Winning an app contest is a great way to get great exposure for your Android app, and possibly some cash immediately.  Several big-name apps got catapulted into the public eye when they won an app contest.

Having success with Android apps involves more than just making a great app.  Getting discovered by your potential users is critical  to success, and Android app contests are a great way to get more exposure.

Unfortunately, it’s a little harder to find a big challenge to compete in than it was a few years ago.  Now that Android has taken off, Google is done with the Android Developer Challenge (ADC).  The ADC II pages still show up in search results, but it’s way too late to enter!  The third PayPal X Developer Challenge also just ended.

So where do you turn?

I gathered a list of a few currently open competitions for Android apps, but note that some of them are ending very soon!

Adobe Air App Challenge

• Site: airappchallenge.com
• Deadline: November 11^th, 2011
• Price to enter: Free
• Prizes: $200k in prizes, including $100k cash top prize
• Target technology platform: Sony’s Honeycomb Tablets; using Adobe Air. Develop using these tools:
  • Adobe® Flash® Professional
  • Adobe® Flash® Builder
  • Flex SDK
• Sponsor: Sony

App-Promo contest

• Site: http://app-promo.com/news-events/
• Deadline: October 31^st, 2011
• Price to enter: Free
• Prizes: $5k in marketing services
• Target technology platform: any
• Sponsor: App-Promo.com

 Mobile App Showdown

• Site: (down)
• Deadline: December 2011
• Price to enter: $1000
• Prizes: Top 10 apps presented live in front of CES in Las Vegas
• Target technology platform: any
• Sponsor: N/A
• Notes: For CES January 2012 – January 10-13, 2012

IDBYTE Android Mobile Applications Development Competition by Qualcomm and HTC

• Site: bubuawards.com/v07/competition/android-apps-dev/
• Deadline: October 14, 2011
• Price to enter: Free
• Prizes:
  • Flyer Tablet from HTC
  • Wildfire S, and Chacha handsets
  • Half day mentoring from IDBYTE, Qualcomm, and HTC
• Target technology platform:
  • Unreleased app that is designed to promote tourism in Indonesia
  • An additional feature that include Augmented Reality (AR) technology and work great on Qualcomm Snapdragon Chipset and/or HTC mobile phone would be a plus.
• Sponsor: Qualcomm and HTC

Ericsson Application Awards

• Site: www.ericssonapplicationawards.com/overview
• Deadline: February 1, 2012
• Price to enter: Free
• Prizes for each category (Students and Companies):
  • 1st place: €15 000 and phones from Sony Ericsson
  • 2nd place: €10 000 and phones from Sony Ericsson\
  • 3rd place: €5 000
  • 4th and 5th place: Honorary Diplomas
• Target technology platform:
  • Addresses the theme “Apps for the Networked Society”
  • Makes use of at least one Ericsson Labs API (e.g. Mobile Location, Text To Speech, etc.).
• Sponsor: Sony Ericsson
• Notes: Two categories
  • Students
  • Companies under 100 employees

4Shared

• Site: 4shared.com
• Deadline: Closed
• Price to enter: Free
• Prizes: $5000 (each monthly winner)
• Target technology platform: Use the 4shared API
• Sponsor: 4Shared

Conclusion

As you can see, not all of these contests apply to all Android apps or developers.

You might find more by searching for competitions that apply specifically to you or your app. A few things that challenges seem to focus on:

• Proprietary APIs that a company wants to promote
• Hardware that a company wants to showcase
• Countries or regions (e.g. the Indonesia tourism one below)
• Contests for students or small companies

Be sure to share what you find here for the rest of us!

I’ll share more news on app contests that I find as well as other research I do in my email newsletter, so be sure to sign up now.