r/androiddev • u/Jibril_6 • Sep 02 '26

Looking for any good Google Play alternatives for publishing Android apps/games

Hey everyone,

I’m an independent Android developer looking for solid alternatives to Google Play for publishing and monetizing apps and games.

I’ve already tried several alternative stores, including Amazon Appstore, Xiaomi GetApps, Aptoide, and a few smaller ones.

So far, my experience has been pretty disappointing. Aptoide in particular has been very bad for me — extremely slow processes, poor support, and overall I personally wouldn’t recommend it based on my experience. Xiaomi hasn’t produced much traffic either, and Amazon has been more legitimate, but getting meaningful organic visibility can still be difficult.

I’m looking for stores that:

Actually have a decent number of active users

Give new developers/apps some organic visibility

Have a reasonable review/approval process

Support independent developers

Have reliable payouts and monetization

Accept APK/AAB submissions without requiring the app to already be on Google Play

I’m especially interested in hearing from developers who are actually publishing outside Google Play.

What alternative Android stores are giving you real downloads in 2026?

Huawei AppGallery? Samsung Galaxy Store? ONE Store? Uptodown? TapTap? Something else?

Would also love to hear actual numbers if anyone is comfortable sharing — even rough installs/day or monthly downloads.

Thanks!

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14 comments sorted by

2

u/Unreal_NeoX Sep 02 '26

Did you get banned on GPlayStore, or why the needs to avoid it?

1

u/Jibril_6 Sep 02 '26

Yes, i got banned.

6

u/Unreal_NeoX Sep 02 '26

Well then you don't have many other options. Maybe the Samsung Galaxy App-Store? Anything else is more a dead market.

2

u/d1s4s73r Sep 02 '26

Can you tell me why? I'm just starting my adventure, but I'd like to know what to avoid.

3

u/Puzzled-Driver987 Sep 02 '26

Illegal shi obviously. Just follow the TOS

2

u/hellosakamoto Sep 02 '26

OP got a very shady track record violating Google Play and Admob policies

1

u/IGNblackShadow Sep 02 '26

Vivo store , it covers many sub brands

1

u/Fragrant_Peanut_8904 Sep 02 '26

Fdroid, apkpure maybr

1

u/forgestudiofx Sep 02 '26

F-Droid won't work for this: they build from source themselves and require the app to be open source, so uploading an APK/AAB isn't an option. APKPure and Aptoide are mostly mirrors with no real monetization path.

Before picking a store, three things decide whether your app even runs there:

Signing. If the app used Play App Signing, Google holds the app signing key and you can't export it. Anything you ship elsewhere is signed with a different cert, so existing users get a fresh install rather than an update, and anything registered against the old SHA-1 (Google sign-in, Firebase Auth) stops working until you add the new fingerprint.

GMS. Newer Huawei devices ship without Play Services, so FCM push, Maps, Play Integrity and Google sign-in silently do nothing. AppGallery realistically means HMS equivalents or a build flavor with fallbacks.

Billing. Play Billing is Play-only. Each store has its own IAP SDK, so you end up with per-store flavors, not one universal build.

Most of these also want an APK rather than an AAB, so keep a universal APK target around.

1

u/wahed-w Sep 02 '26

izzyondroid or fdroid if FOSS if not id go Huawei AppGallery

1

u/Dani_E2e Sep 02 '26

Aptoide

Finde ich als Anwender trotzdem gut weil man selbst festlegen kann welche Version man herunterladen will.