By Brent W. Hopkins

It's day four of my #GooglePlusStrike. I spent most of the day out running errands, but managed to do some research here and there. On the topic of replacing Google Reader, I am now leaning toward a self-hosted option such as TinyTiny RSS, or perhaps a customized version of Drupal. This isn't as crazy as it may sound, as you can put it on a subdomain of a working Website such as this one. It's an appealing idea but will require some further exploration.

I have also spent some time researching alternatives to Google's Android Market. It's not so easy to throw this baby out with the bathwater, because although your Market-installed apps will continue to work just fine, app updates will no longer be possible.

This is pretty much a deliberate design strategy intended to keep you dependent on Google. There is no technical reason why each individual app couldn't link back to its developer's repository as most desktop Linux distributions allow. Centralized control gives Google a lot of power – both for good (remotely remove malware with a "kill switch") and bad (blacklist app developers for whatever reason. Track all your app downloads).

Well the good news is that there are several decent alternatives to Google's Market. The bad news is that they may not carry all the apps that Google's Market carries, and even if they do, they probably can't update a copy that came from Google's Market.

Lets start with the Amazon AppStore. This is the biggest alt-market, backed by one of the giants of Internet commerce. You can install the AppStore app from here. To install apps from Amazon's AppStore you will need to login or register your Amazon account and provide valid credit card information. Then you can browse, purchase and install apps. You can rest assured that Amazon won't be going away any time soon.

One cool thing about this AppStore is that you can browse it with a desktop browser, and "try before you buy" apps in an Android emulator. That's a terrific idea. It makes me wonder about the untapped potential of Web-based apps. Maybe this will be the next big step.

Amazon's AppStore has a daily free app promotion which is very popular with users. Unfortunately, it appears that Amazon has screwed developers out of all the revenue it promised to pay them for this promotion. Personally, I prefer not to do business with Amazon for this reason. Also, it was Amazon that unceremoniously booted Wikileaks off of its then-host Amazon Web Services without due process or recourse. I call that censorship, another reason not to do business with them.

Next up is an app called SlideMe App Market. You can download the app over there. There's a wide variety of paid and free apps; but you won't find everything that Google has. It's worth a look though.

Soc.io Mall is another alt-market that also offers e-books. I saw lots of familiar apps there, but also noticed that some popular apps are not available. Check it out and see what you think.

Aptoide is a client app for Android which allows you to connect to a huge number of private repositories collectively called the Bazaar. Then there's Aptoid Server. "Aptoide Server is a web server [software] that holds an Aptoide repository. An Aptoide repository is an XML file (info.xml) describing the packages available together with their properties. The XML file is generated automatically by a script that looks through a directory for suitable applications. Everyone that develops and distributes Android applications can benefit and have their own Aptoide repository."

Think of Aptoide as the Wild Wild West of Android app markets. Anyone with a Web server can create their own app repository. This is much like the freedom you have with desktop Linux. The possibilities are very exciting, but tread carefully – some repositories in the Bazaar are rumored to contain malware and warez (pirated apps). Make sure you backup your system and install a malware scanner like AVG before you go here. Don't get me wrong – I think Aptoide is brilliant, just what a democratic Android app market should be. Just be prudent and have a recovery plan in case you need it.

Open source purists will be delighted with FDroid, an app that channels a repository filled only with open source apps. It's awesome! Lots of really great free software here. This app is definitely superior to Google's Market if you want to go open source. Highly recommended.

I think Aptoide and FDroid are where it's at for Androidians with freedom on their mind. Free as in rooted and free as in custom ROMs. Free as in free software, free as in freedom of speech, free as in freedom from surveillance. Lets get it together, my fellow Androidians, and turn Google's Android Invasion into an Android Revolution!