After introducing the ‘Made in India’ Indus Appstore last year, PhonePe has now opened the app store to the general audience. The Indus Appstore is now available to download for all users. The app is part of the ‘Made in India’ initiative, and aims to compete with the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, which currently dominate the app market.
The app was launched in New Delhi. The launch event was also attended by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of MeitY and Railways.
📲 Shri @AshwiniVaishnaw, Minister of @GoI_MeitY, @RailMinIndia and Communications launches Indus Appstore – India ka Appstore!
➡️ https://t.co/yOyrAm4q4W#DigitalIndia #MadeInIndia @IndusAppstore pic.twitter.com/hwzLvNE3U7
— Digital India (@_DigitalIndia) February 21, 2024
Indus Appstore: Features
The Indus Appstore’s main highlight is the fact that it won’t charge any fee for in-app purchases, which has been one of the pain points for developers when it comes to Google and Apple. Both Apple and Google charge up to 30% fee for purchases, which is a lot. The developer fee that Google and Apple charge is also under scrutiny in various countries, but for now developers can’t escape this, at least in India. India’s Indus Appstore wants to give developers some relaxation on this front.
The ‘Made in India’ app store is available in 12 Indian languages and even English, which will make it easier to navigate. Plus, the app store will support AI-based personalisation so that you get the right app recommendations.
The app store segregates the unused and the most used apps for enhanced storage management. Timely app updates are also assured.
Another interesting part is that you can search for apps and games via videos, which will make it easier to decide the app you want. The login part will also be easy. Users will have to enter the mobile number, enter the OTP, and voila! the login is done!
The app can downloaded via indusappstore.com and is currently available for Android users. iOS availability is unlikely considering Apple does not allow third-party apps and app stores.
As for the developers, there are more perks. Primarily, there won’t be any fee for makers to list their apps for the first year, following which this should be minimal. Plus, PhonePe will let developers have their payment method for in-app purchases. This is another reason why developers would be inclined towards Indus Appstore.
This is not the only Google and Apple competitor. Paytm has introduced its mini app store in the past and so has Xiaomi, Samsung, and more OEMs. Plus, there have been rivals like APKMirror, Aptoide, and more. Hence, it will be interesting to see how well Indus Appstore is received by people.
India Also Has BharOS to Rival Android and iOS
India has also been promoting its ‘Made in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives through the homegrown OS. We have also seen the introduction of BharOS to take on Android and iOS.
This has been developed by IIT Madras-incubated company JandK Operations (JandKops) and is focused on privacy and security. The OS doesn’t come with any default apps and supports over-the-air (OTA) updates. People will get apps only via organization-specific Private App Store Services (PASS) on BharOS.
