Ever since app stores emerged as the primary mechanism for distributing applications, the channel more or less has been flying blind. Most of the data concerning what types of applications are gaining traction with end users was the sole province of the organization running the app store.

Looking to make that data generally available, appFigures this week made available a public API through which developers and solution providers can aggregate data from six different app stores, including Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft. In addition, appFigures also has built an App Reviews Engine, through which it will enable developers to aggregate all the reviews of their applications in a single location.

Company CEO Ariel Michaeli noted appFigures developed the ability to aggregate app store data initially as a way to see what was occurring with the applications it had developed. Realizing that other organizations have similar problems, Michaeli is now opening the API to all developers.

Data that the JSON-compatible API makes accessible includes historic ranking for nearly 4 million applications that can be updated across all countries and categories on an hourly basis.

Instead of relying on retailers such as Best Buy or distributors such as Ingram Micro and Tech Data, many developers now rely more on the four major application stores run by Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services to distribute their applications. Michaeli noted just about every major platform of any type has an ecosystem of developers around it and, naturally, each of those platforms now has its own associated application store.

Michaeli said keeping track of what applications are popular for what reason on each of those application stores requires hours of manual effort. The appFigures service is designed to enable developers to decide more easily what types of applications and features they should be focused on creating, using actual data vs. their intuition.

As part of that effort, appFigures also created the AppReviews Engine to make it simpler for developers to identify patterns in user feedback, unreported bugs in their software and other potential usability issues.

Like it or not, the success of any given application now depends on how well-received it is in a few key app stores. Not all the criticism leveled at a particular application is, of course, legitimate. But perception often winds up turning into reality. As such, it behooves application developers and their channel partners to gain as much app store data as possible as early as possible. After all, most end users these days don’t give an application a first look, never mind a second look, if the user feedback about that application is more negative than positive.

For solution providers either selling or competing against that application, being armed with that information can be nothing short of priceless.