Reasons for using Raccoon

The official Google Play app is probably the most widely used app on Android. It is, however, not without numerous shortcomings. Some of them deliberately designed to not be in the user's best interest:

• Being logged in with a Google Account inevitably results in being tracked and profiled by Google. Raccoon enables you to protect your privacy and download apps anonymously by allowing you to use a dedicated (throw away) account that is not linked to the rest of your online activities.
• Google has the ability to delete content from your device (if downloaded through the official app) and can be mandated to do so. Apps downloaded via Raccoon are protected from this.
• Google has a history of banning accounts on a "associated by guild" basis with no way of appealing. Keeping a backup of your apps on your computer protects your assets from account loss.
• Many games on Google Play use the "In App Purchase" model in a shady way by making free and paid content hard to tell apart. This tactic is meant to trick children into buying virtual items with real money. With Raccoon you can prevent your kids from running up tremendous credit card bills by only allowing them to install pre approved apps.
• Google Play is the dominant market for Android apps but not all Android devices come with the Google Play services pre loaded due to license restrictions. This is especially true for custom ROMs. Raccoon allows you to access the market without having to flash GAPPs.
• App developers can restrict app availability by geographical region and device compatibility. While this is often meaningful, it shouldn't prohibit users that know what they are doing from downloading. With Raccoon, you are able to bypass such restrictions.
• Google Play will happily update all the apps you got installed on your device, but it doesn't allow you to roll back an update. Sometimes updates contain severe bugs, other times app development goes down a road you do not wish to follow. Raccoon maintains a versioned download cache. You can always go back if a new version is not to your liking.
• Unlimited highspeed internet access is not available to everyone. Raccoon allows you to download once and cache locally. This can save time in case you own multiple devices and/or de/reinstall apps often.
• Google Play does a horrible job, informing you about what permissions an app requires.
• The official Google Play app is a battery hog and may waste premium bandwidth.