When comparing Amazon Appstore vs F-Droid, the Slant community recommends F-Droid for most people. In the question“What are the best Android game stores?” F-Droid is ranked 1st while Amazon Appstore is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose F-Droid is:
Free and open source applications that are not for profit
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Amazon Underground
"Actually free" apps with free in-app purchases. This only applies to a selection of older apps with the "actually free" banner, not to everything.
Pro Sideloads on any Android device
It's not just for Kindle.
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. Also the fact that they allow anyone to install the store onto their devices means the users collection of apps can be installed easily.
Pro Apps don't need the Google Play services
Amazon uses its own API.
Pro Amazon developer services
Amazon offers app publishing to their users along with tools to pre-test their apps for compatibility. This allows for easy access to publishers in order to get their apps n the store.
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. Not only is this a good incentive to purchase Amazon Android devices, but it also shows a commitment to feature hardcore games on their app store.
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 as well as safe to use.
Pro Non-profit
Free and open source applications that are not for profit
Pro All titles are free and open source
All apps and games on F-Droid are open source (FOSS), making for a complete store resource for users who want to use only open source software on their device.
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.
Pro Multiple repository sources
You have more than one source of apps and updates and local repository too
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
Pro Previous versions of apps remain available after updates
If you don't like to an app after an update, you can download the previous version again. This is not possible on GooglePlay.
Pro File sizes are shown
For those running out of room, the size of the APK is always shown.
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.
Cons
Con Fewer apps than Google Play Store
There are far fewer apps on the Amazon Appstore than the Google Play Store. The apps that are available on Amazon are also slower to get updates, in part due to the store not being as popular as well as the verification process Amazon uses to ensure the apps are of quality and are not spyware.
Con Cumbersome developer interface
Previous APK is carried over when updating which can lead to errors if you change the signing keys. Screenshots also have to be a specific resolution
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. this is basically a DRM system where in any app from the store will not work if the store is not installed.
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).
Con Not all apps have screenshots
It can be difficult to tell what an app is like without installing it.
Con Small selection
F-Droid has a small selection of apps when compared to other major Android markets. This is due to every app being open source and given away for free, something not many people are willing to do with their time and creations.
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.
Con Descriptions are only available in English
Though the store app is multilingual, the app descriptions are only in English, meaning you must know English to find an app, even if the app is supposed to be multilingual.
Con A lot of apps lack polish
Since every app on F-Droid is FOSS and released for free, many of them aren't as polished compared to other markets and their paid app selections.
Con F-Droid bans Gab for being a “free speech zone” that will “tolerate all opinions”
F-Droid is just another liberal marxist echo chamber. It silences, bans, any opinion that deviates from their "progressive" marxist narrative.
Con It's not a good alternative for Google Play
Most useful softwares are not available on this platform so we can't call it an adequate alternative.
Con Updates are not automatic for non root users
You have to click the updates one-by-one in order to make them happen. If user has rooted their device automatic updates are possible, the app needs to be converted to a system app.
Con Most applications are outdated/deprecated
Most applications (80% of them) haven't been updated for more than 4 years.