We tested Aptoide, the first free iPhone app store alternative

The popular Android alternative marketplace Aptoide has just launched as a challenger to the Apple App Store in Europe. We’ve seen a slew of stores launch since March when the Digital Marketplaces Act (DMA) forced Apple to support third-party app marketplaces for iOS — but nothing so far has managed to tip the balance of power and to change the status quo.

Aptoide has been around since 2009 and is primarily known as a Google Play alternative for Android users. The Portugal-based company says it currently hosts 1 million apps for about 400 million users. The Aptoide iOS app store launching today (as an invite-only beta) is a different animal, however, as it only distributes games. It’s the first marketplace of its kind available for Apple devices – and its freemium structure could be very attractive to both developers and users.

Can Aptoide thrive where others have struggled? Can its focus on games entice the public? And could its freemium model open a way forward for third-party marketplaces? We had a chance to play with a preview of Aptoide to find out.

So far, serious disruption has eluded the alternative iOS markets now available in Europe. Including Aptoide, four are live at the time of writing. The first to launch was Mobivention, a business-focused store that distributes apps for employees. The second was AltStore PAL, an interesting marketplace that had the main selling point of an underrated iOS emulator by Apple finally allowing the software in its own store. The third was Setapp Mobile, a subscription-based service still in closed beta that focuses on providing a suite of productivity tools.

All of this came with promises of upending Apple’s monopoly, but so far, progress has been slow. AltStore PAL, for example, launched in early April with two apps: Delta and Clip. Now, two months later, he still only has two apps. This, according to its developer, Riley Testut, is because the new software has “stuck in Apple’s notarization process.” Things are looking a little better for Setapp Mobile. The company launched its store with 13 apps in mid-May and now, about three weeks later, has 37 available.

Now, it’s Aptoide’s turn to try.

Installing the Aptoide game store on your iPhone is similar to other markets: difficult, but achievable with persistence. You have to navigate through about a dozen on-screen interactions that constantly warn of impending danger. Thankfully for beginners, Aptoide provides a handy illustrated guide of the steps required, and having gone through the process a few times now, I can assure you that it becomes routine quickly.

Once Aptoide is on your phone, navigation is simple. You click on a game, install it and start playing. Unfortunately, in the state we tested Aptoide in, what’s available isn’t overly impressive. There were only eight basic games (think versions of Solitaire and Hangman) when we tested, and none of them were particularly engaging. However, this is about to change. Paulo Trezentos – co-founder and CEO of Aptoide – says that 100 developers have so far expressed interest in appearing on its iOS marketplace and that “30 of them are currently in the technical integration phase”.

With new games scheduled to be released every week, the library will grow quickly – although most of them will be titles already available on the App Store, not exclusives. There are also no plans for controversial titles that are not allowed in the Apple marketplace, such as pornographic games or gambling. Emulators will be allowed “if they don’t infringe on IP”, but these are already a growing category in the Apple store.

So what is the main selling point? What does Aptoide offer users that they can’t find in the App Store? Aside from a currently bleak list of “curated” games, one element that Trezentos points to is how Aptoide combines a freemium model with a rewards structure.

Aptoide is the first third-party marketplace to use an Apple-approved in-app purchase system. For users, this means that all games will be free, but some will include in-app purchases. How this differs from the App Store is that Aptoide will give “bonuses” to people who spend regularly within the app, something that will be a 5 to 10 percent discount on each purchase.

Ruining Earth? Probably not – but Aptoide’s attitude towards developers could make the store gain some traction.

According to Trezento, Aptoide is “developer-oriented,” something it demonstrates with its approach to fees. It charges developers 20 percent for organic in-app purchases generated by the Aptoide iOS marketplace and a 10 percent fee in all other cases — for example, when the developer independently advertises and drives app downloads. On the Android store, Aptoide charges 25 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Apple, on the other hand, charges a 30 percent fee across the board.

In addition, Aptoide is paying developers between $1,000 and $2,000 to launch a game on its iOS platform, the highest amount going to those who include in-app purchases in their software. The company also handles the basic technology fee – a cost of 50 euro cents per annual installation in the market – from the in-app purchases cut.

This basic technology fee approach differs from the Setapp Mobile and AltStore PAL stores, which pass the fee directly to the user as part of the subscription. Aptoide is in an interesting position as the first third-party iOS app store that people can use for free.

This is the real differentiator for Aptoide. Because it is free to use, it can appeal to a wider audience, making it attractive to more developers. On the other hand, the store’s friendliness towards developers can lead to the release of a large number of quality games, which can attract the public. There is potential there – up to a point.

My concerns with Aptoide are threefold: its support for in-app purchases; the quality of the titles; and its competition compared to the App Store.

While a financially successful business model, in-app purchases are widely viewed by tech enthusiasts. And who is the segment most likely to download a third-party app store in the EU? The nerds. If the library only contains basic games of the type available at launch – and many of them are already available on the Apple platform – what reason is there to go through the trick of installing a third-party app store? I’m not sure that a small discount in the form of a bonus is enough to encourage a large section of the public to bother.

Let’s not forget, though, that we’re still in the early days of third-party app stores. Aptoide and Setapp Mobile are still in closed beta, while AltStore PAL has not yet started hosting third-party apps. Many sideload fans may have wished for quick changes, but it’s not going that way.

Three months on, and the alternative app stores that have launched so far in Europe are doing little to threaten Apple’s monopoly — and you know Cupertino is feeling pretty good about it.