Let’s face facts. We all live under the safe, warm umbrella of the Play Store. There’s a good reason for that. It has the most apps, intensely good security (comparatively speaking), it comes pre-installed on most Android devices, and it usually works well. Most people know that there are other options out there, but there isn’t a ton of information about other app stores. This is something we can help with.
10 Best Third-Party App Stores for Android
So, in this article, we have decided to share a list of best third-party app stores that you can use on your Android. With these app stores, you can download both games and apps. So, let’s check out the best third-party app stores for Android.
1. Amazon Appstore
Price: Free / App costs vary
The Amazon Appstore is likely the most competent app store aside from the Play Store itself. It’s the stock app store on all Amazon Fire devices. The store has a variety of apps, including some big, popular names. It also has all of Amazon’s various apps and it used to be the sole home of Amazon Prime Video. This is an actual app that you can install on any Android device without a ton of issues. It also runs concurrently with other app stores if you want to use more than one. It could definitely use some optimizations, but it’s otherwise more positive than it is negative. We do wish it had a better selection, though.
2. GetJar
GetJar has been around for a very long time and is even older than the Play Store. It provides more than 800,000 varieties of apps across major mobile platforms, including Blackberry, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Android.
The apps are organized into categories and sub-categories within the store that makes it easier to find what you want. The desktop interface resembles the mobile interface and makes browsing convenient. The selection of apps is huge, but not all of them are up to date.
Other than apps, this alternative Android app store also gives you access to various themes and games that you can install on your device.
3. AppBrain
If you are looking for an app store where you can find premium apps for free, then look no further because AppBrain can be your final destination. Developers offer paid apps for free for a limited time on this website. In return, AppBrain publicizes their app. This App Store alternative allows you access to extensive details of apps that you will not find in any other place.
All of the apps in AppBrain are from Google Play Store. AppBrain has both an app and a website to allow users to access its catalog. Unless you have an AppBrain account, you will be redirected to Play Store when you download an app.
4. APKMirror
Price: Free
Okay, so APKMirror isn’t technically an app store, but rather an app repository. You can find all kinds of stuff here, including some beta apps not available in the Play Store. However, you can still get updates from the Play Store if a newer version comes out, so it’s an excellent secondary source of apps and some games. This definitely isn’t a full store experience and we really only recommend it if you want to try something specifically or find an older APK of an existing app so you can roll back to a previous version due to bugs or preferences. It’s surprisingly safe to use and a source we often link to in our other articles. CHECK OUT APKMIRROR!
5. Samsung GalaxyApps
Price: Free / App prices vary
It’s a shame that Galaxy Apps is only available on Samsung devices because it’s actually fairly competent. The selection is obviously smaller than the Play Store and likely a little smaller than Amazon’s Appstore. However, it has a clean UI, simple navigation, and it actually has some rather popular apps and games, including Microsoft, Netflix, Hulu, Fortnite, Brawl Stars, and others. It’s not an end-all-be-all kind of thing, but those with Samsung devices have a decent secondary app store along with Google Play right on their devices already.
6. Aptoide
Aptoid’s design goes in line with Google standards, and the experience is almost as good as the Play Store with a well-crafted user interface.
Aptoide is an open-source Android app store with over 700,000 apps to choose from its collection that has over 3 billion downloads. It has been used by more than 150 million users worldwide since its launch in 2009.
There are several versions of the Aptoid app available:
- Aptoide app for smartphones and tablets
- Aptoide TV which is an edition for smart TVs and Set-top Boxes
- Aptoide VR and Aptoide Kids for children’s devices.
It allows you to download APKs to your device directly and install them. It is a safe and straightforward app store for Android that you can use as a great Google Play Store alternative.
7. F-Droid
Price: Free
F-Droid is one of the older app stores on the list and among the most trustworthy. The store experience is mostly for productivity and power user stuff. We’re talking about apps like an Arch Linux package browser type of stuff. There are some basic apps on there, like Simple Gallery or Simple Calendar along with a very small selection of games. However, by and large, this is an app store for people who need something a little extra that the Play Store doesn’t have. F-Droid is open source and every app on the platform is open source. You can even find alternatives to F-Droid on F-Droid. This is a neat little app store.
8. Mobogenie
Mobogenie is yet another Google Play alternative with lots of software to choose from. It has a large user base, supports multiple languages, and showcases the same apps found in Play Store but properly organized. Moreover, you can also download apps, videos, audio files, images, etc. on your PC and transfer them later to your smartphone or tablet. It also allows you to back up your device’s contents seamlessly.
Mobogenie boasts an intelligent recommendation engine that is supposed to analyze your preferences and make sensible suggestions. The interface is good, and it can be accessed globally, plus, there is no registration required.
9. APKPure
Price: Free
APKPure is a third party app store with a lot of upside. It has a lot of popular apps like TikTok, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, UC Browser, PUBG Mobile, Brawl Stars, and many others. The app store features a clean, coherent UI with a decent search and a good overall selection. It has a lot more categories than the Google Play Store, although some categories are a little light in terms of good apps for download. You can get the basics here with no problem, including some Google apps like Gmail.
10. Yalp Store
Price: Free
Yalp Store is another unique app store. It uses Google Play Store APKs but you get them without the actual Google Play Store. You can search for, install, and update apps directly from the source and we quite like that. The UI is a little old, but it works well enough. There are also additional features for root users. You don’t even need a Google account to use it, although your purchases may not be saved over the long term.
So, these are the ten best third-party app stores for Android users. I hope this article helped you! Share it with your friends also.
