The Tron (TRX) project announced on April 27 that apps built on its blockchain will be featured in the Samsung Galaxy Store.
Owners of Samsung smartphones in specific countries will see Tron decentralized apps, or DApps, in an alternative app store.
Tron and its tokens were already supported by Samsung’s Blockchain Keystore, which stores private keys in a secure memory compartment. The integration was announced alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
As indicated by Tron, the Samsung store will feature “applications like Blockchain Cuties, Super Player, Meerkat Mining and Timeloop.”
It is worth noting that Blockchain Cuties is a multi-platform game that reports having more users on Ethereum, though it sees more transactions on Tron. Super Player appears to be an Ethereum-only project for now, according to Dappradar.com.
The remaining two apps aren’t present on any DApp aggregation platform. Even if this is not an exhaustive list, it is unclear what criteria will be followed when including DApps.
The Samsung Galaxy Store itself is an alternative app store for Samsung devices. Alongside general Android apps found on Google Play Store, it features many custom-tailored apps for the Korean company’s devices.
These DApps will be available on Samsung devices in the United States, Canada, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore and “some countries in Europe.” It appears that the availability is not universal in those markets, with Tron disclaiming that availability “varies by carrier, market and device.”
The Tron DApp ecosystem
As reported by Cointelegraph in January, Tron was dominated by gambling DApps throughout 2019. A look at Dappradar’s ranking page for Tron shows that gambling apps still account for a majority of the ecosystem in terms of user count.
In terms of volume, however, the Just DApp has shot up the charts with over $3.5 million in transacted value. This appears to be a rebrand of Djed, a clone of MakerDAO that launched in March. The volume is coming from just under 300 weekly users, suggesting that large TRX stakeholders are participating.
Recent criticism
Tron is a controversial project and its actions continue to polarize the community. Its latest scandal involves the purchase of Steemit Inc., the company behind the Steem project. As the community rebelled against the takeover, allegations of centralization continue.
According to a former Steem validator, Justin Sun is bribing the community into placing favorable validators in the Steem delegated proof-of-stake system.