Disclaimer:
Even though the title says “my”, this is not my blogpost.
Google has to manage a lot of huge companies’ software, so while it sucks for the little guy, and Google could definitely be better about it, it’s sort of understandable.
What we need are more and smaller independent (paid) app stores. Honestly, I’m shocked there aren’t way more. We have the Google Store, Samsung Store, Amazon store and…that’s it?
No one else wants a part of this multi-billion dollar industry? No itch.io Android appstore? No Humble? No GreenMan? No STEAM!?
Honestly, I’m shocked there aren’t way more. We have the Google Store, Samsung Store, Amazon store and…that’s it?
There are plenty of repositories for F-Droid, and from what I’ve heard, also for Aptoide.
That said, it is not really beneficial for most companies to compete with Google Play since they know the user base will be smaller, user experience will be worse (install warnings, no auto-update), and people may get affected by malware if they don’t pay attention to where they are downloading things from (may download a scam app directly instead of the legit app store).
There are plenty of repositories for F-Droid
I said paid.
it is not really beneficial for most companies to compete with Google Play
Of course it is. The reasons are detailed in the OP.
user experience will be worse (install warnings, no auto-update)
This is a thing of the past at this point.
and people may get affected by malware if they don’t pay attention
The same can happen on any other store.
