First Rival Android App Store Arrives In the US Play Store
(Monday August 10, 2026 @05:00PM (BeauHD)
from the first-of-many dept.)
- Reference: 0184921610
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/26/08/10/200220/first-rival-android-app-store-arrives-in-the-us-play-store
- Source link:
Aptoide has become the [1]first third-party Android app store available directly through Google Play in the U.S. "The change is a direct result of [2]Google's litigation with Epic , which saw a judge rule in 2024 that the Play Store would have to open up to third-party stores," notes The Verge. The change makes rival storefronts far easier to discover and install, potentially opening the door for Epic, Amazon, Samsung, Microsoft and others to distribute their own app stores through Google's store. From the report:
> Third-party app stores have always been available on Android, which is a more open platform than iOS in that respect. However, until now they've only been available if pre-installed on a device -- as with the Amazon Appstore on Fire tablets or Samsung's Galaxy Store -- or installed via sideloading. Listing rival storefronts within the Play Store makes them much easier for users to find and access. [...]
>
> [3]Aptoide itself is relatively little known, but it's likely to be the first of many alternative app stores. It's presumably only a matter of time before the Epic Store makes its own appearance, and the likes of Amazon, Samsung, and other phone manufacturers may also want to put their stores in front of potential customers.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/tech/977269/google-play-store-third-party-app-aptoide-games
[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/06/25/0554234/google-starts-lowering-play-store-fees-making-good-on-epic-games-settlement
[3] https://play.google.com/store/appstores?gl=us
> Third-party app stores have always been available on Android, which is a more open platform than iOS in that respect. However, until now they've only been available if pre-installed on a device -- as with the Amazon Appstore on Fire tablets or Samsung's Galaxy Store -- or installed via sideloading. Listing rival storefronts within the Play Store makes them much easier for users to find and access. [...]
>
> [3]Aptoide itself is relatively little known, but it's likely to be the first of many alternative app stores. It's presumably only a matter of time before the Epic Store makes its own appearance, and the likes of Amazon, Samsung, and other phone manufacturers may also want to put their stores in front of potential customers.
[1] https://www.theverge.com/tech/977269/google-play-store-third-party-app-aptoide-games
[2] https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/06/25/0554234/google-starts-lowering-play-store-fees-making-good-on-epic-games-settlement
[3] https://play.google.com/store/appstores?gl=us
For me, f-droid.org is the only "app store" I need (Score:4, Interesting)
by ffkom ( 3519199 )
And I have a really hard time to understand why other people would want those closed source Adware/Malware/Spyware things distributed on inferior "app stores" like Google's.
Since Google sponsored it (Score:2)
I wonâ(TM)t trust it, still waiting for Motorola to come out with their line of phones with GrapheneOS so I can have Android without googles tenticles attached to it