AI has become one of the most important gamechangers for businesses and customers relying on mobile technology. This is one of the reasons companies are spending over $328 billion on AI technology. One of the many reasons that AI is changing the landscape of mobile technology is that it helps develop and distribute apps more easily than ever.
We previously talked about some of the ways that AI is making it easier to develop new mobile apps. However, we haven’t discussed the benefits of using AI to distribute apps through app marketplaces in as much detail.
InstaMart made the news last year for being an app marketplace that specializes in distributing AI apps. Other app marketplaces use AI to operate as well. This article will delve into this subject in more depth.
AI Technology Leads to the Inception of New App Marketplaces
The number of mobile apps has skyrocketed over the last few years. In 2021, the number of mobile applications hits around 3 million on Google Play alone, while the App Store has around 3.5 million applications available for download.
With the competition so tough, app publishers are looking for other places where they can publish their solutions. And although the App Store is the main hub for mobile app development, it’s not the only place where developers can sell their creations.
There are a variety of ways that AI technology is helping app marketplaces. In order to appreciate the benefits of using AI to create a new app marketplace, it is important to first address the challenges. We will discuss these issues before identifying some of the best app stores that have been developed as a result of AI technology.
Let’s have a look at the main app store alternatives for the App Store in 2022.
Challenges of leading app marketplaces
Apple’s App Store has become one of the most important platforms in mobile technology and entertainment. It’s a platform where hundreds of thousands of apps are available to users worldwide, including well-known brands like Netflix and Spotify. However, despite its success and popularity, the Apple App Store still faces several challenges that can make it difficult for developers to succeed on the platform.
The first challenge is that Apple’s app approval process is rigorous. The company maintains a list of guidelines that all developers must follow or their apps will be rejected from the iOS store. These guidelines include using only one language for all text dialogues in an app, having no duplicated content on any page, and not including third-party ads in games or apps.
Another challenge facing developers is that they must comply with Apple’s 30 percent commission fee on each sale made through the iOS app store. This fee goes directly to Apple, so if you want your app to be successful on this platform, you’ll need to find ways to offset these costs by charging higher prices or adding extras like in-app purchases or subscriptions
How AI Technology Helps Solve Challenges for App Marketplaces
There are a number of ways that AI technology can help new app marketplaces. Some of them are listed below:
- Mitigate app security risks. One of the biggest challenges that App Store struggled with was dealing with apps filled with malware. AI technology has made it easier to identify apps designed with malicious purposes.
- Help with marketing. AI technology also helps companies implement more cost-effective marketing strategies. They can find creative ways to reach new customers more easily than ever.
- Improve maintenance. AI technology has also made it a lot easier to maintain websites. Companies use machine learning to identify technical issues with their sites and automate maintenance. Since app marketplaces depend on stellar user experiences, they depend on AI to meet these customer expectations.
AI is clearly of crucial importance for app marketplaces trying to compete with the App Store.
Where to publish your apps in 2022?
The App Store is the most popular destination for mobile applications. The store received more than 1 billion unique visitors in 2021 and continues to be the dominant destination for posting applications. This growth has resulted in more competition, resulting in a number of alternative stores like Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore, Steam, and others.
Google Play Store
Both the App Store and Google Play Store account for the largest shares of the market. Google Play Store offers plenty of apps and games, along with Google’s own suite of apps like Gmail and Google Maps. It also includes an app store within the Play Store itself — something Apple doesn’t do on iOS devices.
The Google Play Store is the most popular app store, and it’s a great choice for users looking for apps that don’t exist in Apple’s App Store. It’s also worth noting that there are some exclusive features in the Google Play Store that aren’t available on the iOS version, such as Material Design, which is a design standard used throughout Google products.
The Google Play Store is a bit different from Apple’s App Store. The latter requires developers to pay upfront fees and fees during the process of submitting their apps to Apple, whereas Google offers free distribution for all Android devices. However, if you want to make money from your app, you’ll need to pay for advertising, in-app purchases, and subscriptions.
Amazon Appstore
One of the e-commerce giants, Amazon also offers its own app store for Android devices called Amazon Appstore. The platform has been around since 2011 and offers access to more than 250,000 apps that have been downloaded over 1 billion times. As with other app stores, it has its own revenue share model — developers can receive 70 percent of all revenue generated through in-app purchases or subscriptions (the remaining 30 percent goes to Amazon).
The app marketplace also helps generate revenue via advertising. Moreover, app publishers can include virtual currency (Amazon Coins), extra lives for a game, or subscriptions for purchase.
GetJar
GetJar is an alternative to the App Store that’s popular in Europe and other parts of the world where Apple doesn’t have as much dominance. The GetJar store offers more than 2 million apps, games, music, and movies (with movies available in various languages).
As for monetization, developers can benefit from its freemium model which includes adverts and in-app currency. Also, GetJar Gold is one of the most popular virtual currencies in use and is available to millions of users.
Samsung Galaxy Store
The Samsung Galaxy app store is a great alternative to the App Store. It’s got a lot of great games and other apps, but it’s not as wide-reaching and convenient as the App Store.
The Galaxy app store doesn’t have as many apps as Apple’s App Store. However, low competition can be beneficial for fledgling applications and app publishers. The best part is that the app store is completely free, so users won’t have to worry about paying any fees when downloading apps from this store.
However, this app marketplace does charge for some premium services like music streaming and video streaming. Also, Samsung Galaxy Store doesn’t work with non-Samsung phones.
F-droid
The F-droid app store is a community-driven repository of open source apps, where you can easily search for, download, and install apps on your Android device. F-droid is a great alternative to the Google Play Store for Android users who want to avoid using Google’s proprietary software and its restrictions on what apps you can install and how they can be packaged. F-droid offers a much smaller range of applications than Google Play, but it’s still worth using if you’re looking for something a little different.
Takeaway
Choosing the best alternative app market may seem to be a tough task. While Google Play and the App Store have got a foothold in the market, less-known alternatives such as F-droid and GetJar can help you beat the competition. However, none of these app marketplaces can topple the Google Play Store and the App Store in terms of exposure and number of visitors. Therefore, we recommend combining distribution channels to get additional traction for your application.