How many competing Android markets (other than Android Market itself) are there and are they any good?
I know that there are at least two others: SlideME and AppBrain which I have looked at and seem useful but which ones do you use and why?
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I use AppBrain because it provides a nice site, and it makes it really easy to install apps onto my phone. Additionally, I'm finding that many bloggers that are reviewing apps are putting links to the AppBrain page for the app in their posts. This makes it really easy to mark something for install while I'm at my computer reading the blog posts, and then install it when I get a chance. |
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Cyrket is NOT chock-fulla-ads and has good stats. It's my go-to site for web-searches and links to apps. |
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AndroidZoom is browse-able from your desktop, and gives you downloads, rating and reviews. Download via QR barcode, links emailed to you mobile, or instructions to find in the Android Market. Has daily/weekly leaderboards of highest downloaded/rated apps. |
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SlideME, this is very handy when you want to buy stuff in countries without paid Market. (actually you mention it in your question. I posted this answer just for the sake of completeness) |
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Amazon has joined the Android app markets ecosphere! |
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The new website of the android market |
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There are actually several alternatives to the 'official' google android market. I personally like to search for new apps from my PC browser, and a bit less from my phone. Most (all?) of the markets nowadays offer both, via a dedicated phone-app that you'll have to install... except from the official one which is already there. Until, well, yesterday, the 'official' market would not have been available from your PC (meaning: on a PC web browser). Now it is, with a neat push-to-your-phone one click installation that is taking away one of the advantages of the competition (see appbrain). The alternative markets, though, have still their peculiarities... I'll make a short summary but don't expect it to highlight all of the differences. Some markets (eg. andspot) do not offer very specific features to users, but try to gather developers by offering advanced features such as easy stats.
I'll add that there's a market for Adults Apps too now; and a lot of review/forum sites will link to one or more of these markets, eg androidtapp or androidpit androlib. I suggest you click on some of these links and see for yourself if the look/applications suit your style! Various sources and in particular this thenextweb.com article. |
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The Amazon Appstore (link to download page) is now available too.
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While not technically an alternative market, Chomp (app download) like, AppBrain used to be an alternative interface for the official Android Market. Chomp has recommendations and a review system separate from the official market. Unfortunately, this app has been discontinued. |
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I've been using f-droid, which is a smallish repository focused on free and open source tools. Not all encompassing by any means but one of the few that is explicit about showing you the license before you download an app. |
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Don't forget about GetJAR. :-) This market got its first big break when Rovio announced Angry Birds would be exclusive to them when it first launched. |
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YAAM (Yet Another Android Market). Their app is very lightweight and straightforward, and they use PayPal, making things easy. |
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I recently discovered 1mobile.com, which appears to focus on free apps only. Their unique feature are app recommendations organized by topic as "app lists". Also, while they do offer an app for accessing their market, they also have direct APK download links on their website. I find them most useful when Google Play comes to the (wrong) conclusion that for unspecified reasons my device is not deemed compatible with some app. Caveat: I have no idea where they get their content from; I haven't found much in terms of developer support or an upload interface. They seem to carry pretty much every free app that's available on Google Play. Are they simply scraping Google's website? Are they legit? |
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You can also use 4shared and other file-sharing sites to search for APKs . In your search query make sure to add NOTICE: You really should only use this method if you have a good antivirus app (Zoner, Norton, etc.), as anyone can upload an app that goes unchecked (to some extent though, this is not unlike Google Play). |
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Missing in previous answers is AndroidPIT which is running a separate market. Sure, almost all apps found there are also in the Playstore (but not necessarily vice-versa: so for missing apps there are links to the playstore provided). Developers need to actively maintain their apps on this platform (i.e. upload new versions), and for paid apps AndroidPIT provides its own license API. So what is the plus of this platform? It has an active community (in the forums and the news blogs), and one can use alternative payment methods (e.g. Paypal) in addition to credit cards. Moreover, reviews for apps can be found there as well. So with the playstore comments, local comments, and the reviews, one can get a better idea of what an app is like -- before downloading it. Furthermore, the German branch even has an App Reviews section in their forum, including overviews for apps on a kind of "per-category" base -- which makes it easier to find a suiting app, as similar apps are grouped together. So if you like that idea, but do not want another "source of apps" (it's a good idea to stick to one market platform, especially for paid apps -- so you don't lose track which app you installed from what source, and get into trouble on a re-install for a new (or factory-reset) device), you can still go there for information. |
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Soc.io Mall describes itself as more than just an App Store. It is a mall where you can have apps, games and e-books. Soon it will be enriched with audio books and music!
Antiroid is an excellent website that will provide you with the corresponding free alternative to the paid app (that you may well could have purchased had you been unaware of this website). The Opera (as in web browser) mobile store has many Android Applications that are arranged by category. Providing another alternative for Android Users. |
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AppsLib claims to be the application marketplace specifically for Android Tablets Tablified Market is also an excellent resource for finding Tablets Apps, as well as providing news and reviews |
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