Subnostr

# NIP89 is the app store killer

App stores sit at the top of the food chain because they enable us to discover new apps.

Nostr doesn't need an app store to allow us to discover new nostr apps, because NIP89 allows this to happen from within any existing app.

Every nostr client *is* the app store, and you discover new apps by seeing comments etc on events produced by other apps.

### How it works

NIP89 provides two simple building blocks:

- a way for apps to “register” kind applications handlers (e.g. app X supports kind Y using such-and-such URL)

- a way for users to publicly associate kinds with these application handlers throughout their different platforms (e.g. web, vs ios)

A byproduct of this is that anyone can see what applications exist for a given kind and who (from the people they follow) uses which application.

Let's look at Zapstr as an example. It's a music player that lets you publish and listen to music track events (kind 31337).

You can also comment on a track with a note.

When your followers see that comment event in their twitter style nostr clients, the music track itself is not displayed. So it looks like you are commenting on nothing. Their client doesn’t know what kind 31337 means, how to render it, or how to interact with it.

In our new NIP89 world, the song event itself is no longer displayed as a missing event, but as a short description of the song (thanks to NIP31), and when you tap on the event it will open it in Zapster.

It does this by querying the people you follow for the app that *they* use to open kind 31337 events.

### Why this is awesome

Multiple applications can compete under the same use case. Competition is good.

Different applications may be better suited to different communities. For example let's pretend there's a competitor to Zapster, called Japster, designed specifically for Japanese users. Users in Japan who mostly follow other Japanese nostriches will see that most of the people they follow are using Japster not Zapster.

It also means that Nostr doesn't need an app store because your nostr client *is* the app store.

Inspired by https://dev.highlighter.com/a/naddr1qqgrxwrfw5m8garwdvm85aenwajxgq3ql2vyh47mk2p0qlsku7hg0vn29faehy9hy34ygaclpn66ukqp3afqxpqqqp65wxtanuc

⚡️🌱🌙 2y ago

Explain this to me again.

An AppStore is one place where I can see / get a lot of different apps. Maybe with some filters to focus my search.

Does NIP-89 attach an app link to every note?

How does that aid discovery?

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Discussion

PABLOF7z 2y ago

no, you go to an app store because you need a need satisfied

sure, you can create an app store leveraging NIP-89 to see what tools are available, an example is Coracle's Apps Tab or https://nostrapp.link

But, more importantly, most of the time, the discovery of the app that handles the need you want satisfied is matched in time by the moment you discover the need.

The example I was going on with Zapstr is that you might not be aware that you can listen to music or podcasts natively within Nostr. You were not even aware that was a thing. Or replace "listen to music" with ANYTHING else.

The point here is that the moment you run into this new use case you immediately become aware of the app that is able to provide you with the tool to serve that need.

Instead of you going to an app store to search for "nostr music app" the nostr music app comes to you at the click of an event.

And that is the case for every internet/nostr use-case.

gsovereignty 2y ago

Nip89 enables organic discovery of apps from within whatever nostr client you are using. You could build an app store type experience with nip89, but I think it would be redundant.

App links are not added to notes, nothing about notes needs to change in order to use nip89.

The key point is that when an event cannot be opened by the client you are using, it will let you open it in a client designed for that specific event kind, and it will get this list of clients from the people you follow.