When the original Android Market came out there was a lot of room for improvement as far as browsing is concerned and the same is true for today. For the original Market you have the following features for browsing Android Apps:

• The Basic Search Feature by selecting the button with magnifying glass on it in the top right hand corner to search by app name or by keyword.
• The Three Main Menu Buttons that allow you to browse through apps by Applications, Games and T-Mobile’s Top Picks. In each category you can then browse by the Top Paid, Top Free and Just In apps.
• The Featured Section that recommends a few apps by category as well as a list of the featured apps underneath that.

Although it’s great for checking out the most popular apps and ones that have just been added to the Market, this user interface limits the Android user quite a bit in discovering new apps. This was apparent from the Market launch and since then quite a few desktop versions of the Market have become available. Let’s take a look at two of them.

Androlib Android Market Desktop

Androlib was one of the first desktop versions of the Android Market to appear on the Internet. This desktop market comes in 10 different languages. Androlib’s features include:

• Search Box for searching for apps by name or by keyword.
• Browse by Application or Game with an enhanced search feature. The enhanced search feature can be found once you select a category for either an Application or Game and has quite a few filters. You can search by keyword, category, pricing, minimum rating, downloads and others which currently only has the option of video reviews.
• The Top of the Day feature displays the most viewed Android applications and games on Androlib for the day. Next to each app their progression is displayed and you can even browse a previous day for the stats as well.
• The Scoreboard feature allows you to view apps by the most rated, most rated developers, top developer ratings and top developer downloads. Underneath those tabs you will find a list of the apps for the category listed previously that you choose.
• The Forum is pretty basic and has basic topics related to apps, phones, development and the Androlib website.
• The News feature displays a feed from the Androidosphere of various Android related websites.
• The Video feature displays the videos that have been submitted to Androlib.
• The Statistics feature shows you the current stats of the Android Market by distribution of app download, app ratings, apps and games and free and paid apps.
• The Wallpapers feature offers a whole other section of the website specifically for browsing wallpapers. You can submit a wallpaper here as well.
• The Androlib Pages Currently Being Browsed feature shows you what other users are currently viewing on Androlib while you are browsing as well.

Each app has it’s own page with the following features:

• Ability to rate the app
• App description
• Ability Share the app via Social Networks
• Estimated number of downloads
• Package name
• Screen shots (if available)
• App size
• Video (if available)
• Other apps that are available from the developer of the app.
• User comments and reviews from Android related websites.
• QR Code

AppBrain Android Market Desktop

is much a much newer Android Market desktop alternative to the official Market. This website is available in 14 different languages. AppBrain’s website features include:

• Search Box for searching for apps by name or by keyword.
• The Hot Apps, Hot This Week, All-Time Popular and Top Rated main navigation tabs provide a list of apps for the tab that you select and a navigation menu to the left where you can search by category. You can also filter the apps by Free, Paid, New, Updated and Price Reduction as well.
• The More Tab gives you the option to browse apps that are popular among your demographic and the latest apps that are being viewed currently in the Market.
• The Home Page is broken down into 7 different categories which display the top 5 apps for each of those categories. They categories are: Hot Apps, Latest Reviews, Arcade and Action, Multimedia, Communication, Entertainment and the Latest Apps on the Android Market. Once selected these categories also display the same category menu on the left hand side of the screen as well as the filtering options that the main navigation tabs have.
• You can create an AppBrain account by logging into your Google account to use the website’s account features.

Each app has it’s own page with stats about the app as well as several different ways to access the app to download it from the Market:

• Number of downloads, ratings, average rating, size of the app and a link to the official page of the app.
• Ability to rate the app if you are logged into your AppBrain account.
• App description
• Ability Share the app via Social Networks.
• Estimated number of downloads
• Screen shots (if available)
• User comments
• Once you have created an AppBrain account and downloaded the AppBrain app to your Android device you can use the Install and Add to list button to download apps that you find on AppBrain right from the Market.
• The QR/more button gives you quite a few different ways to access the app in the Market including a few ways to share the app on your website or in a forum.
• App updates and download number updates are available at the very bottom of the App page in chronological order.

Both Android Market desktop alternatives offer several different ways to discover new apps in the Market to download and install. Androlib provides lots of stats on the Market as a whole and AppBrain provides a unique way of browsing and installing apps to your Android device. Both solutions are great for discovering new apps and looking up app stats. Which solution do you personally use and why?

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