Yesterday, Blockstack Public Benefit Corporation (Blockstack PBC) released the first “ecosystem-wide, universal” Dapp Store, (a service like Apple’s Appstore or Android’s Playstore), a platform for the exposure and easy access of decentralized apps, with more than 150 Dapps to date.
“We believe it is critical to drive everyday users to Dapps that are ready for widespread adoption. That’s why we’re announcing the first ecosystem-wide, universal Dapp Store”
Dapps have seen an increase in number in the lasts years as more developers demonstrate interest in the benefits of blockchain technology and encryption. This fast-growing app ecosystem, aids new users in finding Dapps that suit their needs and preferences. According to the official announcement, the Blockstack Dapp Store is
“a discovery tool for decentralized apps built on Blockstack, Ethereum, EOS, IPFS, Steem, and more … serving as an aggregator of usable Dapps for gaming, social networking, productivity, and financial services.”
Apps, already popular in the community like Stealthy, Graphite, Peepeth or DTube are featured. Even though popular in the circles of early-adopters many of these apps are in beta or alpha phase and may require you to pay processing fees for the network. Currently, Dapps are accessed through a myriad of different channels, creating a bottleneck for people wanting to seamlessly discover the best of what the decentralized internet has to offer. The Dapp Store not only addresses the “discoverability” problem for users, but facilitates a way for developers to feature their Dapps in one place.
With a nice, minimal looking interface, the Dapp Store arranges the apps according to their category as well as the blockchain protocol it supports, such as Ethereum or Steem. According to their announcement, for Blockstack, to be considered as a Dapp you must fit into the following criteria:
-Do customers own their network identity? Can anyone else revoke that identity?
-Is private user data encrypted with user-owned keys?
-Is customer data stored on decentralized networks with reconfigurable APIs?
-Is the app open source? Can community members contribute or fork the software?
-Is the app publishable and host-able by others or only a single company?
-Is the app running client-side or on a server?
-Does the app limit or clearly communicate the scope of data logging?
It is clear that initiatives like this one are necessary for a healthy decentralized apps community and ecosystem. Sites that conglomerate useful applications, and facilitate the discovery of blockchain services for enthusiast of this technology.
by Samuel Larreal
