GetJar Gives Away Free Mobile Games

SAN FRANCISCO - Mobile app store GetJar is giving away free games for Android, BlackBerry, and Java phones over the next two weeks, the company said in a press release. The games, provided by Glu Mobile, are titles that currently cost money when downloaded elsewhere.

GetJar is huge, but it has some trouble getting visibility here in the U.S. So this is a bit of a stunt; it's trying to train consumers to come to what it says is the world's second-largest app store, rather than just clicking in the built-in app store icon on its phones. The store is currently available in 200 countries with nearly 100 million downloads a month, the company said.

To get the "free premium" games, consumers can go to GetJar.com with their PCs and click on the Recommended section. Free games will include "Brain Genius 2," "Stranded: Mysteries of Time," "Build-a-Lot," and "Race Driver Grid." The games generally retail for $1-$5 each.

GetJar said in a press release that the store's advertising-supported model "allows it to then buy premium content from publishers and distribute this content to consumers for free."

Of course, these aren't necessarily Glu's hottest or newest games - there's already a "Build-a-Lot 2," and "Brain Genius" and "Race Driver" aren't even featured on Glu's Web site. But they've been big sellers in the past.

Olivier Bernard, managing director of Glu EMEA and APAC acknowledged this in a statememt when he said GetJar's new deal will "extend … the life cycle of our own products through the use of a large and growing distribution channel."

Operating an independent mobile app store is tricky, because you don't get the pride of place that default app stores have. On Android phones, users also have to check "install non-market apps" in their settings (something that AT&T forbids entirely.) Some carrier-branded phones in the U.S. also forbid installing apps that weren't approved by that carrier.

But GetJar has been growing quickly, especially in countries outside the US where mobile carriers don't have as tight a lock on the mobile market.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

US and Canadian mobile networks
Mobile phones released in the US
iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
Mobile hotspots
Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services.

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

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