Aptoide

Aptoide is the largest independent Android App Stores ecosystem and allows partners to setup and manage their own Android store. As a partner you can upload, test and approve your apps. If you're an end-user we provide the Aptoide
client App, giving you the opportunity to manage downloads, updates and access to stores.

Aptoide is a distributed marketplace for mobile applications which runs on the Android operating system. In Aptoide, unlike the default Google Play Store, there is not a unique and centralized store but each user manages their own store.

The Android application used to access the stores is open source, and there are several forks such as F-Droid and ApkTor. The communication between the client and servers is done using an open protocol based on XML.

The concept is inspired by the APT packaging manager, which can work with multiple sources (repositories). When the user wants a package, they use the client to search for sources where the application is stored.

Android Client

Aptoide client allows one to search, browse and install applications in the Android phone. Aptoide is available in 17 languages.

To install Aptoide the user has to retrieve the APK (installable file) from the official site or other source in the Internet. The installation is not available through Google Play store due to 4.5 Non-compete clause of Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement. This is the same clause that blocks Amazon Apps Store application to be available through Google Play. The installation of Aptoide requires you to allow the installation from "Unknown sources" in Android settings.

After the installation of Aptoide, the user can add stores (repositories). Besides the default store (Apps), many other are available from different stores. When a store is added using the URL of the store, Aptoide retrieves the list of the applications and stores it locally. The user can then browse in the applications or search in the Internet for other stores.

In June 2011, it was released Aptoide Uploader as a "sister" application from the same development team. Aptoide Uploader is an Android app that allows you to upload to an existent Aptoide store.

Aptoide uploader uses the available Aptoide Webservices to upload the application. The submitted APK file is kept in your store where you can manage.

For the user that wants to backup their apps to a private store, it is advisable to use Aptoide Apps Backup that keeps a record of the apps that are backed up. All the applications in stores are managed using a backoffice in Aptoide site.

Aptoide Apps Backup uses the webservices to upload the APK file to the store. To know what applications are already backed up, Aptoide Apps Backup uses the info.xml XML file available in the store.

Aptoide