10 alternatives to the Google Play app store
This article is a translation, the original can be found here - 10 Alternative Android App Stores
From the translator:
You have just completed work on a large Android application and are ready to make money on it. How to do it? The most common way is probably to pay $ 25 to get a developer account and add an application on Google Play. However, there are many alternatives, each with its own audience, which can bring you even more downloads.
Some of these app stores were created for small audiences, while others were generally local. Most of them do not charge for adding an application. Thus, we get the opportunity to cheaply publish your application and attract additional installations in several app stores.
In the first place is one of Google’s greatest competitors - Amazon. Amazon has its own mobile devices, such as the Kindle Fire or Fire Phone (based on a modification of Android OS - Fire OS). Despite the fact that the devices work on their own operating system, many Android applications are supported quite normally. If your application is not supported, it will probably result in just a few settings to make it work.
')
You can also publish HTML5 and web apps on the Amazon Appstore . It currently contains over 240,000 pieces of content. All the necessary information to get started is on the Amazon developer portal .
One of the oldest Android app stores, even older than Google Play, is SlideME . It is installed on more than half of Android devices without Google Play. SlideME takes a fee of 20% of your profits and offers a wide range of payment systems, including PayPal, which Google Play does not support. In some cases, by posting your Android app for sale on SlideME, you can get even more downloads than you get on Google Play, so this is definitely worth a try.
1Mobile Market accepts only free applications, but this does not mean that you should abandon it as an alternative to Google Play. Downloading applications is free, but unfortunately there is a validation process that the application must go through. This should not be a problem as long as your application does not contain malicious functionality.
1Mobile Market claims that they have more than 100 million installations and more than 800,000 applications. There is a recommendation system that gives users advice based on their preferences, which allows them to find new interesting applications for themselves.
Samsung is the largest manufacturer of Android phones, and also has its own app store, Samsung Galaxy Apps . It, by default, is installed on all devices of the Samsung Galaxy series and therefore has a large user base. The only drawback is the relatively small number of applications available on the store, about 13,000 for 2011.
Mobile9 has over 40 million active users, so this is another option worth considering. Users can share and comment on the applications that are installed, all this constitutes a social network for applications. Another plus is that application publishing is free. With more than 200 million downloads per month and only 30,000 developers, this site is definitely worth a try.
Publishing applications on the Opera Mobile Store is free, but developers get only 70% of revenue from paid apps. Opera has an agreement with Yandex, the largest Russian search engine, which allows you to show applications from Opera in the Yandex App Store and vice versa. Statistics: about 200 thousand applications and more than 100 million visitors per month from 2 million downloads per day.
Publishing the application to MOBANGO is also free. The audience is several million users and produces thousands of downloads every day. In this regard, MOBANGO is another good choice for publishing your application. Currently, the store has 100 thousand applications.
The slogan of Soc.io Mall is the phrase "Android store, loving developers." It offers a high share of revenue, 80/20, and allows you to host your application for free. Currently, the database contains a little less than 10,000 applications, but the market is not limited to applications, users can also buy games, e-books, and soon music, video and audio books. The number of active users is not as high as that of other app stores, but the competition is also significantly lower.
F-droid contains only free applications. You can download them through the official website or through a special F-droid application. F-droid automatically updates everything you set. The platform is supported by volunteers and operates through donations. Each application on the F-Droid must be licensed under an Apache or GNU license. Applications that include paid add-ons or advertisements are allowed, but not displayed by default (available in the search).
GetJar has over 30 million users and includes a recommendation service like 1Mobile. The number of downloads per day is 3 million, applications in the database are 70,000. GetJar encourages developers to use the Freemium model (free application, but paid add-ons / extensions - translator's note) instead of charging for the application. GetJar also offers its virtual currency - GetJar Gold.
There are many alternative app stores where you can sell your Android app and every store has its pros and cons. Although none of them can replace Google Play, they can certainly attract additional downloads and showcase their applications to more potential customers. Since the publication of applications in these stores does not require investment, it will be useful to consider these alternatives.
From the translator:
Thank.
From the translator:
This article was born quite by accident, after trying to promote my application I wondered: “ Do all Android users use Google Play exclusively? ” As it turned out, no, there were quite a few friends who use Amazon Appstore or Samsung Galaxy Apps etc. That's why I decided to look for alternatives. And, as it turned out, there are a lot of them. Looking ahead, I want to say that these application aggregators really have an active audience, this immediately became noticeable after the publication of my toy.
You have just completed work on a large Android application and are ready to make money on it. How to do it? The most common way is probably to pay $ 25 to get a developer account and add an application on Google Play. However, there are many alternatives, each with its own audience, which can bring you even more downloads.
Some of these app stores were created for small audiences, while others were generally local. Most of them do not charge for adding an application. Thus, we get the opportunity to cheaply publish your application and attract additional installations in several app stores.
1. Amazon Appstore
In the first place is one of Google’s greatest competitors - Amazon. Amazon has its own mobile devices, such as the Kindle Fire or Fire Phone (based on a modification of Android OS - Fire OS). Despite the fact that the devices work on their own operating system, many Android applications are supported quite normally. If your application is not supported, it will probably result in just a few settings to make it work.
')
You can also publish HTML5 and web apps on the Amazon Appstore . It currently contains over 240,000 pieces of content. All the necessary information to get started is on the Amazon developer portal .
2. SlideME
One of the oldest Android app stores, even older than Google Play, is SlideME . It is installed on more than half of Android devices without Google Play. SlideME takes a fee of 20% of your profits and offers a wide range of payment systems, including PayPal, which Google Play does not support. In some cases, by posting your Android app for sale on SlideME, you can get even more downloads than you get on Google Play, so this is definitely worth a try.
3. 1Mobile Market
1Mobile Market accepts only free applications, but this does not mean that you should abandon it as an alternative to Google Play. Downloading applications is free, but unfortunately there is a validation process that the application must go through. This should not be a problem as long as your application does not contain malicious functionality.
1Mobile Market claims that they have more than 100 million installations and more than 800,000 applications. There is a recommendation system that gives users advice based on their preferences, which allows them to find new interesting applications for themselves.
4. Samsung Galaxy Apps
Samsung is the largest manufacturer of Android phones, and also has its own app store, Samsung Galaxy Apps . It, by default, is installed on all devices of the Samsung Galaxy series and therefore has a large user base. The only drawback is the relatively small number of applications available on the store, about 13,000 for 2011.
5. Mobile9
Mobile9 has over 40 million active users, so this is another option worth considering. Users can share and comment on the applications that are installed, all this constitutes a social network for applications. Another plus is that application publishing is free. With more than 200 million downloads per month and only 30,000 developers, this site is definitely worth a try.
6. Opera Mobile Store
Publishing applications on the Opera Mobile Store is free, but developers get only 70% of revenue from paid apps. Opera has an agreement with Yandex, the largest Russian search engine, which allows you to show applications from Opera in the Yandex App Store and vice versa. Statistics: about 200 thousand applications and more than 100 million visitors per month from 2 million downloads per day.
7. Mobango
Publishing the application to MOBANGO is also free. The audience is several million users and produces thousands of downloads every day. In this regard, MOBANGO is another good choice for publishing your application. Currently, the store has 100 thousand applications.
8. Soc.io Mall
The slogan of Soc.io Mall is the phrase "Android store, loving developers." It offers a high share of revenue, 80/20, and allows you to host your application for free. Currently, the database contains a little less than 10,000 applications, but the market is not limited to applications, users can also buy games, e-books, and soon music, video and audio books. The number of active users is not as high as that of other app stores, but the competition is also significantly lower.
9. F-droid
F-droid contains only free applications. You can download them through the official website or through a special F-droid application. F-droid automatically updates everything you set. The platform is supported by volunteers and operates through donations. Each application on the F-Droid must be licensed under an Apache or GNU license. Applications that include paid add-ons or advertisements are allowed, but not displayed by default (available in the search).
10. GetJar
GetJar has over 30 million users and includes a recommendation service like 1Mobile. The number of downloads per day is 3 million, applications in the database are 70,000. GetJar encourages developers to use the Freemium model (free application, but paid add-ons / extensions - translator's note) instead of charging for the application. GetJar also offers its virtual currency - GetJar Gold.
Conclusion
There are many alternative app stores where you can sell your Android app and every store has its pros and cons. Although none of them can replace Google Play, they can certainly attract additional downloads and showcase their applications to more potential customers. Since the publication of applications in these stores does not require investment, it will be useful to consider these alternatives.
From the translator:
The main increase in downloads was brought to me personally by the following stores: SlideME and Mobile9. Try it and the result will not take long.
Thank.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/232273/
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