Digital payments and financial services provider, PhonePe is inviting Android app creators to register and upload their applications to be featured on the Indus Appstore which will be made available in 12 regional languages, apart from English, and rival Google Play Store.
During the inaugural year, app listings on the Indus Appstore Developer Platform will be entirely free. After this initial phase, a nominal annual fee will be introduced.
Unlike many other app distribution platforms, Indus Appstore will not impose any platform fees or commissions on in-app payments.
Google and Apple levy a 15-30% fee from developers on in-app purchases and paid app sales.
Developers on the Indus Appstore will also be able to integrate their preferred payment gateways into their applications.
“India is poised to have over 1 billion smartphone users by 2026, offering us a massive opportunity to build a new-age, localised Android app store. Despite being such a large consumer market, app developers have always been forced to work with only one app store — Google Play Store — for distributing their apps.
“Indus Appstore hopes to provide app developers a credible alternative to the Google Play Store — one that is more localised and offers better app discovery and consumer engagement. We are excited to open up the Indus Appstore Developer Platform today (Saturday), and invite all developers to list their app on the Made-in-India app store,” said Akash Dongre, chief product officer and co-founder of Indus Appstore.
The app store will feature a dedicated section called “Launch Pad” for start-ups and new app launches; while developers will also receive a suite of tools and features aimed at addressing the common challenges faced by Android developers, it said in a press release.
Developers will be able to carry out cohort-based targeted launches to roll-out new app versions to specific user groups, while also tracking performance of new launches using AI-based analytics.
Users will be able to login to the platform with their mobile number, instead of the traditionally seen email-based login on other app stores. This, the company says, will help in acquiring customers who do not have an email account. Indus Appstore will also feature an India-based support team accessible via email, chatbot and dedicated account managers for query resolution.
PhonePe had, in July 2022, acquired IndusOS, a mobile platform that has built an Android-based app store termed Indus App Bazaar for an undisclosed amount, after an out-of-court settlement with Affle India.
