps list very interesting, to say the least. All that said, I can honestly say that I'll use it. Still, the interface has some kinks to work out, especially on mobile devices. 
 
 If you can't find App Center yet (it is gradually rolling out to users over the next few weeks), you can go to facebook.com/appcenter on your desktop browser or m.facebook.com/appcenter on your mobile device to try it now. ||||| Facebook has launched an app store, similar to that for the Apple iPhone, in a bid to turn the social network into a key entertainment platform online. 
 
 The network announced its "App Centre" in a blogpost late on Thursday, confirming its first major move into a booming market of gaming, lifestyle and productivity applications. 
 
 The app store will be available only to US users from Friday, opening to each of Facebook's 901 million users in the coming weeks. It will feature 600 apps, including the popular Draw Something and Pinterest, and new games such as Jetpack Joyride and Ghosts of Mistwood. 
 
 "The App Centre gives you personalised recommendations, and lets you browse the apps your friends use," said Facebook's Matt Wyndowe in the blogpost. 
 
 "It only lists high-quality apps, based on feedback from people who use the app." 
 
 The move is designed to keep Facebook users on the social network for longer, giving them less reason to leave the site for a rival platform. 
 
 However, the focus on mobile apps is likely to attract criticism from those who see them as harmful to the future of the open web. Facebook has already faced criticism from internet rivals such as Google for its so-called "walled garden" approach to what can and cannot be released on its platform. 
 
 The app store will be available on Facebook's iOS and Android apps, as well as on the main website. Users can send an app on the website to be downloaded onto their mobile device. 
 
 Apps have quickly become a part of daily life for smartphone owners across the globe. Ushered in by Apple's iPhone and, later, by Google's Android and other mobile operating systems, an estimated 31bn apps were downloaded to mobile devices last year, according to industry analyst Juniper Research. 
 
 Although most apps are free to download, the still-nascent medium is delivering significant revenues for hugely popular games such as Angry Birds. Juniper Research predicts that by 2016 mobile apps will generate $52bn of revenues – 75% from smartphones and 25% from tablets. ||||| Or, how Facebook makes money and advances its own interest by helping Apple sell apps on its own store. It's a surprisingly clever move. 
 
 The Facebook App Center will "sell" iOS apps. (Credit: Facebook) 
 
 The app store model is winning the evolutionary battle for software businesses. It's how operating system manufacturers are making ongoing money, especially on mobile devices. But now Facebook, which has a social networking platform and not an operating system of its own, has figured a way to take advantage of the model. 
 
 The challenge, for a platform like Facebook, is that it has to build a store on top of these other existing stores. It is especially tricky to build on top of the Apple App store, which remains the only legitimate channel for users to get apps onto iOS devices. Facebook, instead of opening a store per se, has announced that it's opening a hybrid marketplace: Part store, part showcase. 
 
 Facebook will be selling (I use the term loosely) three things: 
 
 1. Pointers to mobile apps on other stores. The App Center will list mobile apps for iOS and Android, but it won't sell them. Rather, it will point users to complete their purchases on those stores. Facebook won't make money from the sale of apps on other stores. 
 
 Facebook still wins big, though. It gets to promote social apps that use Facebook login (a requirement to be listed on the App Center), and the more users Facebook has using its network, even if only the login feature of it, the more data Facebook has on its users and the more targeted its advertising can be. More importantly, every time a user logs into an app using Facebook, it's a time a user isn't logging in using another system, like, say, Google's login feature, or Twitter (which Apple favors on iOS). Facebook's App Center is a clever way to keep other networks from growing. 
 
 2. Pointers to free Web apps that use Connect. Facebook will also be encouraging the growth of Facebook-connected services on the Web that use its login platform, like Pinterest and Spotify. Again, Facebook wins when users login in via Facebook. And these third-party Web site companies can get a big boost from being promoted on the Facebook network -- if they use Facebook for login. 
 
 3. Actual paid Web apps. So what can Facebook actually sell to users on the site? Non-platform-specific apps, or HTML5 apps. Facebook will take the customary 30% fee for app sales (Microsoft charges less, by the way) and may well make some money from this, but the real win for Facebook isn't retail sales of apps, it's getting developers to build apps for the platform-agnostic standard of HTML5 instead of for proprietary operating systems. 
 
 The control of the platform is a long game, and it's a big one, especially with regards to Apple. The mobile platform that an application runs on is the one that collects the data about users and also the advertising dollars. iOS apps feed into Apple's system. But HTML5 apps, if sold through Facebook, can bypass the Apple-only advertising and monetization requirements, and shunt user activity data to Facebook instead. 
 
 It's not about selling apps 
 
 Facebook's App Center initiative is great for social app builders: It will be easier to get social apps to be popular in the Facebook store than on other stores, as they won't be competing with non-networked apps. But Facebook benefits even more than developers. The App Center is a play for control of the social Web, and more specifically for the mobile social experience. 
 
 Apple may even embrace the App Center, as it is another channel for promoting good apps, and the Apple model is to make money from app sales. 
 
 Facebook doesn't need to make money selling apps. It knows how to make money from users and their activity within the apps. The App Center is a smart, well-timed initiative.
– The App Center Facebook announced last month is open for business. The phased rollout will ultimately give all its US users access to 600 apps, like Pinterest and Draw Something, reports TechCrunch. Unlike Apple's App Store and Google Play, though, Facebook's App Center is more of a discovery hub, taking users to Apple or Google or elsewhere to download the apps. And, of course, Facebook's App Center puts the emphasis on sharing, recommending apps based on what your friends are using. Some early reaction: "In a sense, it’s a defining moment in the world of apps," writes Mike Isaac at All Things D. "Unlike the Google Play app repository or Apple's App Store, Facebook’s App Center relies in part on social discovery. And it’s in line with Facebook’s overall philosophy: Everything should be social." While noting the App Center should spur Facebook users to spend more time using the social network, "the focus on mobile apps is likely to attract criticism from those who see them as harmful to the future of the open web," notes Josh Halliday for the Guardian. "Conceptually, App Center seems like a winner to me," writes Jaymar Cabebe at CNet. "I found its recommendations helpful and the Friends' apps list very interesting, to say the least. On the other hand, the interface still has some kinks to work out, especially on mobile devices."