Glassdoor is a new app from the Web-based service of the same name. The app, which is designed as a companion to rather than a replacement for the Glassdoor site, is available now as a free download from the App Store.

Glassdoor, for the uninitiated, is a community that aims to provide greater transparency for jobseekers, providing those looking for work with a crowdsourced database of average salaries and reviews giving pros and cons of working for a particular company. The main site allows users to search for jobs in their local area, read reviews of various companies around the world (mostly in the U.S.), see average salaries for different positions at said companies and read information on typical interview questions and procedure for various different positions and employers.

The iOS app doesn’t quite feature the full functionality of the main website, instead limiting itself to a location-aware search for salaries and reviews for quick browsing. From the app’s main screen, the user may search for job titles or keywords along with a specific location, which can optionally be automatically set via the device’s location services. Setting a location automatically brings up a browsable list of the most popular companies to work for in that particular location, but searching allows for specific companies to be sought out.

The search function allows users to search for salaries or reviews at any one time, not both — though it does remember the search terms when returning to the main screen and also allows switching back and forth between the two views once a company has been found.

When browsing salaries, users may see a quick overview of the average salaries for various positions around the company, as well as how many people have submitted salary information to the Glassdoor database. Tapping on a specific position provides more detailed information on the salary, including details of bonuses, cash, stock options, profit sharing, commission and tips where applicable. These may be viewed either as an average of all submissions or a range depicting all responses. Salary information for a large company may also be filtered according to years of experience and location.

Searching for reviews is a similar process. Viewing a company’s information displays an average star rating out of five, along with detailed, specific individual comments and ratings. Each review provides a rating out of five, indicates whether the reviewer is a current or a former employee, the date of the review and then some reviewer-submitted pros and cons of working at the company. All reviews are anonymous, theoretically allowing users to be completely honest about their experiences. There is, however, no means of submitting one’s own review via the app — this is functionality reserved for the Web-based component of the service as a whole.

On the whole, Glassdoor’s iOS app is off to a reasonable start but is very limited in its functionality at present. Ideally over time the app will be updated with the full job search and community features of the Glassdoor website — for now, it is a helpful source of information for jobseekers, but it doesn’t quite do enough to make it a solution that can stand by itself at present.

You can follow Glassdoor’s progress with AppData, our tracking service for mobile and social apps and developers.