Redfin Pre-Installed on Apple Store iPads

As you may have heard via Twitter, Redfin was pre-installed on all the Apple store iPads. We saw big traffic spikes at 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Saturday, which is when the Apple stores first opened on the East Coast and West Coast. My old college roommate first noticed it in Honolulu, then one of our engineers, Shahaf Abileah, took a picture of his father Adi using the app in a Seattle store. When I visited an Apple store on Sunday to see for myself how we were doing, I saw two people using the app. One saw me, and said “That guy works at Redfin!” And then he handed the iPad over, which was very nice but not necessary.

The iPhone app is nice and fast, but wasn’t built for such a large screen. We’re still trying to figure out what to do first: an iPad-app, a mobile site that would work across all sorts of Android, Windows and BlackBerry devices or just more website features that everyone can use. Sooner or later, I’m sure we’ll do all three. Just now we’re building an enormous amount of infrastructure for customers touring homes and going through the escrow process, so we can make the whole home-buying and selling experience delightful, not just the initial search.

Three cheers for all the developers who worked on the iPhone app. It’s a huge tribute from Apple to be included first in their television commercials, and now on their demo iPads. More than any other partner with whom we have worked, Apple appreciates quality, not just a big name or commercial reach (we’re in 12 major markets across the U.S. but now expanding very fast). Thanks Apple, and thanks again to all our Redfin iPhone engineers.