The Google Play Store is perhaps the most used marketplace for installing applications on an Android device, however, we’ve seen that a few devices don’t come with the Play Store pre-installed and the procedure to manually install Play Store can get very cumbersome in a few cases. Also, the Play Store doesn’t allow certain applications to be uploaded as their guidelines are very strict. We’ve also found a few developers complain about the reach on Play Store and suggesting that they will be skipping Play Store and distributing their applications on other channels and for direct download.
While there are numerous other alternatives to Play Store for those who are trying to install applications on their phone, most of them have a lot of malware applications as they have no guidelines for the uploader. Several 3rd party application marketplaces are also often filled with advertisements as their source of revenue leading to a less than pleasing experience.
Below are some of the most trusted 3rd party App Stores that can be installed on Android devices easily.
Amazon App Store for Android
The Amazon App Store is perhaps the most trusted 3rd party App Store available for Android. The Amazon App Store comes installed by default on Kindle Fire tablets and can be manually installed on almost every Android phone as a quick APK installation. The installation steps are easy, you can navigate to the Amazon App Store page as linked below and tap on the Get Amazon Appstore button to download it. You will then have to go to the security tab in the Settings application and enable Unknown Sources. Once the Unknown Sources option has been checked, you can easily install the Amazon App Store from using the Android Install screen.
The Application is extremely easy to navigate and has most of the famous App and Game titles listed, Amazon has a pretty good policy against malware and scrutinizes the applications before making them available for users to download on the market.
Getjar
Getjar is another market place for Android Applications and is much more lenient with respect to the developers and Application scanning. While Getjar is mostly filled with free applications, we occasionally also found paid apps for free on the Get Jar app store. Getjar is a great choice for finding Hacks and Mods for games as the app store has fewer requirements to be fulfilled before listing the application on the website or App Store. The Getjar app store can be easily downloaded from the link here and installed. Make sure that the unknown sources option is checked in the Security tab of the Settings app for a smooth installation.
Aptoide
Aptoide application comes in three variants, there is a default variant for most Android users, there is an Aptoide TV if you wish to install it on a TV Streaming Stick or Streaming Box and then there is an Aptoide Lite for the low powered Android devices. According to the Aptoide information page, the App Store offers Full Privacy and Secure Applications. The App Store also keeps a track of Multiple Versions of the applications allowing you to go back and download a version of your choice if you don’t want to download the latest version. The App Store of Aptoide also offers Recommendations based on previously browsed and installed applications making it easier to find new applications.
Mobogenie
Mobogenie is mainly an Android smartphone management toolkit application that was initially launched for Windows, there is also an Android client for the application that not only simplifies file management, backup and restores but also acts as a Marketplace to download Android Applications. While the Mobogenie App Store does have a huge catalog of applications, there are several Spam and Malware applications included. The credibility of Applications on the Mobogenie App Store is very low and there are several fake applications, however, it is a good choice if you want to install to maintain a backup or restore the data on your smartphone.
Slideme
Slideme is yet another 3rd party App Store and offers support for Paid Applications and supports multiple payment options including PayPal, Fortumo and even Amazon Payments. They even offer a service called SlideGuard that works as a shopper guarantee for protection against any leak of information. The App Store is well sorted, and the applications can also be filtered by the pricing. There are different options to sort the applications including the last updated, popularity and the number of downloads.
