Android App Store
The Google Play Store is one of the most popular and frequently used for the Android app store. It has millions of apps in it and billions of downloads every month. Other than Google Play Store, there are several places from where you get the app for Android. In this article, you will learn the other alternative of the Android app store.
Why use another Android app store?
There are various reasons to use a different app store beyond Google Play. Some of the reasons are described below:
Free apps and promotions: Several app stores offer a free app for a day, provide a discount for an app, or other money-saving offers. Discovering new and useful apps is also simple by using another Android app store.
Specific list: Some app stores focus only on a smaller selection for specific categories. They filter apps on the basis of age group, purpose, or quality of the app.
Localized portal: Some app stores are specifically focused on some specific countries only, and they publish only localized apps that you wouldn't find anywhere other than that country.
App recommendations: Similarly, some app store might provide a recommended app which does not pop up in the Google Play top ten lists.
Best alternative Android app stores
There are several alternative Android app stores available in the market. Some of them are discussed below:
- Amazon Appstore
- APKPure
- APKMirror
- APKUpdater
- F-Droid
- Aptoid
- Google Play Store
- QooApp
- Samsung Galaxy Apps
- Yalp Store
Amazon Appstore
Amazon Appstore is one of the most capable app stores alone from the Play Store itself. This app store contains a variety of apps, including some popular and big names. It contains various Amazon's app and sole Amazon Prime Video. The Amazon Prime Video is an app that can be installed without any issues. The app available on this app store is free as well as premium.
Website: https://www.amazon.com
APKPure
APKPure is a third-party app store that has a lot of positive aspects. It contains a lot of attractive apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, TikTok, PUBG Mobile, UC Browser, and more. APKPure contains more categories than the Google Play Store; even some categories are lighter to download as a good app. You may found some Google apps such as Gmail.
Website: https://www.apkpure.com
APKMirror
APKMirror is not actually an app store, but it is an app archive. You can find all kinds of app, including beta versions which are not available on the Play Store. Even if a newer version comes out, you will get updates from Play Store. So, it is an alternative source of some games and apps. We recommend it only when you try something specifically or want an older version of the existing app.
Website: https://www.apkmirror.com
APKUpdater
APKUpdater is not really an app store, but it is a clean function. You can update your currently existing app to a new one without using another app store. The app sources can be downloaded from several other sources so that you can receive the latest updates as early as possible. You can keep your device up to date without any difficulty.
Website: https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/rumboalla/apkupdater/
F-Droid
F-Droid is an open-source platform, and the apps available on it are also open source. F-Droid is one of the most authentic and older app stores. This app store mostly keeps productivity apps such as Arch Linux package browser. It also contains some basic apps like Simple Calendar, Simple Gallery, and games. This app store is good for those people who want something more extra that the Play Store doesn't contain.
Website: https://f-droid.org/
Aptoide
This app store is one of the oldest third-party app stores in this list. It contains bunches of apps such as Facebook, Fleksy, YoWindow Weather, Nest, and several recent games. You can found questionable apps like Show Box as well as adult games and apps from here. Due to this, it gives a bad feeling, so make sure you have an antivirus app on your device if you go for this site.
Website: https://en.aptoide.com/
Google Play Store
Google Play Store is a popular app store for Android. It has millions of apps and games, including all popular ones. Google Play Store comes in pre-installed on all Google Android phones. Security is one of the most priorities, and it also integrates directly with Google Play Services. It provides some additional functionality that the other competitors don't have. Google Play Store is ideally a good Android app store.
Website: https://play.google.com/store
QooApp
QooApp is a different kind of app store. This app store is used by those users who want the Asian games developed by Asian developers. You can find all different kinds of the app from here; however only some apps are only translated into English.
Website: https://www.qoo-app.com/en
Samsung GalaxyApps
Samsung GalaxyApps stores provide apps for Samsung devices, so, therefore, it has a smaller number of apps as compared to Google Play Store or Amazon's Appstore. However, the Samsung GalaxyApps store has a clear user interface, simple navigation, and contains some popular apps and games, including Hulu, Fortnite, Microsoft, Netflix, Brawl Stars, and more. Samsung phones also have an alternate app store along with Google Play, which is already installed on the device.
Website: https://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/apps/galaxy-store/
Yalp Store
Yalp Store uses the APKs file of the Google Play Store. It is a unique app store from where you can get the apps without the Google Play Store. You are able to search an app, install, and update it straight from the source. Its user interface is quite different, but it works fine. It also provides additional functionality for root users. You don't require a Google account to download and install the APKs file of Google Play Store using the Yalp Store.
Website: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.yeriomin.yalpstore/
AppLib
AppLib is an app marketplace for Android phones, which was created by Archos. It is available as pre-installed on several devices from smaller manufacturers. It contains more than 40,000 apps, and each app is compatible with particular devices. It facilitates the app free as well as paid. You can pay for paid apps using PayPal.
Website: https://www.appslib.com/
Mobile9
Mobile9 app store is like a social network that has millions of active users. Each user is capable to comment and share their installed apps. You can publish an Android app on Mobile9 for free. The well-developed app gets excellent results due to the wide range of users on it. The biggest advantage of this app store is that apps get a huge download rate.
Website: http://www.mobile9.com/
What are the risks and problems?
The big risks and problems are malware and storing the duplicate app due to a similar name. We recommend you to download and install an app from the Google Play Store and avoid any third-party app stores. Different app stores have a different security policy. Some app store does not perform safety checks similar to Google, while some do.
To download an app other than Google Play store, you need to make a slight change in your device settings. Go to Settings > Security > and enable an Unknown source to allow download of non Play Store apps.
Other problems you may face which related to poor user experience. There is some different app store which contains the pirated versions of games and apps.
