Google Play Store hosts its first third-party app store in the US

The Google Play Store is now carrying a third-party app store called Aptoide Games with free and paid titles. To browse the store, you need to open the Play Store app on your Android phone and tap the profile icon (the circle with your initials or an avatar) in the upper right corner of the screen. Scroll down the menu until you come across "Third-party app stores" and tap on it.

These are the apps available on the Aptoide Games third-party app store found in Google Play

You will see a list of third-party app stores, which currently consists of one entry for Aptoide Games. Tap to view it and you will see a button you need to press to install the third-party app store on the Google Play Store.

Screenshot from Aptoide Games Android third-party app store.

Third-party app stores now allowed in the Google Play Store. | Image by PhoneArena

Among the apps you can install from this third-party Android app store is:

Huawei Health-Tracks your health metrics, workouts, and calorie consumption on any phone running Android 6.0 or higher. You do not need to have a Huawei device to use it. The app can measure, record, and display your heart rate, weight, sleep quality and step count. You can also track your fitness journey and create videos of your outdoor fitness routine that you can share on social media.
Clash of Kings-A real-time strategy game that has you acting as a lord building a castle.
Vikings: War of Clans PvP-You're a Viking chieftain building a stronghold, training armies and engaging in PvP and PvE battles.
Legend of Mushroom-You play this RPG as a mushroom on a quest to become human.
LUDUS: Merge Arena PvP-Collect and upgrade over 100 unique heroes and fight in the arena.
Wartune Ultra-The mobile version of Wartune is a strategy-based role-playing game where you are a powerful Lord, building your city and joining with allies to fight the dark force.
Saint Seiya: Legend of Justice-Hades has arrived and you have to build the top underworld team to dominate the ultimate Sanctuary War!
Duck Survival-Roguelike shooter combined with thrilling survival situations against zombies and giant bosses.
The Ants: Underground Kingdom-Ant colony tries to survive, build the anthill, deal with crises, and protect the Queen.

Why Google tossed Fortnite out of the Play Store

You can thank a court order for forcing Google to allow third-party app stores inside the Play Store in the US. It all resulted from the Epic Games v Google lawsuit that came about when Epic Games, developer of Fortnite, sued Google over the 30% commission Google took on in-app purchases. Epic had added a direct payment system to its popular Fortnite game to bypass the 30% fees that Google charged, violating Play Store regulations.

What would prevent you from installing a third-party app store on your Android phone?

Apple removed Fortnite from the App Store on the same day

After Epic included the direct payment system to Fortnite, Google kicked the game out of the Play Store on August 13, 2020, leading to the lawsuits that eventually forced Google to host third-party apps in the Play Store. On that same date, Apple also kicked Fortnite out of the App Store for the same reason. However, where Google lost a major antitrust lawsuit brought by Epic Games, Apple won most of its 2021 court battle with Epic and is not under the same court order that Google is.

Screenshot from Aptoide Games third-party app store.

Apps found in the Aptoide Games store. | Image by PhoneArena

The judge in Apple's case ruled that the company is not a monopolist and that its success is not illegal. Fortnite has been available from the US App Store since May 2025 and the US Play Store since December of that same year.

Google will still scan apps from Aptoide installed on your Android phone

The federal jury ruled that Google was running an illegal monopoly concerning Android app distribution and in-app billing. Google says that it enforces its Play Store policies on third-party app stores, but Google says that it will not "review every app in these stores," nor will it collect payments or deal with updates.

Google will scan your device daily and it checks all installed apps on your phone, even those installed from Aptoide.

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