PhonePe launched its Android-based mobile app marketplace Indus Appstore in India on Wednesday, February 21. The app store was launched by Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at a hybrid event. The Walmart-owned fintech company said its new app store aims to address the major pain point of a lack of regional language content in the market. The Indus app store will be available in English and 12 Indian regional languages. It also comes with features like video-led app discovery, mobile-based login, and AI-driven app recommendations.
Indus supports regional languages like Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and more. It has a toggle button on the top that allows users to switch between languages. The toggle not only changes the language of content on the interface, but also changes the app name, app trailers and videos, and app descriptions. PhonePe said that the translation work is done on the company side.
Additionally, the platform allows users to search in any of 12 regional languages to view search results in those languages. PhonePe founder and CEO Sameer Nigam said even transliteration of regional languages will get results. Android smartphone users can download and install the app here.
The company said Indus Appstore had 200,000 apps at launch. Some of the famous apps include Flipkart, Disney+ Hotstar, Myntra, Zomato, Swiggy, Snapchat, etc. That number also includes the thousands of games it focuses on. The games on this platform are divided into three categories: casual games, heavy games and real money games (RMG).
App listings on the developer platform are free for the first year, but there will be an annual fee thereafter. PhonePe also said that the marketplace will not charge any platform fees or commission on in-app payments from developers if a separate payment gateway is used. In contrast, Apple and Google charge commissions of 15% to 25% and do not allow integration with other payment services.
Additionally, the platform allows users to use mobile numbers and OTP-based login instead of using email. For app recommendations, the developer platform uses artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms and uses location data. There are also smart features like Smart Update to update to the latest version faster. Personalized storage management recommends rarely used apps that can be hibernated (stop updating) and apps that are never used and can be deleted.
Nigam also said that app developers can choose whether to display ads in their apps. Those who opt in will be able to earn a commission from the advertising revenue generated.
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