r/androidapps rules, stats, and what to post

This is a place to talk about Android apps. People come here to ask questions, get help with an app that is giving them trouble, and ask for recommendations when they need an app for something. The description says it plainly, so that is the whole room. It is an app user community, not a place for app makers to talk about their own work. The rules make that split very clear, because anything about promoting an app, finding testers, or getting feedback on your own idea is pushed over to the sister subreddit r/droidappshowcase. So think of this as the community where Android users help each other, and keep that in mind before you post anything with a business angle.

The rule that decides everything for a founder is “Self-Promotion & Dev Content”. It says any self-promotion, tester requests, new app ideas or app feedback are not allowed here, and it points you to the sister subreddit r/droidappshowcase instead. That is the one to take seriously before you type anything. Next is “Spam & External Links”, because blog articles must be specific and no Top 10 lists or low-value roundups are allowed, and videos can only be shared as links inside a text post or comment, never as a direct link submission. Then “Approved Sources Only”, which pre-approves links to official stores like the Play Store, Aurora, Samsung and F-Droid, plus GitHub, and strictly prohibits direct APK download links. “Quality & Effort” matters too, because low-effort posts, questions a web search answers easily, and titles without enough context get removed. “Off Topic” keeps everything tied to Android and Android apps. “English Language Requirement” means your title and body must include English even if you write bilingually. And “No Piracy or Illegal Mods” is zero tolerance, with immediate removal and a possible ban, so never touch pirated or illegally modified APKs.

For a founder, the honest play here is to show up as a helpful user first and a marketer never. Answer questions about apps in your space. Share your own experience with apps you use, including competitors, without slipping in a link to your own thing. If you genuinely need app help or a recommendation for a problem you have, ask for it with a clear title and enough context in the body, in English. If you want feedback on your own app, or you want testers, or you want to announce it, take that to the sister subreddit the mods named for exactly that purpose. A good post here looks like something a regular member would write, because that is the only kind of post the rules allow you to write.

Do not promote your app here, do not ask for testers, do not float new app ideas, and do not fish for feedback on your own product. All of that belongs in r/droidappshowcase. Never link a direct APK download, and be careful with third-party mirrors because they can be removed. Do not drop blog articles unless they are specific, like a single app update, and never a Top 10 list or a roundup. Do not submit a video as a direct link, put it inside a text post or comment instead. Do not post anything that has nothing to do with Android or Android apps. Do not write in a language without an English translation in the title and body. Do not post low-effort questions that a web search answers in seconds. And stay far away from buying or selling Google Play accounts, because that is a permanent ban.

This is one of the strictest self-promotion rules I have seen, and I respect it. The mods did not just ban promotion, they built the exit door into the rule itself by naming r/droidappshowcase as the place for it. My read of the evidence is that this community knows exactly what it wants to be, a help desk for Android users, and it protects that hard. If you respect that split, you can still earn real goodwill here by just being useful.