alternative-stores

name	alternative-stores
description	Publish Android apps to Amazon Appstore, Huawei AppGallery, Samsung Galaxy Store, and deal with HMS vs GMS. Use this when targeting non-Google Android markets.

Alternative Android Stores

Instructions

Non-Google markets matter for regional reach (Huawei in China and Europe), accessory integration (Samsung), and Amazon's Fire ecosystem. Each store has its own submission API, signing quirks, and review workflow.

1. When to Target Each Store

Store	Audience	Signing	APIs
Amazon Appstore	Fire tablets, Fire TV, some Windows devices	Amazon signs for you	GMS typically unavailable
Huawei AppGallery	Huawei devices (Europe, Middle East, China)	You sign; AppGallery Connect verifies	HMS (Huawei Mobile Services)
Samsung Galaxy Store	All Samsung devices	You sign	GMS + Samsung SDKs
Xiaomi GetApps, Oppo, Vivo	China market	You sign	GMS absent in China

2. Amazon Appstore

Submit via Developer Console or the App Submission API.

Key differences from Play:

• Accepts APK or AAB. Amazon re-signs APKs on device distribution.
• No Google Play Services — use Amazon Device Messaging (ADM) in place of FCM on Fire devices.
• Simpler staged rollout: either live or not.

Automate with curl:

# Get token
TOKEN=$(curl -sX POST https://api.amazon.com/auth/o2/token \
  -d "grant_type=client_credentials" \
  -d "client_id=$AMAZON_CLIENT_ID" \
  -d "client_secret=$AMAZON_CLIENT_SECRET" \
  -d "scope=appstore::apps:readwrite" | jq -r .access_token)

# Upload APK to the edit
curl -X PUT "https://developer.amazon.com/api/appstore/v1/applications/$APP_ID/edits/$EDIT_ID/apks/upload" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/octet-stream" \
  --data-binary @app-release.apk

3. Huawei AppGallery

Required if you ship on devices without Google Mobile Services (most new Huawei phones since 2019).

Setup:

1. Register at AppGallery Connect.
2. Integrate HMS Core replacements for common GMS APIs:
   • Google Maps → HMS Map Kit
   • Firebase Messaging → HMS Push Kit
   • Google Sign-In → HMS Account Kit
   • Google Location → HMS Location Kit
3. Use the G+H strategy: detect at runtime which services are available and route calls accordingly.

Automate uploads with the AppGallery Connect Publishing API:

# Exchange client credentials for token
TOKEN=$(curl -s -X POST "https://connect-api.cloud.huawei.com/api/oauth2/v1/token" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"grant_type\":\"client_credentials\",\"client_id\":\"$HUAWEI_CLIENT_ID\",\"client_secret\":\"$HUAWEI_CLIENT_SECRET\"}" \
  | jq -r .access_token)

Review takes 1–3 business days for China, often same-day for other regions.

4. Samsung Galaxy Store

Target the ~30% of Android devices that are Samsung. Mostly compatible with Google Play AABs, but:

• Samsung IAP SDK replaces Play Billing for Galaxy Store purchases.
• Galaxy Watch / Foldable-specific features (multi-window, flex mode) unlock bonus placement.
• Use the Seller Portal API:

curl -X POST "https://devapi.samsungapps.com/seller/contentSubmit" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SAMSUNG_TOKEN" \
  -H "service-account-id: $SAMSUNG_ACCOUNT_ID" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"contentId":"000000123456"}'

5. One AAB, Multiple Stores

Build variant-per-store so the correct SDKs are included:

// app/build.gradle.kts
android {
    flavorDimensions += "store"
    productFlavors {
        create("google")  { dimension = "store"; buildConfigField("String", "STORE", "\"google\"") }
        create("huawei")  { dimension = "store"; buildConfigField("String", "STORE", "\"huawei\"") }
        create("amazon")  { dimension = "store"; buildConfigField("String", "STORE", "\"amazon\"") }
        create("samsung") { dimension = "store"; buildConfigField("String", "STORE", "\"samsung\"") }
    }
}

Then:

./gradlew :app:bundleHuaweiRelease
./gradlew :app:bundleAmazonRelease

6. Push Notifications Cross-Store

Runtime detection:

val usesHms = GoogleApiAvailability.getInstance()
    .isGooglePlayServicesAvailable(this) != ConnectionResult.SUCCESS
if (usesHms) HmsInstanceId.getInstance(this).getToken(appId, "HCM")
else         FirebaseMessaging.getInstance().token

Send the token to your backend with a provider field: fcm / hms / adm.

7. Fastlane Plugins

• fastlane-plugin-huawei_appgallery_connect
• fastlane-plugin-amazon_app_submission
• fastlane-plugin-samsung_galaxy_store

Prefer these over hand-rolled curl when supported.

8. Policy Differences

• Amazon forbids apps that only link out to web stores (bypassing their IAP).
• Huawei China has stricter content review (no political content, gambling, anti-government).
• Samsung permits richer metadata (rich text descriptions, What's New sections per locale).

9. Checklist

• Decision made per target region: which stores are worth the submission cost.
• Variant-per-store build flavors in Gradle; store-specific SDKs only included where needed.
• HMS replacements integrated with runtime GMS/HMS detection.
• API credentials for each store stored separately in CI; scoped to publish-only.
• Policy diff documented per store in docs/store-policies.md.
• Release cadence matches Play (all stores released from the same commit, within 72h).