Every Android phone certified from Google comes with a pre-installed Play Store. From there, users can download apps from millions of options available on the internet. Google Play Store is the most secure and popular marketplace for Android apps, but there are several alternatives available that you can install and use on your Android smartphones. These apps either come pre-installed on phones, or you have to download and install them as an APK file. Google doesn’t recommend installing apps from third-party sources as it can cause security issues with the OS.
You can install these Play Store alternatives on your phone by enabling “Unknown sources” from the settings. You can learn to install an APK file here.
Here are the best Google Play Store alternatives:
1. APKMirror
APKMirror is a popular website for downloading Android APK files of any app available on the Google Play. It has almost every version of an app that was released on the Play Store (excluding Spotify).
The website claims that the APKs uploaded to APKMirror are scanned and free of viruses. Unlike other Google Play alternatives with apps in an app store, these APKs are only available on the website. APKMirror comes handy when you’re trying to install an app that has been removed from Play Store, or the latest version doesn’t support your Android phone. Even though the app isn’t supported for the older version of smartphones, you can still get an old version of that app from APKMirror.
Trending apps are available after 34-hour analyzation, and you can also search from the search bar. You might find it annoying to download APKs on your smartphone, but you will find the download button after few Ads.
2. Aptoide
Aptoide store is also a third party store for Android where you can download apps other than Google Play. The alternative app store can be installed on any Android smartphone. Not only this, but Aptoide also lets users have their own store where they can manage apps. Developers can upload apps on Aptoide and manage their apps there without having to pay a fee like Google Play or Apple’s App Store.
3. Amazon App Store
Amazon App Store is another Google Play alternative, owned by the eCommerce giant, Amazon. Google signs the apps available on Google Play; however, the applications on Amazon’s App Store are signed by Amazon, and some of the apps are exclusive to the store. Amazon used to offer free apps on their App Store, but now, they’ve stopped offering free apps. You can also download books, movies, and songs.
4. Samsung Galaxy Store
Samsung’s app store has been there for a long time but users hardly use it for downloading apps. But that didn’t stop Samsung from keeping their app store alive. The Galaxy Store is normally used to update pre-installed Samsung apps. However, it also offers, apps, games, themes, and wallpapers. You can download and install these apps and games and save them in your Samsung account.
5. Huawei AppGallery
Huawei’s AppGallery is another alternative to Google Play, but it is only available for Huawei phones. If you’re a fan of Huawei and are wondering how would you download apps from Google Play after the U.S ban and restrictions on the company, this is the app store for you. Using Huawei App Gallery, you can install many apps from the store without feeling the need for Google Play. However, you can’t install this app store on any other company’s smartphone.
My play store is blocked in my phone. How can I update this app.
Are you using a Huawei smartphone?
Two more Google Play Store alternatives are APK Pure and Aurora Store. I have both on my phone. Aurora Store is formerly Yelp.