Walmart-owned PhonePe on September 23 revealed the Indus Appstore, an alternative to the Google Play Store for Android users in India. The company has invited app developers to submit their apps to the soon-to-be-launched app store. Indus Appstore will not charge developers any commission for in-app payments and developers will be free to integrate any payment gateway in their apps, the company said. This is in sharp contrast to Google's model, which charges developers 6 to 30 percent of all in-app purchases and requires Google's billing system to be mandatorily included along with any third-party payment gateway. Indus Appstore will instead charge developers an annual fee, which is waived for the first year. "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 with a credible alternative to the Google Play Store – one that is more localized and offers better app discovery and consumer engagement." — Akash Dongre, CPO & Co-Founder, Indus Appstore This is not the first rodeo for Indus in the app store market. Founded in 2013, Indus OS built a version of Android tailored to the local language needs of Indian smartphone users. This OS shipped on devices made by Indian manufacturers like Micromax, Celkon, Karbonn, Swipe, and Intex. However, the company soon pivoted and focused its efforts on Indus App Bazaar, an Android app marketplace tailored for the subcontinent. Notably,…
