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Google App Invites is a powerful way for developers to recommend apps to users

Karen Tumbokon
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Sundar Pichai stands in front of a Google logo at Google I/O 2021.
This story is part of our complete Google I/O coverage

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Image used with permission by copyright holder
Getting a new app off the ground isn’t always easy for developers, and users often miss out on great new apps because of the overwhelming number of choices available. Google’s App Invites system is meant to aid mobile app developers grow their application’s user base with personal recommendations to prospective app users.

App Invites is now in beta for both iOS and Android, and includes a set of tools for sending out app invites over SMS and email. It highlights recommended contacts, creating a more personalized on-boarding experience for new users, and helps developers monitor the success of app invites with custom reports.

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When you get an invite in your inbox or messaging app of choice, you’ll see an install button for the recommended app in the message. On Android, users can just click on “App Invite” button to download the app from the Google Play Store without being taken to a browser. Developers can also link specific pages in their apps, so can users share a discount code with a friend. For example, the cooking app Yummy, is using App Invites to suggest its app to those who love to cook.

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“We see this expanding beyond just inviting new users to join our app. In the future, we hope to use this to share different meal ideas and have the opportunity to share your shopping list with family members or even inviting friends over for dinner,” Brian Witlin, Chief Operating Officer of Yummy said in a statement. “With the power of Google and personalized app invites, making a dinner everyone agrees on will never been easier.”

The App Invites developer website offers sample code and instructions on how to set up the system on iOS and Android applications. App Invites competes with Facebook’s new system, which was announced at this year’s F8 developer conference. Facebook’s app invites platform gives users the ability to share personalized messages on a more granular level. However, the social network’s invites stay within the Facebook app, not over SMS or email.

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Karen Tumbokon
Karen Tumbokon
Contributor
Karen is a technology, music and entertainment writer. Originally from New Jersey, Karen began her writing career in music…
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