What is Uptodown
Our main mission is to provide free, open access to apps for any device, from anywhere ensuring a more open mobile industry. Over 100 million monthly users from all over the world use Uptodown to get instant access to a huge catalog of apps.
Web-centered
Our focus is on distributing apps through the web due to its ease of access -- all you need is a browser.
Our belief is that standard platforms, like the web, are a valid form of discovering and downloading apps. That said, we have also developed and launched a fully native app for our alternative Android marketplace that includes more complex features like managing automatic updates for any apps that are already installed on your smartphone.
Valuable content
A solid part of Uptodown is centered on adding value to this content. Uptodown isn’t just a complete APK repository, we also provide reliable information (app reviews, videos and all kinds of additional editorial content) created in-house by our team of editors with the end goal of helping users make more informed decisions.
Currently, we have 179,000 reviews published between the 15 languages Uptodown is available in.
In terms of the number of files on our site, we house a total of 3.5M APKs that are automatically processed and analyzed in terms of popularity and number of downloads. These APKs are where our team of editors
For instance, Uptodown offers every version that was ever available for any given app in our catalog. We do this in order to solve fragmentation issues for our users, say like when certain devices no longer function properly with a newer app version. In that case, our users can opt to
Uptodown covers the gap between apps that are 100% secure and legal and the ones that are in compliance with Google Play’s content policy.
Whether due to their theme (multimedia, p2p, gambling apps, other app stores, etc) or because Google considers them to be inappropriate (in conflict with their own products, subjective security requirements like root apps), or otherwise, Uptodown provides these apps with a safe distribution channel and puts users in charge of what they choose to download.
Security first
One of our biggest challenges in competing with Google Play is providing security. As we’ve grown, we’ve discovered that our processes (which require our in-house editors and at times the use of automatization) are actually a lot safer than Google itself.
All the content on Uptodown is scanned in depth by VirusTotal. This service analyzes all of Uptodown’s content with over 50 antiviruses.
In terms of maximizing transparency, we classify this information according to whether it provides a real threat or not, which is how we deal with apps that show up as false positives due to adware, or just apps that aren’t actually a threat. From there, we take that information directly to our users. All the information we extract about viruses or potential threats is published and available on our site for them as a resource.
Our users decide what to do with that information and whether or not they ultimately download an app. Providing this security information to our users allows us to publish a widely diverse set of apps in our catalog, including apps that toe the line in terms of censorship due to their content, but that
Due to the 100% legal nature of our content, we do not have to take on the role of policing censorship, and instead, our users are the ones to decide which apps they can download.
Developer community
Another battle we’ve taken on is explaining our vision to app developers themselves.
It’s important to us to show app developers that Uptodown just not only provides greater visibility and improves app discovery. It also guarantees access to information without having to jump through the hoops that other companies require.
Big companies like Google or manufacturers like Samsung provide devices, mobile operating systems and even content that
Finally, we make sure that Uptodown only publishes content that the developers themselves want on our site. Any app developer can take down their content and we strictly comply with the DMCA. But, by default, our catalog includes as much content as possible.
Business model
Uptodown is a free store for developers, users and device makers who wish to use it as their app store.
Our revenue comes in through advertising on our site directly through unintrusive banners shown while users browse our catalog.
The only setback to this model is that it requires that we have enough traffic, and that means we need to adapt our business structure to that revenue. Our team is small, we’re just 20 people in charge of the entire Uptodown catalog and we benefit from using automatization and all the technology behind our platform in order to tackle this huge task.
A couple of numbers relative to our activity (August 2019):
Downloads in the last 30 days from Uptodown: 389M (web and native store)
Unique Users in the last 30 days: 103M (173M visits)
Number of apps published on Uptodown: 147,000 apps (not including individual files)
Number of reviews published (including versions in different languages): 179,000
APKs stored (processed, but not necessarily published): 3.5M
Number of apps published that are not available on Google Play: 17,411
The future of the mobile industry and Uptodown
Users that are looking for apps no longer need to worry about which device they’re connecting from. We make sure that Uptodown is fully compatible with almost any device, including older models, or innovative products like Puppy Cube, or even from a TV. Our users never have to worry about giving out their private payment information or even an email address because trying out a free app is as simple as tapping on it. We provide anyone, anywhere in the world with a safe channel to access software and are committed to doing so without regional filters for the content published on our site.
For us, this isn’t just about improving the user experience on our site. It’s bigger than that. A massive amount of information is consumed daily around the world from smartphones through mobile apps. It’s clear to us that leaving that channel in the hands of companies that are not aligned with their users’ best
The company
Uptodown is a company based in Spain and founded in 2002 by José Domínguez and Luis Hernández. It’s a profitable bootstrapped company without investors.
Currently, Uptodown has 20
More info about the Uptodown team https://en.uptodown.com/aboutus/uptodown
What is like to work at Uptodown?
We’ve built a company we truly love working for, and we think you will too. Have a look at a few pages and arts of our awesome handbook for new employees. Want to know more
