PhonePe's Homegrown Indus Appstore To Rival Google Play Store Is Here

The Indus Appstore will offer support for English and 12 Indian regional languages, enabling users to navigate the app store in their preferred language.

PhonePe, backed by Walmart, has launched the Indus Appstore, a homegrown Android app store.

Source : PhonePe

PhonePe, backed by Walmart, on Wednesday (February 21) launched the Indus Appstore, a homegrown Android app store which is said to rival Google Play Store in the Indian market. This launch follows approximately four months after the digital payments company expanded its app marketplace to Android developers, encouraging them to publish their apps on the platform.

The Indus Appstore will offer support for English and 12 Indian regional languages, enabling users to navigate the app store in their preferred language.

Through the Indus Appstore, the Walmart-backed firm aims to leverage India's thriving app economy. According to data from app intelligence firm data.ai, Indians spent approximately 1.19 trillion hours on mobile apps in 2023, which is a significant increase from 954 billion hours in 2021.

The launch also comes at a time when there is a continuing standoff between Google and some of India's premier start-ups and internet firms regarding the Play Store's policies and commission fees.

Indus Appstore allows Indian consumers to download over 2 lakh mobile apps and games, across 45 categories. Users will be able to discover these apps conveniently in 12 Indian languages, thereby catering to 95 per cent of Indians’ language preferences. The app store also offers a brand new short-video based discovery feature, to make new app discovery more engaging for consumers," the company said in a statement.

Moreover, India holds the distinction of being the world's largest market in terms of app downloads.

“Indus Appstore challenges the status quo, ushering in an era of more healthy competition in the mobile app marketplace, which in turn should help create a more democratic and vibrant Indian digital ecosystem. Indus Appstore embodies our commitment to building a truly inclusive digital ecosystem where every Indian user feels at home," said Sameer Nigam, CEO and founder of PhonePe.

Contrary to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store, this app marketplace is said to waive fees on in-app purchases, presenting a fee-free model.

I