Alternatives to Google Play

[MarcTG]

In the last 2 month I've been exploring alternatives to Google play. Here are two links that I found useful:

http://www.onepf.org/appstores/
http://papidroid.com/alternative-android-app-stores/

My experience with some of those has been as follows:

- Amazon app store: Many of you have probably used this... apart from them rejecting any app that has any links to Google, they seemed Ok (only tried 1 paid app to see how the process goes). The difficulty for me here is finding an ad-network that does not only link to Google play.

- SlideME: This is the worst place for a publisher that develops free apps with ads. If you decide to publish on SlideMe then be prepared to deal with idiot reviewers that want you to publish a free app with almost no advertisement. I've also had them reject my app because my description had a link to my website which only contained links to Google Play... Moreover, they banned my apps initially because they contained the flag of Brazil and Germany which their reviewers considered as copyright material . After your app gets published you get some initial downloads as your app is featured in the new apps section. I have not seen much downloads after that; overall it is not worth the time and effort.

- Opera App store: Very easy to publish and they gave me no trouble. They checked that I was the same person that published the app on Google play (verified my account), from then on apps get published almost instantly. The only strange thing I found was the displayed number of downloads for my apps. While the store shows 500 downloads, my ad-newtork (appbrain) only shows 1/10 of that as installs. So I guess Opera measures "downloads" and not "installs" but i am not sure why they are so different. Your app gets featured as a new app, and you get good initial downloads, after that you get some downloads from time to time...

- Yandex: Google's Russian competitor, very easy to publish since they copy your description and graphics from Google play (you only have to add your 512x512 icon). No initial boost in downloads but I do see downloads coming from there from time to time.

- Aptoide: Very easy to publish, they also get all the info from Gplay. If you have the same app published on google play with the same signature, they will get your app certified; not sure how much that helps in getting downloads... I see some downloads coming from there, but nothing too significant... One good thing about them is that they answer your emails very quickly.

- Mobile9: This has a yearly subscription of $30 and is one of the easiest place to publish. It is very different from all other stores since you can publish a lot more things than just apps (pictures, recipes, many other things...). Kind of a mix of a social network and an app store. I've had an account there for like 2 weeks, and so far I've seen good number of downloads coming from there.

-1Mobile: I found that my apps were already there... they copy apps from Google play. I've claimed one of my apps like 2 weeks ago and updated it... it still says "under review".

I am also in the process of trying some other stores and will try to keep this thread updated...

Please feel free to share your experience

 

[WAZUMBi]

Great article.
Since recently I've been having issues with Google Play I am having been venturing out.
I've tried three of these-

SlideME - I've really had no issues lately. Initially I did. It took them two weeks to approve my first app and then rejected it. I resubmitted it and another week to approve. That was a year ago. I've recently gave them another try.
They have improved a lot since. All of my submissions have been approved and it only took a day.
They post your app to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Seems like a viable alternative to me.

Opera - I've only posted one app to Opera. 37 downloads in 2 days.

This app, Ultimate Crossword, received about the same results on both SlideMe and Opera.

And then there's Amazon - Impossible.
The developer console is confusing, the submission process is painful, and their customer service (to the developers) is comparable to Google.
Frankly I don't get it. Whatever you submit has to work with Kindle and it's proprietary requirements?
I don't feel like spending an additional week just trying to make sure my app works with their Kindle.
So I gave up on them for now.

I've found a lot of other markets (1Mobile Appbrain) out there that already have my app info. In fact I posted this recently:
http://www.b4x.com/android/forum/threads/how-do-app-markets-get-our-info.45227/

 

[MarcTG]

And then there's Amazon - Impossible.
The developer console is confusing, the submission process is painful, and their customer service (to the developers) is comparable to Google.
Frankly I don't get it. Whatever you submit has to work with Kindle and it's proprietary requirements?
I don't feel like spending an additional week just trying to make sure my app works with their Kindle.
So I gave up on them for now.

I can understand your frustration. I also don't feel like spending a lot of time modifying my app to satisfy a store. Amazon lets you choose the devices that you want your app to work on (go to "Binary Files" tab). So you can remove kindles if you want, I had to do it because I published a live wallpaper which is not supported on any kindle... but if you're on amazon you probably want to support kindle to get any downloads I feel (that's why i only tried 1 app).

Check Mobogenie, they will have some of your apps for sure. The claiming process there seems more complicated though...

I am currently trying Getjar, I submitted an app and waiting for it to be reviewed

 

[WAZUMBi]

I can understand your frustration. I also don't feel like spending a lot of time modifying my app to satisfy a store. Amazon lets you choose the devices that you want your app to work on (go to "Binary Files" tab). So you can remove kindles if you want, I had to do it because I published a live wallpaper which is not supported on any kindle... but if you're on amazon you probably want to support kindle to get any downloads I feel (that's why i only tried 1 app).

Really? I've been trying to figure this out for weeks. No email response from Amazon. No response from their forums.
I'll give it a try. Thank you.

 

[Toybox]

there are so many different Android app markets out there and there are some for specific countries. Here are a few that are worldwide
Getjar
LG Application Store
MiKandi
Mobango
I have more on a list if you want to PM me!

 

[Toybox]

I can understand your frustration. I also don't feel like spending a lot of time modifying my app to satisfy a store. Amazon lets you choose the devices that you want your app to work on (go to "Binary Files" tab). So you can remove kindles if you want, I had to do it because I published a live wallpaper which is not supported on any kindle... but if you're on amazon you probably want to support kindle to get any downloads I feel (that's why i only tried 1 app).

Check Mobogenie, they will have some of your apps for sure. The claiming process there seems more complicated though...

I am currently trying Getjar, I submitted an app and waiting for it to be reviewed

Did you have any success with Getjar? How is your LWP app doing?

 

[WAZUMBi]

LG:
I checked out the LG site (it's called LG Smart World) and for the life of me I can't register.
It actually keeps telling me my name is unavailable then my password then my email. It even told my address is unavailable? Whatever.

GetJar:
I posted an app on GetJar and it took three weeks to get approved.
Also, their website is rather confusing. At first I thought it was just a site similar to AdMob. I can't find a direct link to their actual app store.
It's www.getjar.mobi/ not www.getjar.com.
I submitted 2 more apps . We'll see how it goes.

Mikandi:
This redirects you to www.androidcentral.com.
Again the site is not very clear (to me anyway) what their specific focus is.
It seems to be device sales, reviews, and marketing.
Does anyone know how to get to their actual app store?

Yandex seems promising.
However I didn't need to do anything.
It looks like Yandex is associated with Opera. They already had all my info and apps.

Amazon: I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. They are pretty quick to approve your apps.
I've submitted 5 of my apps in the last 2 weeks = 0 downloads.
It looks like Amazon's main focus it their Kindle. If your app does not work on the Kindle then good luck getting your app noticed.


So far for me the best alternatives are SlideME, Opera, Mobango, and Aptoide.

 

[MarcTG]

Did you have any success with Getjar? How is your LWP app doing?

It got approved 3 days later and was visible one day after that. So far I got 18 downloads in like a week.

 

[MarcTG]

LG:
I checked out the LG site (it's called LG Smart World) and for the life of me I can't register.
It actually keeps telling me my name is unavailable then my password then my email. It even told my address is unavailable? Whatever.

I don't know how many downloads you can get of them. All LG phones I know of have Google Play so users don't really go to LG's store I feel. Same thing with Samsung store, I feel most people don't even know that they have it and just use Google Play. I've tried signing up for Samsung but it kept asking me for something which I could not figure out.

Yandex seems promising.
However I didn't need to do anything.
It looks like Yandex is associated with Opera. They already had all my info and apps.

There is some connection between the two... Opera has the option to publish on Yandex. If you publish through Yandex directly though, Yandex grabs the info from Google Play not Opera (in my experience).

Amazon: I finally figured out what I was doing wrong. They are pretty quick to approve your apps.
I've submitted 5 of my apps in the last 2 weeks = 0 downloads.
It looks like Amazon's main focus it their Kindle. If your app does not work on the Kindle then good luck getting your app noticed.
So far for me the best alternatives are SlideME, Opera, Mobango, and Aptoide.

I agree, their main focus is kindle. I don't think that the amazon app store is pre-installed on any device other than kindles, most people will not look to install from amazon's website...
Did you claim your apps on Mobango? or did you publish new ones?

I'd like to try Barnes and Nobles, but I think I read that you can't put ads, only paid apps. I wonder though if they secure your apk when you upload it...

Other stores that I would really like to try are the Chinese app stores. I found a list of those but it seems like only one of them was translated into English. I tried signing up to non-translated ones using chrome (auto-translation) but had problems with images that are not translated... It would be nice if someone on this forum knew Chinese and could help us publish some apps

 

[WAZUMBi]

HaHa! My app sucks!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=block.stacker

Hey, at least they're honest. From SLideME:

Block Stacker was permanently forbidden with the following message: *INADEQUATE CONTENT OR FUNCTIONALITY: SlideME may deny any application anytime if it considers an application(s) as lacking in value, quality, or functionality, or with no functional purpose other than developer monetizing with Advertisements. Applications that simply link to or display a website, a single image, stream, video, or sound are no longer being accepted on SlideME. Applications with screenshots/Wallpapers of celebrities/'girls'/people or animals will be considered as lacking value or quality and such are at risk being removed. Other simple applications we are no longer accepting include (but are not limited to) timer/alarm clocks/countdown, Trolls/Memes, farts/airhorns, news, simple calculators (real or abstract, relationship or zodiac), counters, jokes/quotes/SMS, simple or low-quality prank apps, tap count games, sound frequency, Flashlight, mirror, compass, or other learning/tutorial-derived applications. *SIMPLY AD MONETIZING: Applications with advertisements must provide genuine, meaningful, and original content other than for the sole purpose of displaying advertisements. This is not due to the type of advertising used, but rather due to the functionality of your application being too simplistic, inadequate, or containing more advertising than actual created content. According to SlideME Content Guidelines, this application is not the type that we will accept for our catalog in its current state of functionality.

I kind of like this app.
What can I say for three hours of work.
I don't get it though. No farting here.

Out of all the markets the approval process on SlideMe is definitely the most thorough.
I keep forgetting to change the link in my apps to SlideME. They catch it every time.
No so on Amazon, Opera, Aptoide, GetJar, or Mobango.

Still, I get the most downloads from SlideMe and Opera.

Anyway, I thought this was humorous...

 

[MarcTG]

HaHa! My app sucks!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=block.stacker

Hey, at least they're honest. From SLideME:



I kind of like this app.
What can I say for three hours of work.
I don't get it though. No farting here.

Out of all the markets the approval process on SlideMe is definitely the most thorough.
I keep forgetting to change the link in my apps to SlideME. They catch it every time.
No so on Amazon, Opera, Aptoide, GetJar, or Mobango.

Still, I get the most downloads from SlideMe and Opera.

Anyway, I thought this was humorous...

As a user I would be happy to see that they try to only accept the best apps in their store, but I don't like the type of language they use, it pisses me off. I also don't understand why they like to permanently ban stuff, I had my first permanently submission banned for copyright infringement so I emailed them to inform them that the flags of Brazil and Germany had no copyright... they removed the ban, but it made me question the competence of their reviewers.

I am still not sure about how genuine downloads on opera are, have you tracked your apps to see if the number of installs and downloads are the same?

 

[WAZUMBi]

I suppose I can put some sort of tracking mechanism in my apps but idunno.
That would be a lot of work for all my apps.

This is all fun, games, and a hobby to me.
I tend to be more carefree about all this. That's pretty much why I think this is rather funny.

Google just recently suspended one of my accounts (15 apps), as I predicted:
http://www.b4x.com/android/forum/threads/google-suspending-accounts-and-apps.44662/
Everything is still available on my website.

I can see how this can be very frustrating for someone trying to make a buck though.

On Opera, when I submitted Match Block,
(http://apps.opera.com/en_us/match_block.html?dm=1&multi=1)
they reported over 1000 downloads the first day. In the 2 weeks since? Less than 100. I really do think something funny is going on there.
Unless, of course, that app really does suck patootie.
SlideME approved it however so it must be awesome right?

 

[WAZUMBi]

I just found this list of app markets on Wikipedia.
I haven't seen one this extensive before. Don't know how I missed it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_software_distribution_platforms

 

[canalrun]

That is a nice list!

But I wonder if some of the information is a little bit dated. For example, the Amazon Appstore used to charge $99. It is now free.

 

[MarcTG]

I just found this list of app markets on Wikipedia.
I haven't seen one this extensive before. Don't know how I missed it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_software_distribution_platforms

I've seen this one, the list i provided in my first post is more useful. Here's a list I got from Airpush:

1Mobile
http://www.1mobile.com/
Appslib http://appslib.com/
Amazon Appstorehttps://developer.amazon.com/public/
AndAppOnlinehttps://www.andapponline.com/
Anzhihttp://www.anzhi.com/
Appchinahttp://www.appchina.com/
Baiduhttp://as.baidu.com/
D.cn Games Centerhttp://android.d.cn/
gFanhttp://apk.gfan.com/
Hamihttp://hamiweb.emome.net/pages/content/1/5
HiAPKhttp://www.hiapk.com/
Mumayihttp://www.mumayi.com
N-Duo Markethttp://www.nduoa.com/
PandaApphttp://www.pandaapp.com/
Taobao App Markethttp://app.taobao.com/index.htm?spm=0.0.0.0.qd8cAN&pageCur=2&pageIndex=1
Tencent App Gemhttp://android.app.qq.com/
AppCityhttp://promo.appcity.com/
AndroidPit App Centerhttp://www.androidpit.com/en/android-market
Pdassihttp://android.pdassi.com/
Naver Nstorehttp://m.nstore.naver.com/
Ollehhttp://www.olleh.com/
SK T-Storehttp://m.tstore.co.kr/mobilepoc/main/main.omp
Yandexhttp://store.yandex.com/
Camangi markethttps://www.camangimarket.com/index.html
Indiroidhttp://indiroid.com/category_home.jsp?gt=6
F-Droidhttps://f-droid.org/
Appitalismhttp://usa.appitalism.com/index.html
Software Store (Sprint)https://digitallounge.sprint.com/digitallounge/browse?platform_id=2005&INTNAV=ATG:HEL:Android
AdultAppMarthttp://www.adultappmart.com/
AppBrainhttp://www.appbrain.com/
Apptoidehttp://www.aptoide.com/
Getjarhttp://www.getjar.mobi/
LG Application Storehttp://us.lgappstv.com/appspc/store/product/retrieveProductList.lge?dummy=all
MiKandihttp://mikandi.com/
Mobangohttp://www.mobango.com/
Mobile9http://www.mobile9.com/
Opera Mobile Store http://apps.opera.com/en_us/
Samsung App Storehttp://seller.samsungapps.com/
SlideME http://slideme.org/
Soc.io Mallhttp://soc.io/apps
MoboGeniehttp://developer.mobogenie.com/index.htm
mobile24http://www.mobiles24.com/

 

[WAZUMBi]

HaHa! My app sucks!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=block.stacker

Hey, at least they're honest. From SLideME.

HaHa! My DOES NOT SUCK! (I know, I'm quoting myself here?)

My app was 'BANNED' from Mobango. OUCH!
I decieded to get more specific details.
Anyways, they responded to my email and it appears the app was crashing. I just need to find out why. It would have been helpful if their explanation was more specific. Still, better response than what I would have gotten from Google.

The alternative markets are more helpful and have better developer support from what I have seen so far.

 

[susu]

For those who is lazy to submit your apps to alternative markets, you can try CodeNgo (www.codengo.com). They will help you to submit to 33 stores! They even can help you to translate your app to another language. I tried them before when it still free. Now they charge a small fee but I think it worth.

 

[MarcTG]

For those who is lazy to submit your apps to alternative markets, you can try CodeNgo (www.codengo.com). They will help you to submit to 33 stores! They even can help you to translate your app to another language. I tried them before when it still free. Now they charge a small fee but I think it worth.

Thanks!! Very interesting, I will probably try it. What does do if your app is already published in one of those stores?

 

[susu]

Maybe they will ask you to update it? I really don't know

 

[daniel69]

Interesting discussion!

My experience

a) Paid apps:
- Good: Samsung App Store, Amazon App Store, Google Play
- Waste of time: others

b) Free apps:
- Good: Samsung App Store, Google Play
- Fair: Amazon App Store, GetJar
- Waste of time: others

I agree on the issues about Opera (incoerent counting) and SlideMe (questionable competence of reviewers).

I also had a bad experience with InMobi (service similar to Codengo, now shut down) where they claimed to be able to submit to a lot of stores but the process of approval was a pain with poor results (delayed, bad or no app appearance in stores)