LinkedIn Launches App For Android Users

The professional social network site LinkedIn has revealed that its Android application has been released so users can connect with more than 100 million members whilst out and about.

LinkedIn launched the beta for its Android application in December, culling plenty of feedback and bug reports for the highly anticipated application.

Just like LinkedIn’s Blackberry, iPhone and Windows Mobile apps, LinkedIn for Android lets users view and manage LinkedIn connections, access updates from a professional network and respond to invitations.

LinkedIn Android App

These features are all lumped into modules, with a unified search tool that helps users across their direct connections and those available across the entire LinkedIn network. Users will be able to access any of their connections and send them a message immediately from their LinkedIn Inbox.

“Now, you can walk into any interview, any customer engagement or client meeting with the ability to look up the details on over 100 million professionals worldwide, in real time,” said Chad Whitney, senior product manager at LinkedIn.

Whitney said LinkedIn would be updating this application with heavily requested features. However, that beta launched four months ago so that application should be pretty polished.

LinkedIn has made its application available for download both in Google’s Android Market or manually from LinkedIn’s website here.

eWEEK was able to download it from the Android Market in a few seconds, so the application is definitely easy to grab, much easier than the beta.

Easier Download

LinkedIn created something of a barrier to download the LinkedIn for Android beta by requiring that Android phone users be members of the LinkedIn Mobile parent group and then join the new LinkedIn for Android subgroup.

That’s not the case for the finished application – which launches in the wake of LinkedIn filing for IPO – as well as rolling out its LinkedIn Today news application.