So many apps: Mobspot helps users choose


0610_ATS01There are more than 185,000 apps and growing in Apple’s App Store, and users are feeling overwhelmed. In April Ben Jacobsen of Portland startup Mobspot and three co-founders launched a social network for app users that works with Facebook and Twitter to show which apps your friends are using.

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0610_ATS01PORTLAND There are more than 185,000 apps and growing in Apple’s App Store, and users are feeling overwhelmed. “If you search for iFart in the iTunes App Store, you come up with more than 75 results,” says Ben Jacobsen of Portland startup Mobspot. “Of those 75 results, more than 40 of them show up with the exact same name. The problem is, you found out about that app through your friend. Which is the app your friend recommended?”

In April Jacobsen and three co-founders launched a social network for app users at mobspot.com that works with Facebook and Twitter to show which apps your friends are using. Mobspot.com has all the apps for BlackBerry, Palm Pre, Droid, iPhone, and iPad, and Jacobsen says revolutionary features are coming. Eventually Mobspot will suggest apps for your phone or iPad based on what you post on Twitter and Facebook. Tweet about your morning coffee, and Mobspot may suggest the Starbucks app — unless you mention you’re at Stumptown.

ADRIANNE JEFFRIES