Apple Puts the App Store in Your Browser. Well, Kinda.

Posted by Arron Hirst on February 4th, 2010

You may remember towards the end of the year, Apple introduced a new online system which allowed you to preview information for both singles and albums in its current iTunes back catalogue, using its official iTunes URLs, without the need to physically launch iTunes. Then, as we noted, later in the year they also added the ability to actually listen to 30 second audio snippets of these products, effectively moving the iTunes catalogue online. This system became more commonly known as iTunes Preview.

Following on from the music-centric previews added to iTunes Preview, Apple has today quietly activated the same system for all of its App Store URLs associated with its application catalogue. So, what does this mean? Well, this means you can now fully preview applications, including the application's icon artwork, its accompanying screenshots, pricing information, App Store ratings, customer reviews, release date, seller and more, directly within your browser without ever needing to open iTunes. This, of course, comes alongside a "View in iTunes" button which then takes you directly to the product stated on iTunes. The new page replaces the old page which featured a simple dialogue box which asked if you wished to launch iTunes.

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