Perhaps this is the best revenge PayTM could take against Alphabet Inc’s Google after they banned the massively popular PayTM app for more than 12 hours during the last month. While the Epic Store vs Apple is revolutionizing the thoughts of App store policies, Indian developers have joined hands to stop the hegemony of Google Play which resulted in the extension of the new Play Store Policies until March 2022. PayTM launched its own Mini App Store inside PayTM app yesterday which aims to empower the young Indian developers to find an alternative to the Google Play and to circumvent the massive 30% cut in the in-app purchases.
With more than 150 Million monthly active users, the whole battle is being headed by PayTM. More than 300 Indian developers have already joined this cause including Decathalon, Ola, Park+, Rapido, Netmeds, 1MG, Domino’s Pizza, FreshMenu, NoBroker, etc.
I am proud that we are today launching something that creates an opportunity for every Indian app developer. Paytm Mini App Store empowers our young Indian developers to leverage our reach and payments to build new innovative services. For Paytm users, it will be a seamless experience that doesn’t require any separate download and enables them to use their preferred payment option.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO, PAYTM
What is PayTM Mini App Store
The newly launched store by Paytm is not like the conventional app store. Rather it is like a custom-built website specifically designed for mobile to give an app-like experience without downloading them. Developers can make those apps through HTML and Javascript.
Where to find the Mini App Store
The Mini App Store is located inside the PayTM app itself. To find the app store,
- Open PayTM app
- Click on Show more
- Find “Mini App Store on the left sidebar and tap that
- Click on the Mini App Store icon
Why this is a big move for the Indian App marketplace
The app is still in its early phase to make any comment. While there’s no doubt that the Indian population can turn the tide, we are personally bit skeptical about this since Google owns Android and they can go up to any extent to protect their own platform. Google knows it very well that they can not ignore the huge Indian market and on their official blog post this has been very much evident,
We want to reiterate that we are deeply committed to the success of the Indian ecosystem. We are setting up listening sessions with leading Indian startups to understand their concerns more deeply.
And we’re also extending the time for developers in India to integrate with the Play billing system, to ensure they have enough time to implement the UPI for subscription payment option that will be made available on Google Play — for all apps that are yet to launch, or that currently use an alternative payment system, we set a timeline of 31st March 2022
Official Google India Blog
The whole infrastructure will enable the developers to set up their app at a minimal cost. Developers can use the PayTM bank or wallet without any cost. However, for other transaction methods PayTM will charge 2% of the amount.
Paytm First Games to focus on games based on Indian culture
For the games area, there are only 5 games as of now inside the mini-app store. However, PayTM First Games is backing with 10 crore fund to organize hackathons across India to find the best talents.
They also plan to invest a total of 300 crores for fantasy sports and other online gaming events during this financial year.
“Being a homegrown company we want to play our part in enabling India’s gaming ecosystem. Our goal is to support over 200 talented developers, who may not have access to resources comparable to that of big studios,”
Sudhanshu Gupta, COO Paytm First Games
The company claims that it would promote games focused on Indian culture and folk tales to lead the digital gaming sector in the country.
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