PhonePe launches IndusApp store – India’s alternative to Google Play Store – Technology News

In what could challenge the monopoly of Google Play Store in the android market, Walmart-owned PhonePe on Wednesday launched ‘made-in-india’ IndusApp store for android devices.

The IndusApp store will not charge any commission on in-app purchases compared to the 15-30% fee levied by Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Among other key features, the made-in-India app store will allow developers to list their apps in 12 Indian languages apart from English, it supports third-party payment methods, and also allows developers to upload media and videos to their app listings in these languages. Other localised features offered by IndusApp store includes app discovery via short videos, and the easy login with mobile number instead of email address, and a 24×7 support for developers.

The launch of the IndusApp store is crucial in the sense that both Google and Apple have been facing backlash from startups and app developers on its unfair app store policies and higher commission rates. However, it would take some time for the PhonePe-owned app marketplace to occupy a meaningful market share among both developers and consumers.

The IndusApp store app is currently available on its website, which consumers can download and manually install the app on their smartphones. The company is yet to close partnerships with phone makers to pre-install the app store in the phones for easy reach. The app store today features over 200,000 apps including Flipkart, Spotify, and Paytm across 45 categories.

“Indus Appstore challenges the status quo, ushering in an era of more healthy competition in the mobile app marketplace,” said Sameer Nigam, co-founder and chief executive officer of PhonePe.

“We will offer an alternative with different set of features and capabilities. Some will like us, some will like others. We are looking for a chance to compete on merit,” Nigam said, adding that the features and offerings might also compel Google to change and innovate on its play store offerings.

Unlike commission from developers, PhonePe looks to monetise Indus Appstore by charging developers for app discovery and by showing ads. Besides, the developers will also offer transparency to developers on why their apps have been taken down and not accepted. According to the IndusApp store website, the app marketers can get boosted visibility on search, and also promote their apps on dedicated video slots, besides running custom targeted ad campaigns.

“Initially, we are looking to get as many people as we can and then we will apply filters. Furious apps will be removed as we keep checking and tightening those checks and second is any app, which the government tells us is illegal will be removed,” Nigam added.

Industry and startups have welcomed the launch of IndusApp stores largely on the grounds that they have to incur lots of costs on Google Play Store and their policies are also not transparent.

“This app store was much needed as you are currently incurring 40% of the marketing spends pretty much on the Google app store,”  said Murugavel Janakiraman, founder and CEO of Matrimony.

“We all know what is happening on the forced tax, making companies pay 15-30% of the revenue by using Google billing system or other platforms,” he added.

According to Janakiraman, any such forced tax adds to the cost and would not be good for developers who can invest that money in growth.

“Dream 11 wasn’t allowed on Google Play Store for 15 years. So, we’re really happy to have another store,” said Harsh Jain, CEO of Dream 11.

Though it’s going to be really hard, I think it comes down to value. If you create enough value for consumers, with some of the features like multilingual content, more video, etc, they will want to try it out,” Jain added.

In July 2022, PhonePe acquired IndusOS, an android content and app discovery platform, which is now launched as IndusApp Store.