Independent app store GetJar has revealed that more than 50 million people have downloaded Facebooks mobile app from GetJar in the past six months. With GetJars App Download Page (ADP) and Mobile Site Shortcut (MSS), people are able to download the app, which gives them a fast and easy shortcut to access Facebooks mobile website with a single click from their phone.

“With more than 400 million users around the world, people are increasingly looking to stay connected through Facebook from their mobile device,” says Alison Rosenthal, Head of Mobile Business Development for Facebook. “GetJar has helped us bring the Facebook mobile experience to millions of people, regardless of their mobile platform, phone model or carrier.”

GetJar provides a free Mobile Site Shortcut (MSS), which is a small application that launches any phones native web browser and redirects it to the appropriate mobile site. The MSS is global, easy and cost effective and appears in GetJars store as if it was an actual application people can download. Companies get global distribution and reach without having to develop unique applications for different operating systems. When downloaded, the MSS appears as an icon on the users phone, providing them with one-click access to the brands mobile website. Companies with an MSS on GetJar include Facebook, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Google.

App Download Page (ADP) works by providing mobile developers and content owners with a simple mobile webpage that can be linked to their mobile website. GetJar hosts a mobile web page so the company doesnt have to worry about supporting multiple mobile device platforms, models or carriers. When a person clicks a link provided on the companys own mobile site, they are redirected to that companys ADP on GetJar. The persons mobile device is automatically detected and they can download the appropriate version of the companys mobile application for their phone from GetJar. If no application exists, GetJar can provide the free Mobile Site Shortcut (MSS), which will work across a wide range of devices regardless of the platform they are running on. Companies using ADP include Flirtomatic, Facebook, Photobucket and Fandango.

“In the recent Chetan Sharma Consulting Report commissioned by GetJar, we saw that apps downloads will increase from 7 billion in 2009 to 50 billion downloads globally by 2012,” says GetJar CEO and Founder, Ilja Laurs. “Global brands will realize that although applications provide users with a rich and engaging experience, to maximize their reach, they need to complement their offering with a mobile web experience that cuts across handset and operating system fragmentation. As the Wal-Mart of mobile apps, GetJar is committed to providing these content owners with a one-stop shop to distribute both their apps and mobile sites across any platform, handset, carrier or country to help them reach this goal.”