Today, Google finally fixed one of the biggest issues I’ve had with the Android Market. They added a website with proper search and login capabilities. Till now, if you had to give the link of an app or look for it, you’d have to just look for it in a third party system like AppBrain. But that’s no longer needed. You can just goto the Android Market website and look up the app. In Google’s words:
The website makes it easy to discover great new apps with a bigger, brighter interface. You can also send apps directly to your Android device with just a few clicks—no wires needed. We’ve built in new social features, too. You can share apps with your friends through Twitter. And you can read and post app reviews directly to Android Market from the web or from your device.
Did you notice the absence of Facebook?
You can also associate multiple devices to your account and see the apps you’ve installed on each of them. A cool feature is that when you click install on the website the browser sends a notification to your phone and the phone automagically downloads and installs the app from the market! Don’t fret it asks for a permission the first time. Another nifty feature is that if your click Install and the primary phone already has the app installed, it defaults to the second phone in your list. Smart one Google!
Things that are still missing from the market are the ability to download apps to your computer and sync them with your phone and the must -have option to restore all the installed apps onto your phone in case something goes bad. Let’s hope Google does something about them too.
[via Google Blog]
