Paytm is making noise in the industry with the introduction of its Mini App Store to rival Google and Apple’s Duopoly, it might not be the first one to have tried so. Long back, an Indian company, Indus, launched an alternative of Google Play Store without creating a ruckus. It focussed on localization, simplicity, personalization and performance optimization to enhance user experience.
Indus App Bazaar
Back in 2015, an operating system named Indus OS was set up with an aim to break the monopoly of Google. Indus partnered with Micromax to launch its own OS but 3 years later, in 2018, the company shifted its focus to be an App Store, which is today known as Indus App Bazaar.
Even though the app store isn’t currently available for everyone to download through the web (which the company claims is coming soon), Rakesh Deshmukh, co-founder and Chief Executive of Indus OS claims that the Indus App Bazaar is India’s largest indigenous and independent app store, with about 4,00,000 apps catering to 60+ million users, available in 12 Indian languages such as Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Odia, Assamese, Punjabi, Kannada, Gujarati, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi and English.
Indus has existing partnerships with brands like Samsung, Karbonn, Micromax and lava. As a matter of fact, most of the entry-level smartphones from Karbonn come preloaded with Indus App Bazaar. In the past, Indus had also partnered with Intex, Celkon and Swipe.
Indus App Bazaar vs Paytm mini app store
Indus App Bazaar store never made it to the big league in spite of having a great idea. But if we compare it with Paytm’s store there is no match as it has full-fledged apps and not a Progressive Web Apps which power the mini-app store by Paytm.
Indus App Bazaar has apps from top publishers like Facebook, Facebook Lite, Swiggy, Myntra, PhonePe, Zee5, Amazon Shopping, Instagram, Truecaller, Times Of India, WhatsApp, Gaana, Messenger, Skype, Affle, etc. These apps are not yet available on the Paytm Mini App Store, obviously, because the store doesn’t support native apps.
Read More: What are Progressive Web Apps which Paytm is pushing via Mini App Store?
Even though Indus App Bazaar is a developing product it can be called as a desi alternative of Google Play Store. On the other hand, Paytm’s Store can be called as an alternative to Phone Pe because both of them show web-pages that are designed to work like apps.
The Indus App Store is the first Indian app store to cross 100 million users milestone recently in September. The reasons that might have gone in its favour are no mandatory sign-in through email ID and availability of apps in multiple languages, coupled with AI-based personalisation to ensure a smooth app discovery experience.
How to publish apps on Indus App Bazaar?
For developers, the Indus App Bazaar has an easy self-publishing portal. The developers can simply create an account and upload their app/ other collaterals in easy steps. and get insights around app installs, uninstalls, retention rate, device distribution and API integration for easy updates. These features are available for all developers
Indus has gained a significant amount of experience in the app space by now and the only thing missing is an urge to make it big. On the other hand, Paytm is creating a lot of noise but it is still early days to predict what future holds for them.