I finished counting on Google Play for apps, and this is what I switched to

For many Android customers, the Google Play Retailer is the place you robotically flip to everytime you want a brand new app.

Each time you hear a few new service, spot an app on a billboard, and scan the QR code to put in it, likelihood is it takes you straight to the Play Retailer.

For years, I’ve used it the identical approach, just about because the default vacation spot for every little thing Android.

That stated, the Play Retailer is not excellent. There are nonetheless loads of apps that slip by way of Google’s evaluation course of that in all probability should not be there.

I am additionally not an enormous fan of how a lot AI Google is now pushing all through the Play Retailer.

Then there’s the truth that many apps which might be accessible without spending a dime elsewhere are sometimes filled with adverts on the Play Retailer.

Over the previous few months, I’ve turn into an enormous fan of open supply Android apps. I’ve switched each my gallery and file supervisor apps to Fossify’s open supply alternate options. However Fossify is simply the tip of the iceberg.

There are tons of nice open supply Android apps on the market that by no means make it to the Play Retailer. The most important problem is not discovering good apps, it is discovering them.

That’s the reason SafeHaven caught my attention. This Android app retailer is shortly gaining recognition as a result of it goals to resolve precisely that drawback, appearing as a storefront not only for Fossify apps, however for open supply Android apps as a complete.

One of the best Android apps aren’t at all times on the Google Play Retailer

I discover open supply apps extra dependable and user-friendly

Over the previous few months, I’ve began paying extra consideration to open supply apps than those I sometimes discover on the Google Play Retailer.

Seek for nearly any class on the Play Retailer, and you may often discover dozens of near-identical apps competing for consideration. Many are wonderful, some are nice, however most are loaded with adverts.

What I’ve realized is that open supply apps are sometimes simply higher. They’re often light-weight, centered on doing one factor properly, and are not continuously attempting to promote you one thing.

Plus, as a result of the code is open, anybody can examine it, which is nice for those who care about privateness and safety.

This app retailer solves my greatest open supply app drawback

SafeHaven makes discovering Android apps a lot simpler

The most important drawback with open supply Android apps, as I said above, is discovering them. SafeHaven is attempting to resolve precisely that.

Because the developer describes it, SafeHaven is a privacy-focused Android app retailer constructed round serving to customers uncover open supply Android apps past what you sometimes discover by way of F-Droid.

As an alternative of merely asking customers to belief an app, SafeHaven highlights the place an app comes from, whether or not the developer has been verified, whether or not the app has been scanned for malware, and the way it performs in automated safety checks.

The platform additionally pulls apps from a number of sources. According to the developer, it recurrently tracks standard open supply Android initiatives and syncs with F-Droid repositories, serving to maintain listings updated.

I attempted SafeHaven on my Oppo Discover X9 Extremely, and getting began was surprisingly easy. The app solely requested me to set a nickname on first launch. There was no account creation or sign-in course of.

The interface feels acquainted sufficient. You get featured apps, classes, charts, and a search tab for searching accessible apps.

There are additionally sections for managing put in apps and tweaking settings like themes, however that is about it.

The primary focus of the app, because it claims, is to let customers uncover and set up apps shortly.

It is undoubtedly not as polished or intuitive because the Google Play Retailer, however it does a very good job of constructing open supply app discovery really feel approachable.

Every itemizing contains safety indicators displaying whether or not the supply is verified and whether or not the app has handed safety scans. It’s also possible to browse screenshots and go away scores.

Putting in apps is easy. You merely faucet the set up button, and the APK begins downloading.

Since these are sideloaded apps, you may have to allow Android’s Set up for unknown sources permission, however past that, the method is fairly painless.

It isn’t excellent, however it’s an important place to begin

What I like most about SafeHaven is that the developer is not simply attempting to construct one other F-Droid-style app retailer. The objective appears to be creating a correct discovery platform for open supply Android apps as a complete.

It is clearly nowhere close to as polished because the Play Retailer, and discovery nonetheless is not fairly at Google’s stage. The app can be nonetheless pretty early in improvement. However for what it’s, the expertise is already surprisingly strong.

I am unsure what initiatives like this appear to be in the long term, particularly as Google continues tightening Android’s safety and sideloading insurance policies.

However as somebody who has been utilizing extra open supply apps recently, I am glad to see initiatives like SafeHaven exist.