Aptoide is an alternative store for downloading games and software, but some are concerned about the privacy and data security of the platform. This article will analyze the offers and features of this service and explain why it undergoes data breaches.
Aptoide as a Google PlayStore alternative
The Play Store is Google’s official Android app marketplace. It is usually a preinstalled app on most Android devices. It allows users to browse and install a wide range of Android apps from different developers. The Aptoide app is similar to the Play Store. Recently, Aptoide has become a real threat to the Google store. In some ways, this is supported by the fact that Google does not host it on the PlayStore, implying the need for additional manipulations to install it.
Aptoide is an open-source app and game store for Android. The source lets you find and install thousands of programs and games on your device. Installed programs are taken from several sources called “shops” in the market itself. The application has a multilingual interface and requires an android version of at least 4.3 Jelly Bean installed on the device. Aptoide is the same app store, and only it contains many more apps that cannot be published on Google Play. In addition, with the help of Aptoid, you can install browsers and other applications not in the store on Android TV.
What benefits does Aptoide offer you?
Aptoide has some exciting features that make it the preferred choice for more flexible options when you’re looking to download apps for your mobile phone, tablet, or other Android devices. Among the most significant benefits you will find in Aptoide are:
- extensive range of applications
- no regional lock for apps
- repositories, which are places where applications are stored
- the use of more secure repositories is allowed, providing a guarantee for the correct operation of applications.
Aptoide TV hosts apps not only in its main catalog but allow anyone who wants to create and manage their store. This innovative approach in the Android software market has given the market growing popularity based on the reviews of thousands of users.
The major data breach with Aptoide
In 2022 the Aptoide service was hacked. The data of over 20 million users of an alternative Android app store called Aptoide had been exposed to the public. In addition to personal data, login emails, and hashed passwords also got onto the Web. It’s hard to say how this happened. Still, given that the leak also affects email, most likely, in this case, we are talking about the exploitation of a critical vulnerability in the Aptoide system, which allowed access to all data at once, and not a point hacking of individual users. Some entries have been accompanied by technical information, including registration and developer tokens if the account had administrator rights or was the source of referrals.
Is Aptoide safe to use?
The first question that most users have is about Aptoide security measures. Lately, Aptoide has constantly improved the app store’s security and announced improvements and updates on its official blog. Over the past four years, Aptoide has been growing steadily, and as a result, it has dramatically increased the number and variety of apps. Since this is an open social platform with user-uploaded content, we must take extra steps to ensure consistent quality over time. Ensuring that app downloads are safe is quite a challenge, even for Aptoide developers. After all, you never know which users are downloading their apps.