[Android Apps and Games] Skyica:
Features and Advantages

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Comprehensive

3,700,000+ apps and games from Google Play are indexed (3,000,000+ available in the US)

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Alternative app stores will be indexed soon

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Local prices and age ratings for all 200+ countries / regions

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World-average user ratings for 1,600,000+ apps and games, local ratings for 89 countries

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Support for other languages is coming soon

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7 search operators, 10+ filters, 10 sort options

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10+ facts about each app directly in the result list

Reliable advanced keyword search

App Finder returns all and only results that "completely" match the query. That is, all words / phrases from the query are required to occur (if OR is not used). Different word forms are allowed.

As is shown with many detailed examples

here

,

here

,

here

, and

here

, this consistently leads to significantly more relevant results than the "incomplete matching" that is used by the Play Store by default.

In addition to common search operators (quotes, OR, minus, parentheses), App Finder has some special operators:

+ to require words or phrases in title or summary, which can often improve the specificity of queries significantly.

The special OR operator / that has another priority than OR and can be used inside quotes.

# and @ to search for title and developer name by prefix.

The user guide (available

here

and within the app) describes in detail how App Finder searches, and explains the available search operators.

The keywords are highlighted in the results, so you'll see if they are used in a relevant way immediately.

AI-based natural-language search is planned for the future as an alternative to keyword search.

All the filters you may need

With one tap, you can filter for apps without ads, for free or paid apps, for apps with or without in-app purchases, and for Play Pass apps.

There are special sliders to filter for

user rating (country-average or world-average, see below),

number of ratings and downloads,

update date and release date,

price range and in-app price range,

required Android version and target-API,

age rating.

There is a category filter with multi-select.

To discover less-known apps, you may also filter for app with few ratings or downloads.

Systematic sort options

Like the Play Store, App Finder sorts the results by “relevance” by default.

That is, by a score that is carefully calculated from the match with the query and quality indicators (average user rating and number of ratings and downloads).

However, it also has the option to sort by a single characteristic, which may provide much better orientation for comparing the results:

User rating (country-averageor world-average, see below)

Number of ratings up / down

Release date up / down

Result count

App Finder immediately shows the exact result count when a query is entered or filters are applied or changed, so that you can adjust the keywords and filters if there are more or less results than you want to inspect.

The apps in the result list are numbered.

All essential data directly in the result list

View attachment 6022651

The user rating is shown with up to two decimals, country-average, world-average, or both (see below)

The stars indicate the distribution of 5-, 4-, 3-, 2-, and 1-star ratings

The number of ratings can help you to assess the significance of the average rating

The download count is shown much more exactly than in Google Play

It is always indicated if an app contains ads, and the price range of in-app products is shown

Scalable screenshots and short descriptions in the result list​

The screenshots can be scrolled and scaled using pinch-to-zoom

Feature graphics (promotional images that are shown by the Play Store only sometimes) are included

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User ratings for about 2.8 to 44 times more apps than shown on Google Play *​

* In most of the world. In countries where Google Play shows global ratings (e.g. China, Ethiopia, Denmark) there is no difference.

Since some time, Google Play shows country-average user ratings in most larger countries.

While these have obvious advantages over world-average ratings, they also have the disadvantage of being based on the opinion of fewer people, or not being available at all for apps with too few ratings from the user's country.

As you see from the following examples, country-average ratings are available for only a small fraction of the apps with world-average ratings in smaller countries.

Apps available total	Apps with world-average rating	Apps with country-average rating	Ratio
United States	3,064,000	1,359,000	429,000	3.17
India	3,022,000	1,356,000	490,000	2.77
United Kingdom	2,944,000	1,321,000	189,000	7.0
Australia	2,907,000	1,312,000	102,000	12.9
Ireland	2,888,000	1,303,000	46,000	28.3
Laos	2,857,000	1,292,000	29,000	44.3

In the countries shown in the table and 83 others, Google Play shows no rating at all for apps without country-average rating, and hides them when the rating filter is applied.

Obviously, this is a serious problem for users from smaller such countries, and for developers of apps that are not very popular.

This is why App Finder shows world-average ratings for apps without country-average rating (marked as grayed-out).

Also, world-average ratings can generally be shown instead of or in addition to country-average ratings, and can be used for filter and sort.

Alternatively, users from small countries may choose to see ratings from a large country of their choice (note that for example, there are ratings for about 9 times more apps for the US than for Ireland).

See

here

for more information.

View attachment 6006503

A flexible user interface

App Finder’s user interface adapts to phones and tablets of all sizes, and the size of text and other elements can finely be adjusted.

A 1-, 2-, or 3-pane layout can be used, and the result list can be customized.

Easy to use, with integrated documentation

App Finder was designed to be as intuitive as possible.

However, some things still require explanation, so there is an integrated user guide, syntax reference, and further help, also available

here

.

View attachment 6006511

Free, no ads​

App Finder does not contain ads. All essential functionality is free without limitation. Some advanced features require a small in-app purchase, see the comparison below.

Protection against malware​

The apps are installed through the Play Store app, so you have the same level of protection as if you would use the Play Store directly.

Full privacy​

No sign-in is required, and we do not collect information that we could use to identify you. No data is shared with third parties.

Planned Features

See here

Further ideas are welcome!

Examples

A comprehensive comparative review of advanced calculator apps was done with the help of App Finder:

Short version

/

Long version

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The searches are explained in detail. The principles apply for all kinds of apps, like file managers, music players, and also games.