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The 11 best Google Play Store alternatives for apps and games
Sick of Google's Monopoly, perhaps it's time to seek out competing digital media marketplaces
Although Google may want its Play Store to be the only app store in town, it actually has some solid competition. Of course, Google has an upper hand since the Google Play Store is baked into almost every Android you buy, from flagships to the ever-increasing number of awesome budget phones.
TapTap.io explained: How to install and navigate the Play Store alternative
The Google Play Store isn't the only place to download Android games
TapTap.io has been on the rise over the last few years, holding exclusives to non-Western (developed) games like Torchlight: Infinite during alpha testing, and even Valorant Mobile. These games should eventually come to the Play Store, but if you'd like to pre-register for similar listings well ahead of time, TapTap is the answer. Not only does TapTap offer early pre-registration perks, but you also gain access to many great games the Play Store may get late, or even possibly never. Exclusives are very much the reason why TapTap is a great alternative to the Google Play Store for Android games.
Google’s easing up on the Play Store’s app stranglehold with Android 14
New APIs are a major win for third-party app stores
Google was recently ordered by the Competition Committee of India to fundamentally change some of its anti-competitive practices, and we’re finally starting to see some real-life results with a set of new APIs in Android 14. These additions are primarily aimed at helping third-party app stores like Amazon, APKMirror, and F-Droid reach feature parity with the Play Store.
Third-party app stores like Amazon's will be less annoying to use on Android 12
If implemented right, apps updated from alternative stores can skip a safety pop-up
Android has always been open, for a given value of "open," a property that companies like Samsung, Amazon, and Epic have used to create their own alternatives to the Play Store. But actually using those alternatives has always been a bit of a headache, with Android itself treating each individual app downloaded as a side-loaded app. Starting with Android 12, using alternative app stores will be a little more seamless, at least some of the time.
Google will make using alternative app stores easier in Android 12
Android will get even more open in 2021
Epic Games opened a can of worms last month when it added its own payment solution to Fortnite in a violation of Google Play's guidelines for developers. The move has brought discussions on app store policies to the forefront, and now Google is taking the opportunity to highlight Android's open nature — and announce a big change for alternative app stores coming in Android 12.
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- Since this story first emerged, Xiaomi has issued a statement regarding its involvement in the proceedings and the ultimate goal here:
Huawei's access to Google's Play Store and its whole world of apps was cut off last year as a result of tensions with the US government. It was rumored that the company was looking for a new app store to call home, and now Reuters is reporting that Huawei is teaming up with Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo in a collaboration to make it easier for third-party developers to submit apps to all of the companies' individual app stores, in an effort called the "Global Developer Service Alliance."
Progressive Web Apps (or PWAs) are fancy web-based applications that can mimic some of the functionality of native apps while taking up minimal storage space on your device. Because they're so small, they're pretty great alternatives to installing apps you'd use infrequently. Discovering which services you use have PWAs can be tricky, though — and that's where Appscope comes in.
Google Play Protect is meant to keep nefarious apps off users' devices. Alternative app marketplace Aptoide has been flagged as such an app, according to a complaint the company has filed with the European Commission. Play Protect is reportedly cautioning some users that Aptoide is potentially harmful, and preventing the store from downloading apps for those who don't heed the warning.
An interesting chart published today by BusinessInsider reveals that mobile developers, or at least the 401 surveyed, more often have experience developing for Android than any other mobile operating system, including iOS. Given Android’s growing market share, it seems only natural that developers are flocking to the increasingly attractive (and large) customer base Android devices provide.
With over 50,000 applications in the Android Market, and that number increasing very rapidly, finding a legitimate and detailed review of an application is difficult.