What is Blackmart Alpha? An Alternative to the Google Play Store

Ever heard of Blackmart Alpha? No, neither had I until I was asked about it by a TechJunkie reader. It took a little investigation to figure out what it was, what it can do and whether it was a good idea to use it or not. This is what I found.

What is Blackmart Alpha?

Blackmart Alpha is an alternative to the Google Play Store. It’s an alternative that offers a wider range of games and apps. It also offers premium apps for free, cracked games and more for the Android user. It markets itself as the alternative app store that does not restrict access to particular phones like the Google Play Store does and does not limit free ‘trials’ like legitimate apps.

The site does have a point here. Publishers on the Google Play Store do limit their applications as is their right, to the detriment of the user. Some apps won’t play on certain phones, are region locked or offer only a short free trial before requiring payment. All these limitations are removed with Blackmart Alpha.

You do not need an account to use Blackmart Alpha. You don’t have to sign up, sign in, pay money or offer all of your personal information either.

Is Blackmart Alpha legal?

As far as I can tell, Blackmart Alpha is technically illegal as it is not owned or licensed by Google who owns Android and has all rights over .apk files. Blackmart Alpha also circumvents paywalls and offers premium apps for free, which will involve some form of hacking or code manipulation, both of which are likely to break a number of data protection and copyright laws.

Much will depend on where you live, but here in the States, there are hundreds of laws protecting companies and products from theft, copying and alteration. However, I am not a lawyer, so if the legal question is important to you, I would definitely seek professional legal advice.

The more important question to my mind is, is Blackmart Alpha safe?

Is Blackmart Alpha safe?

The short answer is no. The longer answer is still no. Whatever your thoughts on Google Play Store, one of the key goals of the platform is to ensure the safety of you and your Android device as much as possible. Yes that comes at a cost, but that cost helps keep your device safe from harm or damage and you safe from hacking, phishing, malicious code and whatever else comes along.

To offer premium apps for free, there has to be something in it for the person offering that app. Some will do it for kicks but most will want some kind of return for their efforts. If they aren’t charging for the app, what is that return? Could it be your data? Your personal information? The ability to harvest your details and perform identity theft?

The answer isn’t clear but it doesn’t take a genius to work it out.

We know that Blackmart Alpha is full of hacked apps that are infected with malware and viruses but we don’t know which ones. The main downside of using black markets like this is that unknown. Are you happy to risk your phone and your data to find out which app is infected and which is not?

Blackmart Alpha downloads

If you want to try Blackmart Alpha, you can download the apk here. You will need to allow downloads from unknown sources on your device which is accessible from the Settings menu. Then:

Download the Blackmart Alpha apk to your PC.
Connect your device to your PC using a USB cable.
Copy the apk file to the SD card on your device.
Navigate to the file on the device and tap to install.

Once installed, you can browse Blackmart Alpha like you do Google Play Store and find apps, games and more. While the app doesn’t look as polished as it’s legitimate alternative, it has all the functions in all the places you would expect. The main difference is that the price is always listed as Free.

Watch out for compatibility. The Google Play Store will usually not display apps that won’t work on your device or at least tell you it won’t work. Blackmart Alpha doesn’t do that so read the notes carefully before installing.

What you do with your device is your business but be aware of the risks of using cracked apps or platforms like Blackmart Alpha. You simply do not know what has been done to the app, what code has been injected or what it will do to your device. Be careful out there!