Android App Distribution Locations

At some point, the developer of android applications becomes crowded within a single Google Play store. And then he begins to think about how to convey his applications to users. It turns out that there are a lot of options to do this.

I will list those that I tried myself. Immediately make a reservation that my applications are free, with ads inside. I’ll deal with the publication of paid applications when decent ones appear.

The Google Play app store itself :

+ huge user base;
+ convenient publishing tools;
+ distributed around the world;
+ lack of pre-moderation, almost instant publication (after a few hours);
+ useful statistics;
- registration fee;
- A huge number of applications, respectively, competition.
Conclusion:
An indispensable store for the android developer. Useful comments from users, especially if asked to leave comments.

Amazon mobile app distribution app store :

+ large user base;
+ free registration;
+ quite convenient publishing tools;
+ There is a library for in-app purchase. Pretty comfortable;
- pre-moderation, if everything is successful, it happens in a week, they are tested on all Kindle (and in India), they are not tested very carefully. From the above, do not leave links to Google Play;
- basically preinstalled on devices from Amazon, which imposes its own characteristics;
- the main place of distribution: USA;
- A complex system for evaluating the application (only users verified with Amazon with purchases can leave feedback).
Conclusion:
A good store where you can also be. The competition is not as high as on Google Play, but the number of downloads turned out to be small for me. It is hoped that with an even greater spread of new tablets from Amazon, it will only become more popular. It’s hard to earn a rating.

Samsung Apps Store :

+ A large user base of devices from Samsung, in the whole world, with a focus on Europe and South America;
+ free registration;
+ There is a library for in-app purchase. A cursory glance liked less Amazonian;
- very thorough premoderation. They check it on many devices, get to the bottom of everything, to the extent that on one of the small images I had an anime girl with bare shoulders, the application was rejected, as it would violate the moral principles of some countries, including Japan (!). I had to remove these countries from distribution and increase the age rating, in principle, of a harmless application. Checking takes up to 2 weeks;
- A sophisticated system for publishing applications, as well as the developer's console itself. It is often difficult to find seemingly obvious things, for example editing application data;
- uncomfortable statistics;
Conclusion: A
“heavy” store, but it generates a stable number of downloads. In addition, not so much competition contributes to the long finding of the application in new products, but to a good application in the tops of categories. Pretty stupid comments.

Opera Apps Store :

+ free registration;
+ lack of pre-moderation;
- Unclear user base size;
Conclusion:
The store that is the most incomprehensible to me, it seems to be a big name for the campaign, but unclear distribution points. It gives out a certain number of downloads, for free and convenient just right.

SlideMe Store :

+ A large user base, they call themselves No. 1 among alternative application stores, is pre-installed on devices of 120 OEM suppliers. Personally, I did not come across on the phones;
+ free registration;
+ convenient developer console;
- pre-moderation, although fast, 2-3 days, apparently just according to the description and screenshots;
- Strange application rejection factors. For example, the Timer application was rejected because "it is too simple" and "maybe created only for inside advertising", although there are a lot of similar applications in the store.
Conclusion:
Immediately surprised me with the number of downloads, it is clearly necessary to be here. The moderation system is upset with the rejection of "uninteresting" applications.

GetJar Store :

+ A large user base, call themselves the largest store of free applications with 2 million downloads per day;
+ free registration;
- pre-moderation, 2-3 days;
- a creepy publishing system, it’s especially annoying to redownload images with some kind of error, for example, the 128 * 128 icon turned out to be more than 10kb.
Conclusion:
Generates a good number of downloads, you also need to be here.

Bonus AppChina App Store

In general, it was very interesting to get to the Chinese application market, but this is the only one of the stores where I managed to register and publish applications. There is a partial English interface on it, which, coupled with a Google translator, allows you to more or less navigate.
So:
+ a potentially large user base, although difficult to evaluate;
+ free registration;
+ the presence of the English interface (partially);
+ normal developer console;
- pre-moderation 2-3 days;
- China, that is, I think it makes no sense to publish applications with an English description.
Conclusion:
So far, everything is strange, you probably have to wait yet, or a mistake was made somewhere.

Total

Is there any benefit?

Since mid-December, I began to place applications on additional stores, as we see, there is growth.

If you are a small developer, you do not have a powerful PR campaign, and your applications are international, then alternative stores can give you a tangible increase in the number of installations / users, which for applications with integrated advertising, like mine, gives prospects for increasing earnings.

When working with so many publishing systems, updating the application version becomes a daunting task. Especially difficult with the “long” Samsung and Amazon. There you should upload fully stable applications, after their “testing” on Google Play users, where the update can be uploaded in 4 hours.
Another difficulty is different versions of applications, for example, in my radio applications there are “Share” functions, which insert links to the application on Google Play. For other stores, you have to compile "clean versions" without links or with links to these same stores, such as Amazon.

Links to shops:

Google Play: play.google.com/apps/publish
Amazon mobile app distribution: developer.amazon.com/apps
Samsung Apps: seller.samsungapps.com
Opera Apps: apps.opera.com/en_en/developers.php
SlideMe: slideme. org / developers
GetJar: developer.getjar.com/android
AppChina: dev.appchina.com
Yandex.Store: developer.store.yandex.com