Google play alternative? F-Droid?

[eugeneloza]

Hi all,
I'm just starting to dig Android game development and I've come to a theoretical problem . To register as google.play developer I have to pay $25... Not that much (still expensive for a Ukrainian), but still, rather strange in case I'm not going to earn any money for free games. Maybe there's an alternative, especially specific to FOSS idea?
I've come over F-DROID (https://f-droid.org/), maybe somebody had used it? Is it worth trying?

[Akien]

For free software F-droid is indeed the reference. I'm using it personally on my phone, and installed this way many games : 2048, Frozen Bubble, HyperRogue, Minilens, Recursive Runner, Shattered Pixel Dungeon, Tanks of Freedom, Vector Pinball...

[eugeneloza]

Hmmm! Then the solution is simpler than I expected

[mdwh]

It's a bit odd paying to write free software (whilst Google have running costs for Google play, they benefit if people write for their platform). The way I looked at it was that Google give android away for free (at least as part of AOSP), so they are giving something back. At least a one off fee is much better than a higher yearly fee like some platforms have...

One option is to accept donations, to help cover the fee.

Whether you do or don't release on Google play, I'd certainly recommend fdroid - whilst there are fewer users, there is also less competition, so it's still viable to get plenty of downloads. And you probably get a better class of user - people who report bugs, rather than moaning and leaving 1 star reviews on free apps because they couldn't be bothered to read.

Fdroid is great as a user too - finding free apps that aren't infested with ads is hard on Google play, but easy with fdroid.

[Julius]

I also fully recommend f-droid and use it exclusively myself (no need for the play-store), but it can at times be a bit too strict in its submission criteria (only fully FOSS software). The open-source application they use is actually a fork of the http://www.aptoide.com/ store. I haven't used that one in ages, but it might be an alternative for less libre software.