Gwyneth Paltrow gets into the iOS app game with GOOP City

Screenshot from GOOP City (click to enlarge)

Gwyneth Paltrow just became the latest celebrity to toss her cap into the mobile app market. GOOP, the lifestyle-focused email newsletter run by the Oscar-winning actress, announced on Tuesday the debut of a new iOS app called “GOOP City.”

The app, which costs $ 3.99 and can be downloaded here, is available for the iPhone and the iPad and provides references to restaurants, bars, shopping, walking tours, and the like. GOOP City for now is a guide only to New York City, with a focus on Manhattan; coverage of more metro areas will be added in the months ahead. In an email sent to GOOP subscribers Tuesday morning, Gwyneth Paltrow explained the inspiration behind the app thusly:

“I have always dreamed of finding a city guide that would be just right for me, like a trusted friend whose opinion you knew you could count on. After years of being steered in the wrong direction by bribed concierges, biased opinions and just plain bad suggestions, I decided to create what I had been missing: The goop City Guide! We begin with New York City and you can expect many more over the coming months. This app will be your resource for the tried and tested of the best and coolest of Manhattan (and Brooklyn, and a bit of Queens, the Bronx and New Jersey).”

Paltrow is just the latest Hollywood star to get into the booming world of mobile apps. This past summer, UberMedia launched an iPhone app designed by the rapper 50 Cent; Disney star Selena Gomez recently pitched in funding for a photo app called Postcard on the Run; Leonardo DiCaprio put his money into a social networking startup called Mobli. And of course, Ashton Kutcher has become very active in the tech world as an enthusiastic app user, advisor and investor. It all speaks to how exciting — and increasingly crowded — the world of the consumer web has become.

Here are a few more screenshots of GOOP City (click to enlarge):

      

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