But that's it, it's not quite the same thing. There's no syncing, and there's no software you have to install on your computer. I can just browse around, and in two clicks the app is installed one my phone.
*edit*
It's been possible to do this on Android for quite a while now. There's a site/app called AppBrain that did the same thing and added social features. I've uninstalled it now because this does the same thing and is from Google.
I meant to say it's the same general idea, the concept of on phone or on computer browsing. With both options, it meets peoples needs well, no matter their situation. From my experience, I do prefer browsing on a larger screen. The on phone method tends to only be used when I'm going for a specific app and I'm away from a computer. Since AppBrain wasn't built in, fewer people would know and use it, so this is a good thing for Google to host themselves.
One thing: are you certain iOS has had that "from the start?" I seem to recall that apps weren't part of iTunes at first... I know it had that feature before Android has this one, but I didn't think it was right out of the gate like you're saying...
Yes, the apps were in iTunes before the phone could even use them (by a day). I remember browsing and grabbing a few before updating my iPhone to the 2.0 release.
The App Store opened on July 10, 2008 via an update to iTunes. On July 11, the iPhone 3G was launched and came pre-loaded with iOS 2.0 with App Store support; new iOS 2.0 firmware for iPhone and iPod Touch was also made available via iTunes.
Prior to 2.0, Apple did add an iTunes store to the phone, for music and podcast downloading only.
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