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Walmart-backed PhonePe’s Indus Appstore has crossed 1 lakh downloads in three days of launch.
Akash Dongre, Chief Product Officer and Co-founder of Indus Appstore said, “Reaching over a lakh downloads in just three days confirms that India is ready for a homegrown app store that prioritises the needs of its diverse users and fosters a vibrant developer community.”
This is only the beginning, we’re committed to continuously evolving Indus Appstore to make it the go-to destination for apps in India, he added.
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The homegrown Android app store was launched on February 21 as a competitor to Google Play.
PhonePe said app developers, tech enthusiasts, and users have downloaded the app, with the initial response being positive.
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The Appstore offers a zero-commission model and supports 12 regional languages. It allows for Indian consumers to download over 2 lakh mobile apps and games, across 45 categories. It also comes with a smart optimiser for downloading updates based on how much of it the user has consumed.
Users will not be required to register through their email address, but rather use their phone number – a first for app stores, PhonePe Founder and CEO Sameer Nigam said. This allows for more personalisation, which is not possible in the case of shared email addresses because phone numbers are exclusive to one person.
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The Appstore was launched by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, with presence of leaders from Dream11, Hotstar, Hungama, Bharat Matrimony, DailyHunt, IXIGO and MapmyIndia.
Other features of the Indus Appstore for developers include a self-publishing platform, localisation, tools for monitoring and growing apps and round-the-clock customer
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support.
The app is currently side-loaded, implying that users will have to download it from the website and grant additional permissions.
The Appstore is available to all Android devices running Android OS 8 and above. PhonePe had said it aims to acquire customers on the Indus Appstore by driving people from the fintech platform to the app downloading platform.
