Aptoide

Aptoide
Developer Aptoide
Written in Java
OS family Android Marketplace (Google Play, Amazon Underground Android Appstore)
Working state Current
Source model Open-source software
Initial release November 17, 2009 (2009-11-17)
Marketing target Smartphones
Tablet computers
Available in Multi-lingual
Platforms ARM, Android-x86
License GNU General Public License 2.0
Official website www.aptoide.com

Aptoide is a distributed marketplace for mobile applications which runs on the Android operating system.[1] In Aptoide, unlike the default Google Play Store, there is not a unique and centralized store but each user manages their own store.

Currently, there are several versions of the Aptoide app: aptoide for smartphones and tablets, Aptoide TV - an edition for smart TVs and STBs, and Aptoide Kids - developed for children devices. Recently, Aptoide launched a VR App Store.

Aptoide also provides B2B solutions, allowing its partners to manage their own app store in an autonomous and customized way.

The Android application used to access the stores is open source,[2] and there are several forks such as F-Droid[3] The communication between the client and servers is done using an open protocol based on XML.

The concept is inspired by the APT packaging manager, which can work with multiple sources (repositories). When the user wants a package, they use the client to search for sources where the application is stored.

The name Aptoide is formed from the words "APT" (the Debian package manager) and "oide" (the last syllable of "Android").

The Aptoide platform is available in over 40 languages, having reached more than 97 million users in 2015 and 2.8 billion downloads. In the various stores it is possible to find over 700.000 Android apps.

History

Aptoide started as a proposal of Paulo Trezentos at the 2009 Caixa Mágica Summer Camp.[4] The proposal was accepted and later became what today is Aptoide. This first stage of development was later developed in the scope of SAPO Summerbits.[5]

The idea behind Aptoide came from different sources. On one hand, the research in Linux installers in Mancoosi European Project,[6] Paulo Trezentos PhD project and Portugal Telecom A5 phone, project where the team participated.

In the end of 2010, it was launched in the Bazaar Android site. Bazaar Android provided the possibility for the users to create their own store. In August 2012, Aptoide and Bazaar Android brands were merged to allow a better communication.[7]

In November 2011, Aptoide was incorporated[8] in Europe.

In 2013, Aptoide received a total of 750.000 euros in seed funding from Portugal Ventures.

In 2015, the company secured a Series A financing round of 3,7 million euros (4 million dollars), lead by german venture capital firm e.ventures with co-investment from Gobi Partners (China) and Golden Gate Ventures (Singapore). The investment has slowed Aptoide to grow its team, currently having over 60 employees.[9]

In 2014, Aptoide filed an European Union Antitrust complaint against Google, claiming that Google creates obstacles for users to install third-party app stores, links essential services with Google Play (thus blocking, again, these third-party app stores), and blocks access to Aptoide websites in its Chrome Web browser. [10]

In May 2015, Aptoide announced that it would start its operations in Asia[11] by opening an office in Singapore.

Description

Screenshot of the application.

Android client

Aptoide client allows one to search, browse and install applications in the Android phone. Aptoide is available in 17 languages.[12]

To install Aptoide the user has to retrieve the APK (installable file) from the official site or other source in the Internet. The installation is not available through Google Play Store due to 4.5 Non-compete clause of Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement.[13] This is the same clause that blocks Amazon Appstore application to be available through Google Play. The installation of Aptoide requires users to allow the installation from "Unknown sources" in Android settings.[14]

After the installation of Aptoide, the user can add stores (repositories). Besides the default store (Apps), many other are available from different stores. When a store is added using the URL of the store, Aptoide retrieves the list of the applications and stores it locally. The user can then browse in the applications or search in the Internet for other stores.

In June 2011, it was released Aptoide Uploader as a "sister" application from the same development team. Aptoide Uploader is an Android app that allows users to upload to an existent Aptoide store.[15]

Aptoide uploader uses the available Aptoide Webservices[16] to upload the application. The submitted APK file is kept in the user's store where they can manage.

For the user that wants to backup their apps to a private store, it is advisable to use Aptoide Apps Backup that keeps a record of the apps that are backed up. All the applications in stores are managed using a backoffice in Aptoide site.

Aptoide Apps Backup uses the webservices to upload the APK file to the store. To know what applications are already backed up, Aptoide Apps Backup uses the info.xml XML file available in the store.

Interfaces

The communication between the Android client applications and the store is done using a XML file called info.xml. This file lists the applications in the store as well the basic information about each application available. Info.xml is open and a detailed definition is available.[17]

Part of info.xml[18] file:

<apklst><version>5</version>
<repository>
<basepath>http://mirror.apk10.aptoide.com/apks/10/aptoide-f63c6f2461f65f32b6d144d6d2ff982e/aptoidedev/</basepath>
<appscount>1</appscount>
... </repository>
<package>
<name>Aptoide</name>
...
</package>

There are other two XML files: extra.xml[19] and stats.xml.[20]

Extra.xml contains additional information about the apps such as the full description. The file "stats.xml" contains the downloads and likes of the available applications.

Usage

Aptoide usage was reported as follows:[21][22][23][24][25]

Aptoide version Date Registered users # Stores Different apps Cumulative downloads
V8 October 2016 NA 200,000 660,000 2.7 B
6.5.2 July 2015 100,000,000 140,000 330,000 1580 M
6.3.0 April 2015 136,000 311,000 1424 M
6.2.3 126,000 275,000 1276 M
5.0.0 20 March 2014
4.1.3 22 July 2013 1,300,000 350,000 120,000 380 M
4.0.0 4 December 2012 500,000 170,000 50,000 150 M
2.7.1 2 August 2012 200,000 88,000 65,000 60 M
2.7 19 June 2012 107,000 62,000 43,000 44 M
2.6.2 April 2012 82,000 51,000 34,000 32 M
2.6.1 2 March 2012 57,000 36,000 19,000 22.9 M
2.6 20 January 2012 42,000 27,100 16,000 17.4 M
2.5.4 22 December 2011 34,000 22,200 13,400 14 M
2.5.3 2 November 2011 21,000 13,300 9,400 9.1 M
2.5.2 22 September 2011 14,800 10,300 7,700 6.8 M
2.5.1 22 June 2011 6,800 3,500 4,000 2.1 M
2.5 3 June 2011 5,300 1,200 3,100 2 M
2.4.1 May 2011 3,700 1,600 2,000 1.5 M

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Alternative to Google Play Store". 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  2. ↑ "Aptoide Source Code Repository".
  3. ↑ "About F-Droid". 2011-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  4. ↑ "2009 Summer Internship - Aptoide" (in Portuguese). 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2012-10-30.
  5. ↑ "Projectos seleccionados para o programa SAPO Summerbits, 2 Edição, 2009" (in Portuguese). 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  6. ↑ Thomson, John; Trezentos, Paulo (2011-05-23). "D6.4 - Final packages of the Mancoosi tools for Mandriva Linux and Caixa Mágica" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  7. ↑ "BazaarAndroid is now Aptoide.com". 2012-07-27. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  8. ↑ "Crunchbase company page: Aptoide". 2012-11-23. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  9. ↑ Russell, Jon. "Aptoide Lands $4M To Grow Its Alternative Android App Store In Emerging Markets". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  10. ↑ Butcher, Mike. "Third Party Android App Store Files EU Antitrust Complaint". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  11. ↑ "Portuguese Google Play competitor Aptoide brings its branded app store concept to Southeast Asia". 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  12. ↑ "Aptoide Translators". 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  13. ↑ "Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement". 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  14. ↑ "Android Open Distribution". 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  15. ↑ "Aptoide Uploader is now available - Now you can upload your android applications to your own Bazaar repository.". 2011-06-17. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  16. ↑ "Aptoide Webservices description". 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  17. ↑ "Aptoide Client / Server Interfaces". 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  18. ↑ "Aptoidedev store info.xml". 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  19. ↑ "Aptoidedev store extras.xml". 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  20. ↑ "Aptoidedev store stats.xml". 2012-10-31. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  21. ↑ "Home Aptoide". Retrieved 2015-04-27.
  22. ↑ Jacinto,Roberto (2010-02-07). "apt-get for Android - with GUI". Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  23. ↑ "Codebits2011 - 2 perguntas a... Paulo Trezentos" (in Portuguese). 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  24. ↑ "Spin off da Caixa Mágica testa implementação de Aptoide a partir de Silicon Valley" (in Portuguese). 2011-09-29. Retrieved 2012-10-31.
  25. ↑ "Silicon Valley @ Codebits" (in Portuguese). 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2012-10-31.

External links

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