List of mobile app distribution platforms explained

This list of mobile app distribution platforms includes digital distribution platforms, or marketplace 'app stores', intended to provide mobile applications, aka 'apps' to mobile devices. For information on each mobile platform and its market share, see the mobile operating system and smartphone articles. A comparison of the development capabilities of each mobile platform can be found in the article on mobile app development. For cross-platform development, see the mobile development framework. The mobile app article contains other general information.

Mobile app platforms

Native platforms

These application marketplaces, or 'm' are native to the major mobile operating systems. Anyway, the relative store APK can often be installed in other compatible systems without rooting a device, as it happens for Huawei AppGallery and stock Android.

There are native mobile app distribution platforms currently on this list.

app store name	date established	status	owner	available apps	download count	installed base	device platform	allows individual developers to publish	cut for developer per sale	developer fees (per year)	development tools (SDK)	free of charge IDE?
Amazon Appstore for Android			Amazon.com, Inc.	(Q2 2020) [1]			Android OS (customised), Android, BlackBerry 10			free [2] (previously: US$90 (waive fee for 1st year, plus $50 AWS promo code))	Amazon Mobile App SDK [3]	yes
Apple App Store (iOS / iPadOS)			Apple Inc.	(Jan 2017) [4] (1M iPad apps) (Mar 2016) [5]	(Jun 2016) [6]	(Jun 2014) [7]	iOS[8] iPadOS		[9] originally 56–70% (varies depending on the country) [10]	[11]	iOS SDK, Xcode	yes [12] (Xcode 6 is free on Mac App Store and Apple Developer)
BlackBerry World		[13] [14]	BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion)	(26 Oct 2013) BlackBerry OS, PlayBook, and BlackBerry 10 apps [15]	(May 2012) [16]	(Jan 2012) [17]	BlackBerry OS, BlackBerry Tablet OS, BlackBerry 10 OS[18]		[19]	[20]	BlackBerry 10 native SDK (with full POSIX and Qt support), HTML5 Qt4 SDK, Android (via BlackBerry Android Tools SDK), Adobe AIR SDK, BlackBerry OS SDK	yes
	20 Sep 2003[21]	[22]	Danger, Inc. / Microsoft				Danger OS				Danger OS SDK[23]	yes
Firefox Marketplace		[24]	Mozilla Foundation	(Mar 2014) [25]			Firefox OS		[26]			yes
Google Play (formerly Android Market)			Google, LLC	(Dec 2017) [27] [28]	(Jul 2013) [29]	over (May 2017) [30]	Android [31]			One-time registration fee: [32]	Android SDK, Android Studio	yes
HP App Catalog			Palm, Inc. / Hewlett- Packard	(Dec 2011) [33]	(Aug 2011) [34]	(Jul 2010) [35]	webOS[36]		[37]		Enyo	yes
Huawei AppGallery	[38]		Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.	220,000 (Nov 2022) [39] [40]	432 billion (Q4 2022)[41]	(Jul 2020) [42]	Android, Huawei EMUI,HarmonyOS		for first 2 years, then 70%		Android SDK, HMS Core, HMS ToolkitHarmonyOS SDK,DevEco Studio	yes (Huawei Quick App IDE and DevEco Studio) [43]
Microsoft Store (formerly Windows Store)			Microsoft Corp.	(Sep 2015)		Windows PC devices (Nov 2015) [44] smartphones (Sep 2015) [45] [46] [47] [48]	Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows 10 Mobile, Windows Phone	, with restriction	- raised to 80% if developer sales exceeds US$25,000 in a year	One registration fee for both Windows Phone Store and Windows Store.	Visual Studio 2013 or higher for Windows 8.1. Visual Studio 2015 or higher for Universal Apps. Windows App Studio	yes
Nokia Download!		with the Ovi Store	Nokia Oyj				Symbian (S60), Series 40
Nokia Store (formerly Ovi Store)		, replaced with the Opera Mobile Store[49]	Nokia Oyj	(Aug 2012) [50]	/day (Oct 2012) ~ (Aug 2012) [51]	<	--The source cites "Ovum 2007" but I can't find the original source anywhere. It isn't clear if the 2.1 billion includes only Nokia devices and if not what other hardware is included in the number. Regardless, it needs a better source. I'm commenting this out until it is clearer.-->	multiple [52] Symbian, MeeGo, Maemo, S40, Nokia X software platform			[53]	Qt 4 SDK,[54] Nokia Web Tools,[55] Nokia SDK for Java, Java ME,[56] Nokia X services SDK[57]	yes
OpenStore for Ubuntu Touch	[58]		UBports (a democracy)	most Linux software applications will run on Ubuntu Touch			open-source mobile phones	(anything packaged in the Ubuntu package database should run)			Linux	yes
PureOS Software Center	?		Purism supported by The Debian Project (a democracy)	[59] most Linux software applications will run on PureOS			open-source mobile phones	(anything packaged in the Debian package database should run)			Linux	yes
Samsung Galaxy Store (formerly Samsung Galaxy Apps)			Samsung Electronics			over (Oct 2020) [60]	Android, Tizen, Windows Mobile, Bada
Snap Store	[61]		Canonical Limited				Linux distributions				Snapcraft
Ubuntu Software Centre aka Ubuntu App Store		, replaced by Snap Store	Canonical Limited	(Dec 2015, incl. web apps & scopes) [62]			Ubuntu Touch				Ubuntu SDK	yes
Windows Phone Store (formerly Windows Phone Marketplace)		, merged with the Windows Store[63]	Microsoft Corp.	(Mar 2015) [64]	(Mar 2015) (per device)	(Jun 2015) [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71]	Windows Phone[72]			[73] [74] One registration fee for both Windows Phone Store and Windows Store.	Windows Phone Developer Tools, includes specialty versions of Microsoft Visual Studio, Expression Blend	yes
	date established	status	owner	available apps	download count	installed base	device platform	allows individual developers to publish	cut for developer per sale	developer fees (per year)	development tools (SDK)	free of charge IDE?

Notes:

Third-party platforms

Third-party platforms are software distribution platforms which are used as alternatives to operating system native distribution platforms. Independent operating systems are software collections that use their own software distribution, customised user interface (UI), software development kit (SDK) and application programming interface (API) (except billing API which is related only to the application store).

There are third-party mobile app distribution platforms currently on this list.

app store platform name	date established	status	owner	available apps	download count	install base	device platform	cut for developer per sale	developer fees (per year)	developer console	development platform(s) (SDK)
Appcircle App Distribution	2021		Appcircle Inc				Android and iOS
Appland			Appland	[75]	(Mar 2016)	(Mar 2016)	Android and iOS
Applivery App Distribution			Applivery Mobility Management[76]	(Dec 2020) [77]			Android and iOS				Android SDK, iOS SDK
Aptoide			Aptoide	(Oct 2020)	(Oct 2020)	(Oct 2020)	Android and iOS				Android SDK, Java ME
Cafe Bazaar			Hezardastan Technologies	(May 2019) [78]		(May 2019)	Android
Cydia			saurik				iOS				iOS SDK, Xcode
F-Droid			F-Droid Limited	[79]	(Mar 2015) [80]		Android				Android SDK
GetJar			GetJar, Accel Partners	(Mar 2015) [81]	(Mar 2015) [82]	users	multiple [83] Android, BlackBerry OS, Flash Lite, Java, iOS, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows Phone
Handango			PocketGear	(MMM 20YY) [84]			multiple [85] Android, BlackBerry OS, Palm OS, PSP, Symbian, Windows Mobile
Handmark			Handmark				multiple [86] Android, BlackBerry OS, iOS, Java, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows Mobile
MiKandi			MiKandi			(Dec 2009) [87]	Android [88]
Opera Mobile Store			Opera Software	(Nov 2014) [89]	per month (Dec 2012) [90]		multiple [91] Android, Java, Symbian, BlackBerry OS, Windows Mobile, iOS	Android, Symbian, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile; 50%: Java [92]			Android SDK, Java ME, S60, BlackBerry SDK, Windows Phone Developer Tools
Pocket Gear			PocketGear	(Jun 2010) [93]			multiple Android, BlackBerry OS, Java, Palm OS, Symbian, Windows Mobile
Rootpk			Rootpk	(Sep 2022)			Android
				(Oct 2022)			Android
Updraft App Distribution	2014	live	Apps with love AG / Moqod BV.	unknown	350,000+ in 2022[94]	15,000 Users in 2022	Android and iOS	0	free	Yes	iOS SDK, Android SDK
Uptodown App Store			Uptodown Technologies	(Mar 2021) [95]	per month (Nov 2021) [96]		Android
!date established	status	owner	available apps	download count	install base	device platform	cut for developer per sale	developer fees (per year)	developer console	development platform(s) (SDK)

See also

• Cloud gaming
• Mobile application management
• Mobile content management system
• Mobile device management
• List of Mobile Device Management software
• Mobile security
• Over-the-air update
• Synaptic (software)

References

Device platform references

Notes and References

1. Web site: Number of available apps in the Amazon Appstore from 1st quarter 2015 to 2nd quarter 2020. www.Statista.com. Statista GmbH. 21 October 2020.
2. Web site: Developer Account Cost - Amazon Developer forums. Forums.Developer.Amazon.com. Amazon. 22 August 2013. 28 January 2021.
3. Web site: Amazon Mobile App SDK. Developer.Amazon.com. Amazon.
4. Web site: Broussard. Mitchel. 5 January 2017. App Store sets new records with $240M in sales on New Year's Day, $20B paid to developers in 2016. www.MacRumors.com. MacRumors. 26 October 2020.
5. Web site: Kastrenakes. Jacob. 21 March 2016. There are now 1 million iPad apps. www.TheVerge.com. The Verge – Vox Media. 26 October 2020.
6. Web site: Golson. Jordan. 13 June 2016. Apple's App Store now has over 2 million apps. www.TheVerge.com. The Verge – Vox Media. 26 October 2020.
7. Web site: Ingraham. Nathan. 2 June 2014. Apple has sold more than 800 million iOS devices, 130 million new iOS users in the last year. www.TheVerge.com. The Verge – Vox Media. 26 October 2020.
8. Web site: Apple Developer. Developer.Apple.com. Apple Inc.. 26 October 2020.
9. Web site: App Store pricing matrix for digital publishers - Apple system of price tiers. www.PressPadApp.com. PressPadApp. 2015. 26 October 2020.
10. Web site: App Store pricing matrix. blog.PressPadApp.com. PressPadApp. September 2012. 24 July 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130816190817/http://blog.Presspadapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/App-Store-Pricing-Matrix.html. 16 August 2013.
11. Web site: How it works - Apple Developer Program. Developer.Apple.com. Apple Inc.. 26 October 2020.
12. Web site: What's included - Apple Developer Program. Developer.Apple.com. Apple Developer. 26 October 2020.
13. Web site: BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS Services FAQ — End of Life. BlackBerry.com. BlackBerry. 4 Jan 2022. 6 May 2023.
14. Web site: End of a smartphone era as BlackBerry phones reach the end of the line. ZDNet.com. ZDNet. 4 Jan 2022. 6 May 2023.
15. Web site: The App World analytics website. www.AppWorldReport.com. App World. 24 November 2013. 23 November 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131123022818/http://www.appworldreport.com/. dead.
16. Web site: Three billion and counting. DevBlog.BlackBerry.com. BlackBerry Developer Blog. July 2012. 7 November 2012.
17. Web site: Motorola il iDEN. RIM Q1 2010 results - 100 millionth BlackBerry served. IntoMobile.com. 25 June 2010. 6 December 2011.
18. Web site: BlackBerry App World vendor support. Na.BlackBerry.com. BlackBerry. 6 December 2011.
19. Web site: Duryee. Tricia. BlackBerry takes larger cut of developer revenues in updated App World. mocoNews.net. mocoNews. 19 August 2010. 6 December 2011.
20. Web site: BlackBerry App World FAQ. Na.BlackBerry.com. Research In Motion. 14 July 2009. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130729150323/http://developer.blackberry.com/devzone/blackberryworld/faq/. 29 July 2013.
21. Web site: September 20, 2003 . T-Mobile Sidekick Update Notes . https://web.archive.org/web/20030920045412/http://www.t-mobile.com:80/help/products/sidekick_updates.asp . September 20, 2003 . September 26, 2022.
22. Web site: Downloadable content goes away March 2nd - Sidekick 4G / Sidekick LX 2009 / Sidekick 2008 / Sidekick 3 / Hiptop 3. Hiptop3.com. 1 March 2011. 6 December 2011.
23. Web site: Danger Developer. Developer.Danger.com. 27 February 2009. 6 December 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20090227045114/http://Developer.Danger.com/. 27 February 2009.
24. Web site: Marketplace - MozillaWiki. wiki.Mozilla.org. Mozilla. 30 March 2018. 12 December 2018.
25. Web site: Search results – Firefox Marketplace. Marketplace.Firefox.com. Firefox Marketplace. 11 March 2015.
26. Web site: Firefox Marketplace FAQ - what is the developer's revenue share. Developer.Mozilla.org. Mozilla Developer Network. 12 December 2018.
27. Web site: Number of Google Play Store apps 2017. www.Statista.com. Statista GmbH. 3 January 2018.
28. Web site: Number of Android applications. AppBrain. www.AppBrain.com. 22 July 2016. 22 July 2016.
29. Web site: Google Play passes 50 billion app downloads. Mashable.com. Mashable. 18 July 2013. 24 November 2013.
30. Web site: There are now 2 billion Android monthly active devices around the world. www.YouTube.com. The official YouTube Channel of Android. 17 May 2017. 17 May 2017.
31. Web site: Android Developers. Developer.Android.com. Android Developers. 6 December 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111206160159/http://developer.android.com/index.html. 6 December 2011. dead.
32. Web site: Developer registration. Android Developer Help. Support.google.com. 24 November 2013.
33. Web site: App stores: Palm App catalog. www.Distimo.com. 24 June 2011.
34. Web site: Official app catalog app gallery. www.Precentral.net. 22 January 2011.
35. Web site: comScore reports July 2010 U.S. mobile subscriber market share. www.comScore.com. comScore. 15 September 2010.
36. Web site: Palm developer network. Developer.Palm.com. Palm, Inc.. 29 August 2011. 6 December 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111215185031/https://developer.palm.com/. 15 December 2011.
37. Web site: Developing and distributing with Palm: developer program details. Developer.Palm.com. Palm, Inc.. 4 June 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101201180033/http://developer.palm.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1840&Itemid=34. 1 December 2010. dead.
38. Web site: AppGallery is Huawei's alternative to Google's Play Store on Android. www.XDA-Developers.com. XDA Developers. 22 September 2019. 13 January 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20190922211007/https://www.XDA-Developers.com/appgallery-huawei-alternative-google-play-store-android/. 22 September 2019. live.
39. Web site: The best announcements from Huawei Developer Conference 2020. www.XDA-Developers.com. XDA Developers. 13 September 2020. 25 October 2020.
40. Web site: How Huawei AppGallery is welcoming more big name global and local apps. www.Pocket-lint.com. Pocket-lint Limited. 10 September 2020. 25 October 2020.
41. Web site: Astle . Aaron . Huawei AppGallery surpasses 220,000 HMS apps and 580 million user milestones . Pocketgamer.biz . 10 November 2022 . 19 September 2023.
42. Web site: Grabham. Dan. 24 July 2020. What apps can you actually get on Huawei's App Gallery?. www.Pocket-lint.com. Pocket-lint Limited. 25 October 2020.
43. Web site: Quick App - Obtaining the Development Tool. Developer.Huawei.com. Huawei Developer. 25 October 2020.
44. 23.03% of 1.775 billion PC installed base is about 410 million. (1.7 billion PC installed base in August is calculated as: Windows 10 is on more than 75M devices on 26 Aug (after 28 days) http://Blogs.Windows.com/bloggingwindows/2015/08/26/windows-10-now-on-75-million-devices/ By linear approx. is 88M Windows 10 devices on 31 Aug (after 33 days). Base on estimation 5.21% of Windows 10 devices on 31 Aug by http://www.NetMarketShare.com/, its mean about 1.7 billion PC devices on market. This also corresponds to https://www.Gartner.com/doc/1602818/forecast-pc-installed-base-worldwide and http://www.Gartner.com/newsroom/id/2791017 and also corresponds with 1.65 billion two months back (with 25M monthly increment) (http://Money.CNN.com/2015/06/24/technology/windows-microsoft-sales/).On 30 Nov, is reported 23.03% share of Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 by http://www.NetMarketShare.com/.)
45. Web site: Windows Phone device stats for January 2013. blog.AdDuplex.com. AdDuplex blog. 8 January 2013.
46. Web site: Gartner says emerging markets drove worldwide smartphone sales to 19 percent growth in first quarter of 2015. Gartner.com.
47. Web site: Gartner says worldwide smartphone sales recorded slowest growth rate since 2013. Gartner.com.
48. Web site: Gartner says emerging markets drove worldwide smartphone sales to 15.5 percent growth in third quarter of 2015. Gartner.com.
49. Microsoft and Opera Software sign agreement to extend Opera Mobile Store to more Nokia phones. 18 November 2014. Opera Software ASA. Opera press releases. 26 March 2015.
50. Web site: Nokia Developer - global reach statistics. Developer.Nokia.com. Nokia Developers. 22 August 2012. 23 August 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120810110440/http://www.developer.nokia.com/Distribute/Statistics.xhtml. 10 August 2012.
51. Web site: Nokia store passes 11 million downloads a day. www.AllAboutSymbian.com. All About Symbian. 10 January 2012. 10 January 2012.
52. Web site: Nokia Developer - your idea, our tools. Developer.Nokia.com. Nokia. 22 February 1999. 24 November 2013.
53. Web site: Nokia Developer - publishing your app. Publish.Ovi.com. Ovi. 24 November 2013. 12 March 2009. http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20090312055141/https://Publish.ovi.com/. dead.
54. Web site: Nokia Developer - Qt. Developer.Nokia.com. Nokia Developer. 24 November 2013. 27 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110627115830/http://www.developer.nokia.com/Develop/Qt/. dead.
55. Web site: Nokia Developer - Nokia Web Tools. Developer.Nokia.com. Nokia Developer. 24 November 2013. 22 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110622232437/http://www.developer.nokia.com/Develop/Web/Tools/Nokia_Web_Tools/. dead.
56. Web site: Nokia Developer - Tools centre. Developer.Nokia.com. Nokia Developer. 24 November 2013. 22 June 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110622053819/http://www.developer.nokia.com/Resources/Tools_and_downloads/. dead.
57. Web site: Nokia X Platform overview. Microsoft. Developer.Nokia.com. Nokia Developer.
58. Web site: Landing team 16.09.14 : mailing list archive : ubuntu-phone team in Launchpad. lists.Launchpad.net. Launchpad. 23 December 2014.
59. Web site: ⚡ PureOS frequently asked questions (FAQ). Tracker.PureOS.net. PureOS.
60. Web site: Samsung Push Service - android market data, growth & stats. AndroidRank.org. AndroidRank. 16 October 2020. 22 October 2020.
61. Web site: Shuttleworth. Mark. 9 December 2014. Announcing Ubuntu Core, with snappy transactional updates!. MarkShuttleworth.com. Mark Shuttleworth. 22 October 2020.
62. Web site: uApp Explorer. uAppExplorer.com. uAppExplorer. 23 December 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20190518183355/https://uappexplorer.com/. 18 May 2019. dead.
63. Web site: (Update: it's not the new unified Windows Store) Microsoft's universal app store for Windows 10 goes live on the web. MSPowerUser. 16 July 2015. MSPowerUser.com.
64. Web site: Microsoft reports 50% active Windows Phone user growth over the last year, 400,000 apps in the store. MSPowerUser. 25 March 2015. WMpoweruser.com.
65. Web site: Gartner says worldwide mobile phone sales declined 1.7 percent in 2012. Gartner.com. 13 February 2013. 24 November 2013.
66. Web site: Gartner says smartphone sales surpassed one billion units in 2014. Gartner.com. Gartner.
67. Web site: Microsoft has now sold over 100 million Windows Phones. MSPowerUser. 21 July 2015. WMPowerUser.com.
68. Web site: Gartner says annual smartphone sales surpassed sales of feature phones for the first time in 2013. Gartner.com. Gartner.
69. Web site: Gartner says Asia/Pacific led worldwide mobile phone sales to growth in first quarter of 2013. Gartner.com. Gartner.
70. Web site: Gartner says smartphone sales grew 46.5 percent in second quarter of 2013 and exceeded feature phone sales for first time. Gartner.com. Gartner.
71. Web site: Gartner says smartphone sales accounted for 55 percent of overall mobile phone sales in third quarter of 2013. Gartner.com. Gartner.
72. Web site: Windows Phone 7. create.MSDN.com. Microsoft Developer Network. 10 November 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101110151757/http://create.msdn.com/en-US. dead.
73. Web site: Registration info. Microsoft Developer Network. Microsoft.com.
74. Web site: Unifying developer registration: Windows and Windows Phone. blogs.Windows.com. Building Apps for Windows.
75. Web site: Appland web page. www.ApplandInc.com. Appland, Inc.. 29 March 2016.
76. Web site: About us | Applivery Mobility Management. 25 November 2021.
77. Web site: About us | Applivery Mobility Management. 25 November 2021.
78. Web site: Ahmadi. Alireza. 10 April 2019. Factsheet: Cafe Bazaar - Cafe Bazaar. Medium.com. 17 July 2019.
79. F-Droid Client --> Settings --> Repositories --> F-Droid --> Number of apps — 13 Dec 2022
80. Web site: Downloads data. Gitorious.org. Gitorious. https://archive.today/20140130182159/https://Gitorious.org/f-droid/fdroiddata/source/master:stats/total_downloads_app.txt. 30 January 2014. 11 March 2015.
81. Web site: GetJar - mobile - the worlds biggest open app store. www.GetJar.com. GetJar. 13 March 2015.
82. Web site: Company - GetJar Developers. Developer.GetJar.com. GetJar. 13 March 2015.
83. Web site: GetJar - mobile - the worlds biggest open app store. My.GetJar.com. GetJar.
84. Web site: Handango overview. Assets.Handango.com. Handango. 23 May 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724000147/http://assets.handango.com/marketing/collateral/HandangoOverview.pdf. 24 July 2011. dead.
85. Web site: Handango's partners. www.Handango.com. Handango.
86. Web site: Handmark - OneLouder Apps. Handmark.com.
87. Web site: Android adult-only app store MiKandi launches on a natural high. Jordan, Jon. 9 December 2009. Pocket Gamer. 7 April 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20101005031132/http://www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/MiKandi/news.asp?c=17206MiKandi. 5 October 2010.
88. Web site: Matyszczyk, Chris. 29 November 2009. Droid does, iPhone doesn't: The porn app store. News.CNET.com. CNET. 7 April 2010.
89. Microsoft and Opera Software sign agreement to extend Opera Mobile Store to more Nokia phones. 18 November 2014. Opera Software ASA. Opera Press Releases. 20 November 2014.
90. A new and improved Opera Mobile Store. 27 February 2012. Opera Software ASA. Opera Press Releases. 12 December 2012.
91. Web site: Opera Publisher Portal. Publishers.MobileStore.Opera.com. Opera Software ASA.
92. Web site: Software Distribution Agreement. Apps.Opera.com. Opera Software. 29 November 2012.
93. Web site: PocketGear – about. Corp.PocketGear.com. PocketGear. 9 June 2010. https://archive.today/20100220000821/http://Corp.PocketGear.com/about.html. 20 February 2010. dead.
94. Web site: 2023 . March 21, 2023 . Updraft App Distribution Blog .
95. A pandemic year in apps, according to Uptodown study. Business Insider. 25 Nov 2021.
96. Web site: We are Uptodown. March 2021. Uptodown. About page. 25 November 2021.