Online auction giant eBay has embraced iOS with a variety of apps for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, leaving the Mac a browser-only experience -- until now. On Tuesday, the company introduced a free Mac App Store entry in an effort to make the shopping experience as browser-free as possible.
eBay Inc. has released a new, free eBay app to the Mac App Store, dedicated to the task of browsing, bidding, watching and buying from the auction-centric website. The app promises to put your eBay buying “one click away, right in the dock of your Mac.”
“The eBay app lets you browse, bid, watch and buy items from the world's largest marketplace with no ads or distractions!” the app description reads. “This app seamlessly integrates the eBay Search, My eBay console, Daily Deals and more to help you manage all your shopping activity.”
Among the other features of the eBay Mac app are the ability to quickly find what you’re looking for in a refined display with an improved search for faster results, create Saved Searches to catch all the new items matching your wish list, stay on top of eBay's Daily Deals and see "what's new,” share your eBay purchases and favorite items with friends and family via email and seamlessly sync your eBay Watch list and Saved Searches between the eBay website, mobile devices and your desktop.
You’ll notice that nowhere in all of that text does eBay mention anything about selling on the service -- that’s because this initial version is strictly aimed at buying from eBay, much in the same way that the iOS apps originally were. Given eBay’s history of gradually introducing selling features to those apps, however, we’d say there’s a good chance the Mac app will eventually gain those features as well.
eBay for Mac is a free download available now from the Mac App Store; the 2.5MB download requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later.
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