1. A computer-implemented method to search for applications considering contextual input information, the method comprising: receiving contextual information that is related to a computing device and an activity that a user is engaged in; accessing application manifest information for applications available from an application catalog; accessing policy information that determines how to match accessed application manifest information to the received contextual information related to the device and user; identifying one or more applications with manifest data that matches a currently detected context based on the accessed policy information; ranking identified applications higher than other applications in the application catalog; and displaying applications to the user based on the modified ranking produced by considering contextual information, wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving contextual information comprises receiving information from an event subsystem that notifies the system as new context information is available.