Publish your app on all app stores

Now that there are more mobile devices on the planet than people, 8.5 billion devices versus 7.3 billion people, the word “app” is more important than ever. But for app developers, this is not only good news, it also means more competitors and the demand for apps designed according to target audiences and trends.

For example, with more than 1.5 million apps available, the Apple App Store includes a long list of categories and types of apps. The last statistics showed that the most popular categories after Games (23%) are Business (10%), closely followed by Education and Lifestyle categories. But we need to be cautious because the most popular categories are also the categories with a larger number of apps available. The top 5 categories on Google Play by number of apps are precisely Education, Lifestyle, Entertainment, and Business.

Because of that, mobile app developers need to pay attention more than ever to this kind of trends when marketing their apps. Competition is fierce. To succeed, you need more than a cool app, you need to know your audience, the kind of devices they use, etc. For example, adults over 55 years old are those that usually download educational games to train the brain. If you are developing related apps you need to know your audience.

App Stores

Although Google Play and Apple's App Store are the most popular channels to distribute Android and iOS apps, there are other alternatives available where reaching visibility is easier.

Amazon App Store

Right now, around 50,000 apps are available on Amazon's app store, a relatively small number compared to the 600,000 apps that populate Google Play, but the Amazon App store also has some cool features. Your app is distributed internationally, it will appear in search results across amazon.com and as a suggestion under Amazon’s section “Customers who bought this item also bought”, one of the coolest and most effective features that Amazon uses to boost sales.

GetJar

Founded in 2004, GetJar reaches over 200 million Android users. An app store where 3 million apps are downloaded every day, well deserves an opportunity. Over 395,000 developers have registered to distribute their apps. This App supports Android, Blackberry, Java, Symbian and Windows Mobile Apps.

Appszoom

Appszoom started in 2009 and the app store gives some interesting recommendations to mobile app developers: Be a WOW for users, a bubble-popper, fearless, Go big or go home, KISS (keep it simple, stupid) and much more.

Slide Me

Slide Me is an app store that ranks second after Google Play in terms of global reach. This alternative app store offers a variety of apps for each niche market. Slide Me allows developers to sell apps globally. It is preloaded on handsets over 140 manufacturers and features on more than 20 million devices.

AppsLib

AppsLib focuses mainly on Android tablets. At this moment, there are around 40,000 apps available on the store. AppsLib is installed on most of the Android tablets the apps are created for. In addition, it offers some advantages for developers: payments can be done via PayPal, and they can choose the exact tablets where their apps can appear.

These are just some alternatives but there are many others: Appbrain, Yandex, Baidu, App China, AndroidPit, etc.

Tips to upload your app to an App Store

When choosing an app store, we need to take into account that alternative stores offer interesting advantages in terms of visibility, promotion and support, but there are many factors involved. For example, although Google Play has 50% more downloads than the Apple App Store, the iOS platform duplicates the revenue.

For each app store, a different process to upload an app must be followed. Some, like Amazon App Store, have a pre-test, in other cases, the developer needs to fill a questionnaire, etc. There are certain aspects developers need to take into account to choose an App Store and upload their app.

Geographic coverage. Languages and target markets can be affected by the geographic coverage of the app store
Payment methods. Ensure that the payment method chosen by the store works for you
Services for developers. Each store offers different services for developers as pre-testing tools or support
Validation Process. Not all the apps are approved to appear in an app store. Each store runs a different validation process that usually takes some time

Validation

Before being published, apps must be validated by the app store. Because of that, it is important to review the validation guidelines of each specific store before submitting your app. In general terms, these are the most important criteria you need to take into account:

The presence of viruses and malware. Ensure your app is totally clean
Copyright violations. You must include original content
Content violations. Any content that can be considered offensive or upsetting must be avoided
Not fully functional apps. Ensure your app works perfectly and it’s free of bugs
Non-professional apps. Your app must be more that a repackaged website. Avoid amateur apps
Compatibility with devices. Usually, each app must follow certain software requirements

Each app store applies different technical, content and design criteria to publish an app. In any case, the validation process takes some time. In the case of the Apple App Store, the 50% of apps are reviewed in 24 hours and the 90% of them in 48 hours. In the case, of the Google Play app store it only takes hours since Google relies on different automated elements that speed the process. On the contrary, Amazon’s validation processes seem to be longer but they offer the possibility to pre-test the app.