Learn how you can get the Xiaomi App store, Google Play Alternative on your Android phone or tablet in less than 5 minutes!
For whatever reason it might be, the country you live in, the device you have etc, there are sometimes situations where you need an alternative to the Google Play Android app store. In my case, living in China, I find many of the apps I wish to download aren’t available here even popular Chinese chat app says it’s not available to download through Google Play! Not to mention other country specific apps and apps which say they aren’t compatible with my phone when they clearly are.
There are plenty of ways to circumvent these problems, tricking your phone to believe it’s another device, using a VPN etc, but I find the easiest, fastest and most simple way is to just install an alternate app market and my fave is the Xiaomi App market.
How to install the Xiaomi App Store on your Android device
The Xiaomi App store comes pre-bundled on each Xiaomi phone, but it is also available via web browser and can be easily installed on your Android smartphone or tablet. Follow these simple steps to install the Xiaomi App store on your phone:
- Before you do anything head in to the Settings on your Android device and go to General > Security then scroll down to ‘unknown source’ and check the box.
- Now that has been done open the browser on your Android device and head to: app.xiaomi.com. This is the browser based version of the Xiaomi app store and you can downloadapps from here if you like, but it is more convenient to install the store on your phone.
- At the very top of the Xiaomi App store pagte you will see Xiaomi store icon (like an orange bag) with a green button next to it. That’s the download option. Hit that and let the application download.
- Once download is complete your phone should begin installation and you will have to choose install you can check through the permissions.
- You should now have the Xiaomi AppStore installed on your phone.
Tips for using the Xiaomi App Store
Although the app itself should be in English (if you have your phones language in English) many of the apps use Chinese names. Still it is easy to find many though the ‘Ranking’ and ‘Category’ menus.
You might also find some apps on here which would normally be paid apps in the Google Play Market. I’m unsure if Xiaomi have a deal with the developers or not.
Finally always be careful when downlaoding apps from third party stores. I have only written this how to up as I have been using the store for the past 12 months on various phones with no issues.
We’ll be posting more how to articles soon.