More than four years have passed since the moment the Google Play service appeared, which replaced another app store called the Android Market. It is the main source of applications running on mobile devices on a platform from Google. But few people know that there are other Play Market analogs that are in no way associated with this company. They can also download a variety of applications. Google is not a monopolist in this market.
By default, the device settings set the ability to install applications only from Google Play, but this is easy to fix. Many do not know about this possibility.
Of course, in alternative stores there are not as many applications as in the official service from Google, but here you can find very good, albeit not sufficiently promoted programs, which among a large number of others are simply lost.
The first alternative is the Amazon app store. Most likely, this is the largest analogue of "Play Market" for "Android". On electronic readers this store is installed by default, and on other devices it must be added independently. The interface here is very easy to learn. There is a search and various methods for sorting found programs. Here, by going into each application, you can also see user reviews and other recommended applications.
Shop from Yandex
This is another free analogue of "Play Market" with a large number of applications, numbering more than 100 thousand. This store is most valuable in that it was developed by Russian programmers, it has a completely Russian-language interface, and you can pay for purchases directly from your mobile phone through Yandex Money. Publishing programs here is similar to a competitor from Google: the creators do-it-yourself download their applications, which are then tested by Kaspersky Anti-Virus. The interface here is quite standard. It contains all the necessary elements: a showcase for each program with its description, user ratings and recommended similar applications. In order to download, you need an account on Yandex itself.
F-droid
The library of this service contains only free applications, the source code of which is open. Here, unlike Google Play, they guarantee the complete absence of virus threats and other malicious elements in downloaded programs. According to the terms of use of this store, each developer agrees to upload the full source code of each posted application to the site. Employees of the service can fully study these sources before compiling them. So they are convinced that there are no threats, and everything works as stated by the creator. Thus, the analogues of "Play Market" take care of the safety of users. The application itself, with which you can download programs, also has open source code, and installing it is not necessary. The site can be used through a browser. The application has a very simple interface, but this is not an advantage, since there are no filters and categories that would greatly facilitate the search for the desired program. The assortment here is small due to the fact that the requirements are very high.
SlideME Store
This service is very often installed by the manufacturer on those devices on which there is no access to Google Play. This program is an analogue of "Play Market". Most often, such devices are inexpensive electronic readers, tablets for children and other gadgets on which a customized version of the operating system is installed. On the main page, it is indicated that each hosted application is tested for malware, and then tested by the service. The applications for working with the store itself are called SAM, but just like in the previous case, it is not necessary to install it, since you can use it via the web interface. The appearance of the application is very clear. In order to move to categories, you need to shift the start screen to either side. Each application card carries a description, user ratings and other programs for recommendations. And although there are few applications (just a few tens of thousands), their quality is very high, since each program is passed through a large number of testers.
Mobogenie Store
This is not just a store with applications, but at the same time it’s also a download manager, desktop manager, contact editor and much more. The customer is simple to use. It has a good search by category, and application cards contain descriptions as well as ratings. Here the recommendations of various testers and publications are noted in the program description.
AlternativeTo Service
There are not only programs for Android, since from the very beginning this project was devoted only to software for personal computers. Currently, you can find applications for any mobile operating system, as well as plug-ins for various browsers. The Play Market analogs are in a sense even better than this store.
Antiroid
This site is not a library or store. This is a whole search engine that allows you to find free alternatives to expensive programs in any store. You just need to enter the name of the paid application, and its free alternatives will appear. If you can’t find the exact analogue, a list of paid programs will be displayed. When you click on the installation, it will redirect to Google Play. The interface contains a convenient grouping of games and applications into categories.
As you can see, it is not possible to manage Google alone by playing alone, as there are other worthy options that provide users with less choice, but also less garbage. Analogs of "Play Market" may well replace it. Indeed, in some countries there is no access to it at all. And there, people also need applications. Google is not the only company that can meet the demand of people in them.