The Amazon Shopping Android app is one of the latest to change how shopping works, avoiding the Play Store’s billing requirements (and Google’s deduction) for digital purchases. Spotted by the BBC and confirmed by Android Police, you will no longer be able to buy digital goods like Kindle eBooks in Amazon’s Play Store-distributed apps.
The mechanism of the change is unclear, but when attempting to buy digital goods like Kindle eBooks from the Amazon Shopping app, you are now verbally asked to “buy on amazon.com” below the price, and you can’ You can’t easily visit Amazon’s site to complete your purchases directly from the Amazon Shopping app. While you may share links to listings intended for certain apps, browsers are not a compatible target. Presumably, making it too easy to directly open a product listing in a browser would violate Google’s billing terms.
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No longer buying eBooks in the Amazon Shopping app from the Play Store, although the Kindle app still works.
In the app “Why can’t I buy on the app?” A disclaimer has also been added under. The link that appears on the affected listing, clearly stating:
“To be in compliance with Google Play Store policies, you will no longer be able to purchase new content from the app. You can create a reading list on the app and purchase on the Amazon website. [sic] from your browser.”
Another link on that disclaimer provides even more detailed information:
The change must have happened server-side. Testing on my personal device with Amazon Shopping App v 24.8.0.11, I am unable to make digital purchases, and the Play Store reports that the Amazon Shopping app has not been updated on my device since April 22nd. A version of the app appears to have debuted in the past few days, (v 24.9.0.100), but it doesn’t seem to be associated with this new limit.
Curiously, this change doesn’t appear to be live for at least one Android Police employee in Canada. The rollout could be regional, or Amazon is not implementing this change in all markets.
The Play Store Amazon Kindle app seems to be unaffected by this change as of now. While I anticipate it will eventually lose the ability to purchase digital goods like eBooks to comply with Google’s Play Store billing policy, I’ve still been able to successfully complete the check-out process in the Kindle app. (and he is Two Books I’m deducting on my taxes now as necessary expenses.)
For years, apps like Amazon have bypassed Google’s Play Store rules when it comes to selling digital goods. A specific interpretation of its former policy was used by apps such as Kindle and Hulu to allow customers to sign up for subscriptions and purchase media separately from in-app billing, which would require Google to deduct them. . However, a policy change in 2020 made it clear that this would no longer be allowed. The long-awaited rules finally roll out early next month, and several app updates have been made to accommodate the change.
Hulu removed the ability to sign up for the service through its Android app, and Epic Games-owned Bandcamp is even trial Google will try to block its Play Store-distributed apps from being pulled out of the store for non-compliance.
Amazon was not strictly required to remove digital purchases from the Amazon Shopping app to comply with Google’s billing policy; It could have adopted Google’s billing system, though it could have cut profits, might have caused Amazon to take a loss on digital purchases, or needed to hike prices. heroine maybe Google normally doesn’t have to pay a 15-30% deduction for digital purchases adopting Google’s billing. Google has a separate media experience program that the company told us earlier may allow rates as low as 10%. You can’t bypass the Play Store tax on digital purchases for apps distributed through it, but it can be reduced.
Amazon can also self-distribute a version of the app without these restrictions if it prefers, either to customers or through Amazon’s easily installable App Store, though neither To appear To become an option install the Amazon Shopping app now. We’ve reached out to an Amazon representative to see if they plan to provide those options, as well as to confirm if and when the Kindle app will also disable purchases, but they didn’t respond immediately. Didn’t answer. We’ve also asked Google for more information, such as whether Amazon was offered a 10% deal through the Media Experience program.
If you’re using an iPhone, this might all sound pretty weird since Amazon already The Platform does not allow the purchase of digital goods through its apps. Apple has similar rules, and although Google has turned a blind eye over the years, Apple has been enforcing it for a long time. The convenience of in-app digital purchases for Kindle eBooks and certain subscriptions has been a favorite of Android customers for more than a decade. But now that Google is actually enforcing its rules, the era is over.
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Ryan Hager (2998 articles published)
Basically a senior editor, really just some verbose dude who digs at tech, loves Android, and hates antitrust practices. His only regret is that he didn’t buy the Nokia N9 in 2012. Email us at androidpolice dot com for tips or improvements.
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