Chrome Web Store to start surfacing apps that your friends have +1’d on Google+

I’ve always felt like app discovery should be as social as possible, even though Apple has never really done much when it comes to this. For example, Crosswa.lk launched an entire social network around app discovery before Apple purchased Chomp to socialize the App Store itself.

According to Google, its Chrome Web Store is about to get more social thanks to the apps that you’ve downloaded and +1’d. Here’s what the company had to say in an email sent to publications like The Next Web:

…in the next few weeks, Chrome Web Store users will be able to see applications and extensions that have been +1d from people in the Google+ circles. To help people make the most out of this filter, we plan to recommend them to follow certain Google+ pages.

From the sounds of that, the “social” functionality will be going both ways, as when you visit the Chrome Web Store to look for apps and add-ons for your browser, you’ll see suggestions based on +1’s, as well as recommended users who are heavily involved in sharing those apps.

While Google Play already shows you a +1 count for apps, it isn’t surfacing content to you based on what your friends are saying and doing. Hopefully that’s something that the company adds soon, because it makes total sense to let me know which apps I should download based on if my friends have shared or rated it.

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This is another example of how Google+ has become the “glue” to bring many of Google’s products to life with social interactions and activities.

This is great news for developers, as the surfacing of apps based on our likes will increase traffic and downloads.