PhonePe, the Bengaluru-based digital payments company, has launched “Indus Appstore” in a bid to challenge Google’s monopoly.
The Indus Appstore Developer Platform offers its customers many benefits, including zero platform fees and no commission in any in-app purchases. It additionally supports many features that are important to the local market such as 12 Indian languages, third-party payment providers and a phone number-based login system. All of these will ensure that users will have a easier, quicker and more efficient experience.
These benefits extend to developers as well. The ‘Indus Appstore’ supports a targeted release management feature, which, simply put, allows developers to roll out app updates to their relevant groups of users. Developers will also be able to monitor app vitals during app version launches with the help of AI-powered tools.
Akash Dongre, CPO & Co-Founder, Indus Appstore, spoke of the new launch, stating: “India is poised to have over 1 billion smartphone users by 2026 offering us a massive opportunity to build a new-age, localized Android app store. Despite being such a large consumer market, app developers have always been forced to work with only one app store – Google Playstore – for distributing their apps. Indus Appstore hopes to provide app developers a credible alternative to the Google Playstore – one that is more localized and offers better app discovery and consumer engagement. We are excited to open up the Indus Appstore Developer Platform today, and invite all developers to list their app on the Made-in-India app store.”
PhonePe’s launch has certainly come at a time where Google’s policies have faced criticism from many Indian startups and businesses, particularly with regards to its 15-30% commission on in-app purchases. By unveiling ‘Indus Appstore’, PhonePe simultaneously attempts to challenge Google’s dominance in the smartphone market and attempts to provide helpful alternatives for its enthusiastic users.
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