What are the best Android game stores?

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Jan 6, 2024

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Updated

F-Droid vs The Humble Store vs GAMERSGATE

vs TegraZone vs itch.io vs IndieGameStand vs Samsung GALAXY Apps vs Amazon Appstore for Android vs Google Play Store vs Downlor.com vs Gameloft vs Downlor.com vs 1Mobile vs Blu Escape - Hardcore Platformer vs iKOiD vs JetAPK.com vs GameStylus

Specs

License

AGPL-3.0+

Supported platforms

Android

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Controller Support

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Free tier

Auto update

Secure

Ad free

Account needed

Very good

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Free tier

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Ad free

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Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Price

Free tier

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Ad free

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Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Free tier

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Secure

Ad free

Account needed

Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Price

Free tier

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Secure

Ad free

Account needed

Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Price

Free tier

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Secure

Ad free

Account needed

Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Price

Free tier

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Secure

Ad free

Account needed

Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Price

Free tier

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Secure

Ad free

Account needed

Very good

License

Supported platforms

Genre

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Price

Free tier

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Secure

Ad free

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Very good

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Supported platforms

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Free tier

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Ad free

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Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Price

Free tier

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Ad free

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Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Free tier

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Supported platforms

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Free tier

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Ad free

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Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Casual

Controller Support

Touch & Gamepad

Price

Free tier

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Very good

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Free tier

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Very good

License

Supported platforms

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Free

Free tier

Yes

Auto update

Frequent Updates

Secure

True

Ad free

Yes

Account needed

Very good

Yes

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Free tier

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Very good

Pros + Cons

Pro
All apps have no ads nor tracking

This alone can be a great reason to use the apps available on F-Droid, but there is also the fact that this can increase battery life due to tracking and ads never requiring a data connection, since they are not present.

Comment

Pro
Provides a list of anti-features

The anti-features are the following: Advertisements User or device tracking Promotion of non-free software Dependence on a non-free network or service Dependence on another non-free application

Comment

Pro
Respectful of privacy

F-Droid is designed with privacy and user rights in mind. F-Droid doesn't track user activity or which devices are connected to the service.

Comment

Con
It doesn't have all the open source apps

There are many open source apps that aren't available on F-Droid due to their authors not making it available on that particular app store. One example is Omni Noted, which is on the Play Store but not F-Droid.

Comment

Pro
All titles are free and open source

All apps and games on F-Droid are free and open source (FOSS), making for a complete store resource for users who want to use only open source software on their device.

Comment

Pro
Highlights 'anti features'

Features that are often considered undesirable by users and the open source community are highlighted. This could be advertising or connecting to non-free services

Comment

Con
No ratings/comments/number of downloads

All apps are presented equally. It is difficult to judge an app's quality/popularity before trying it. On the upside, descriptions are fair (written by the F-Droid maintainers, not by the app authors).

Comment

Con
Not all apps have screenshots

It can be difficult to tell what an app is like without installing it.

Comment

Pro
F-Droid compiles all packages

F-Droid compiles all the packages themselves ensuring a high level of security. Other stores just allow the developer to upload the app already compiled, meaning anything malicious could be in the app.

Comment

Pro
All titles are FOSS

F-Droid is a FOSS store, which means every game inside is completely open source.

Comment

Con
Poor quality games

A lot of the games that are available on the F-Droid store are not of much quality when compared to titles on other stores.

Comment

Con
Small selection

There are not many games contained withing the F-Droid store.

Comment

Con
Small selection of titles

The Humble Store does not have as much of a selection of titles as many other Android stores do.

Comment

Con
Some titles are overpriced

The Humble Store often has higher prices on Android games than other Android markets, though this can be explained by the fact that many titles give the PC game along with the Android title.

Comment

Pro
Many games come with their PC, Mac and Linux counterparts

When purchasing an Android title from the Humble Store the PC, Mac and Linux title also come with the purchase, which explains the sometime higher price for said titles on other Android markets.

Comment

Pro
Exclusive games that no other Android stores carry

The Humble Store carries games that are not published on the Google Play Store.

Comment

Pro
Great selection of hardcore games

With titles such as Portal, Half-Life 2 and Strike Suit Zero, the TegraZone is a store meant for the hardcore gamer.

Comment

Con
Only available for Tegra devices

Sadly only Tegra devices can take advantage of this store and its selection of games.

Comment

Con
Not a lot of titles

There are not a lot of titles on the Android section to date.

Comment

Pro
Carries games that are not found on other stores

IndieGameStand carries a few Android games that can not be found elsewhere such as Snorms.

Comment

Pro
Samsung Developers

Samsung offers a wide range of tools and an SDK to developers for their platforms including their Samsung GALAXY devices.

Comment

Pro
Designed to look native on Android

With the name re-brand (to differentiate between its most likely upcoming Tizen app store) there was also a design re-brand that has not only made performance improvements but also improvements to its looks that fit in with the new Android L design.

Comment

Pro
Will be available in a multitude of countries

Samsung states that the store will eventually be available in 161 different countries.

Comment

Pro
Will offer exclusive apps

Samsung claims that the GALAXY Apps store will carry exclusive apps. Most likely they will be of the proprietary type.

Comment

Con
Offers less apps that are also easily found on the Google Play Store

There are less apps on the Samsung GALAXY Apps store with the majority already being on the Google Play Store as well.

Comment

Pro
Mobile app designed to look native on Android Lollipop (Material Design)

Comment

Pro
Free app of the day

Every day there is a free paid app given away to any and all users of the Amazon Appstore.

Comment

Pro
Curated selection of apps

Unlike the Google Play Store where anyone can publish anything they like, the Amazon Appstore has a review process before an app is allowed to be published to the store. This means everything is curated and supposedly is guaranteed to work.

Comment

Pro
Exclusives

The Amazon Appstore gets exclusives from time to time such as The Wolf Among Us or République. Though some of the exclusives are also tied to their own hardware such as the HDX.

Comment

Pro
Convenient

Using the Amazon Appstore is pretty convenient as a very large portion of the population already have an Amazon account from using their normal website for ordering goods.

Comment

Con
Not available outside of US

Currently the Amazon Appstore is not available to any territories outside of the United States.

Comment

Con
Less apps than Google Play Store

There are far less apps on the Amazon Appstore than the Google Play Store.

Comment

Con
Apps can not be used if store is uninstalled

Any app installed from the Amazon Appstore will not work if the Amazon Appstore itself is uninstalled.

Comment

Con
doesnt support parallel download

it download one by one instead of simulatenously

Comment

Pro
Most variety

Google Play Store is an incredibly large app store and the largest on Android.

Comment

Pro
Default store for the majority of Android devices around the world

The Google Play Store is of course the default store on all Android devices that have Google Play Services.

Comment

Con
Zero quality control

There is absolutely no quality control on the Play Store whatsoever. AAA publishers constantly get away with purchasing five star reviews from click farm businesses while at the same time game spammers get away with flagging legit games that they have stolen code from and published as a clone.

Comment

Con
Search isn't good

For what is the worlds leading search engine provider, Google offers a extremely poor user experience with the search functions on the Play Store. It is often easier to find a title by searching on Google rather than using the in built search on the Play Store.

Comment