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I downloaded the first third-party app store from Google Play, and I'm hopeful for what's next

Nov 5, 2026 — 6:00 AM ET

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Third-party app stores have been part of the Android experience since literally its earliest days, with the SlideME store predating Google’s official Android Market by several months. Since then we’ve seen plenty of other third-party stores rise up, but they’ve always required extra hoops on the user’s end, like sideloading. That’s no longer the case, as Google Play recently added its very first officially authorized third-party store.

This is a major shift in Google’s behavior, but it didn’t come from kindness. Epic Games spent years fighting a legal and PR battle against Apple’s and Google’s app store monopolies. The effort paid off, as it led to several changes, including the passing of anti-monopoly laws like Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). These laws require Google to open up the platform to allow competing storefronts.

So far, the effort has been fairly tepid, though it seems many more could be coming later this year. Thankfully, at least one such storefront has made it off the ground: Aptoide Games. Let’s take a look at how easy it is to install, as well as my general thoughts on the future of third-party app stores.

Are you excited about third party app stores coming to Google Play?

Installing is a piece of cake, and so is using it

As someone who has downloaded countless third-party app stores, I’m used to a little friction here. What I found was basically a one-click installation process that’s no different from installing Angry Birds. While it’s not exactly prominently advertised, finding Aptoide Games was as easy as using the search bar. After that, I tapped “Install,” and in less than a minute, the app store opened and was ready.

The first official third-party app store is laid out similarly to Google Play, with a bottom bar of shortcuts to different sections and an easy way to search for specific apps. The layout is clean, easy to use, and feels much more polished than some of the less-refined sideloaded stores I’ve tested over the years.

Installing it was easy, though it also felt a bit redundant next to Google Play.

The other thing I learned quickly is that this wasn’t a barren storefront, as it pretty much had every game I could imagine. The catch is that many of these games aren’t actually hosted by Aptoide Games at all, due to a program called the Play Catalog Access Program. This program was part of the legal rulings against Google in the Epic Games lawsuit and basically grants any third-party app store full access to Google’s library. As you can imagine, there are restrictions and rules here, which is partially why Aptoide Games has been the only officially approved candidate so far.

Now, to be fair, it’s not just Google-hosted apps. Aptoide Games has a small share of exclusive apps, including those with special reward incentives. In many ways, though, the experience felt a bit redundant next to Google Play. I fear that could be true of other app stores available from Google Play in the future, but it is still too early to tell for sure.

I love the potential here, but am also realistic about the limits

There’s a reason that there’s only one official third-party app store so far. As you might have guessed, publishing a third-party app store requires going through more hoops than publishing an ordinary app. Google’s own documentation has the exact guidelines for those who want to dive deeper, but basically Google requires every app store to ensure a few things:

• Stores must offer open access with clear, non-discriminatory policies regarding which apps and services they offer.
• All apps on a store must have clear developer authorization and IP compliance.
• Certain security, privacy, and safety standards must be met. This includes following Google Play policies, “with the exception of policies that are not applicable to third-party app stores, such as the Payments policy.”
• All new apps added to a storefront must be signed off by Google, and failure to do so can result in a third-party store being delisted.

Those are just a few of the bigger rules. Still, Google says it will occasionally audit random samples of third-party catalogs and that a store must not exceed a 2% content-policy violation rate across audited apps. In addition to quite a few rules, Google also charges a $15,000 upfront annual service fee to perform the necessary security and policy reviews on an app store. It will also invoice developers if review costs exceed $10,000 per month.

If I’m honest, I have a feeling that the Google Play-focused third-party app store experience will likely remain a curated, partial experience. There’s a reason we didn’t get the full-blown Aptoide market here, after all. The good news is this also isn’t Google’s only program from the sounds of it. In addition to Google Play adding select, highly niche stores like Aptoide Games, Google has a broader plan that will bypass some of Android’s recent sideloading restrictions and make it easier to sideload approved app stores as well.

Between two similar but slightly different approaches to third-party app stores, it’s clear that third-party app stores will have a larger presence than ever before. It’s also clear Google will do its best to make the process difficult and expensive, which likely rules out some of the smaller, independent open-source stores out there.

Still, even with the program somewhat held back by Google, I’m excited to see how it plays out. As sideloading gets harder, adding select curated app stores to Google Play and making it easier to sideload approved stores will only make Android stronger and will help keep it from turning into a walled garden, for better or worse.

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