Facebook pushes news apps with UK 'app centre' roll out

Facebook is now rolling out its app centre in the UK after being launched in the US last month.

The app centre, which is accessed via a bookmark on the left hand side of the Facebook news feed, includes a "news" category where "frictionless sharing apps" from the Guardian, Independent, and Metro can be found.

"The app centre gives you personalised recommendations and lets you browse the apps your friends use," according to a post on the Facebook newsroom.

"It only lists high-quality apps, based on feedback from people who use the app."

It is also available in the Facebook iOS and Android apps "to make it easier to find social apps for mobile".

The news section also shows how many people are using the apps following the launch of the "new class of apps" in September.

Facebook users opt in to the apps once and avoid being repeatedly asked to agree to allow their friends to see which articles they are reading. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg described it at launch as a "social nudge" so people can see what their friends are reading.

In the nine months since launch, Yahoo! has notched up 40 million users, the Guardian 1.6 million and the Independent 604,000.

The Washington Post has 4.7 million users, Huffington Post 1.5 million, Mashable has 160,000, the Wall Street Journal has 94,000, the Metro 9,000 and iPad-only title the Daily has 7,000 users. Some of the above news outlets were not launch partners and have released apps more recently.

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