Many of us believe that the web-based version of the Android Market lacks several key features it should have had from the start. Grandmaster G has promised a big update, so hopefully we’ll see some major improvements soon, including a feature that will push apps from the Market website directly to our phones. It’s good to have options, though, and here are the best sites for discovering new Android apps.
Top websites for discovering Android apps
AppBrain.com
When it comes to Android apps, AppBrain.com is the undisputed king of the hill. The site is created by a startup company in Switzerland called AppTornado, and it has provided the best and most convenient way to discover, browse and install apps in the Android Market. AppBrain.com is what the Android Market website should’ve been.
On the home page, AppBrain shows a number of “hot” applications in various categories, and there’s a separate category with personal recommendations based on the apps you already have installed. If you have the mobile client on your phone, you can also install and uninstall Android apps from the web interface that AppBrain.com provides. Very nice indeed.
AppAware.org
The AppAware website arguably has the best interface of these sites, and it’s great for finding fairly unusual apps that you might not have come across otherwise. Besides being a site, AppAware is also a free app that keeps track of installations and removals of Android applications, and the website lists the Top Installed, Top Updated and Top Removed apps at a given time frame. It’s an excellent way to view trends in the Market.
AndroidAppolo.com
Now it’s time for some shameless self-promotion, because I made this site. AndroidAppolo consists of the top Android apps – currently about 350 of them, all hand-picked and carefully selected. There is a mini review and screen shot of each application, game, widget and live wallpaper in the guide, and usually a demo video as well. Apps can be installed directly from AndroidAppolo via QR codes, and it’s easy to find the top apps in a specific category. Hopefully some great applications can be discovered there.
AndroidApplications.com
This site is created by the folks behind Phandroid, and it’s similar to AppBrain, although without that extra oomph. The site doesn’t have an Android client, but it’s a great tool for doing power searches: it lets you define 11 different search criteria and the site also features reviews by visitors.
AndroLib.com
AndroLib was around before AppBrain arrived, but the site doesn’t have its own Android app and the design of the site is less clean and, well, professional. Still, it does allow you to browse the full Android Market from your desktop computer, and there are lists such as Top of the Day that will help you discover new apps. AndroLib also provides various types of Market statistics.
More Android app sites
aTrackDog lets you discover new Android apps by showing the most popular programs (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, all time). I’m not a big fan of the site, but I know that some people really enjoy it.
AndroidZoom.com is another popular website for browsing Android apps from your computer. It’s not as advanced as some of the sites above, though, but it does let you sort apps according to date, popularity and rating.
Cyrket.com is recommended if you like to kick it old school. Because unless I’m mistaken, this was the first site to let users browse and sort the entire Android Market from the web.
Do you know any more quality sites for finding new Android apps?
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