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9

Currently, the Amazon app store appears to be US-only. Similar to How do I use the US Android Market, I want to know: How can I use the US Amazon Appstore?

Market Enabler doesn't seem to work, and it's not IP-based like I previously thought. Any suggestions?

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Just curious: what can you do in the Amazon store that you can't using the regular Android market ? – Edelcom Mar 22 '11 at 14:05
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Not much but they give one paid app away for free every day. Today is Angry Birds Rio. Edit: Turns out there's more. – Matt Mar 22 '11 at 14:07
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As far as I can tell, it's not Amazon who's giving away the app, it's just the developer who doesn't get paid. With Angry Birds Rio, that will be different because want to attract people and therefore will certainly have invested in this game, but other developers may not be so lucky. – Edelcom Mar 22 '11 at 17:44
Note that bypassing regional limitations is actually more serious offense then just pirating the app straight up. At least in EU. – Let_Me_Be Aug 23 '11 at 9:45
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@Let_Me_Be Can you provide any reference to support your statement? – hennes Dec 20 '11 at 18:49

5 Answers

up vote 20 down vote accepted

Welp, looks like it's not actually IP related. You need a US credit card with a US billing address to buy apps; you can fake the number (all 0's works, see the other answers) and address to download free apps. Then ensure 1-click ordering is turned on in your Amazon.com account (the Appstore will prompt you to do this and provide a link). A prepaid credit card in USD might be a good way to do this for people outside the US, I'm not sure.

Update: Some users seem to be reporting that Amazon is now blocking non-US IP addresses. This isn't 100% accurate, since I access the app every day from Canada with no issues. It may block specific countries though, in which case you'll need a US-based proxy/VPN. Make sure you trust it, so that your account credentials aren't compromised; don't use Tor / Orbot!

Update: You have to now prove to be a US resident by accessing the store with a US based IP once. It's sufficent to use a US proxy once.

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I was just typing this up as an answer when you posted it. One way to make the transactions more secure would be to get a prepaid credit card and only charge it up with funds when you need to. If you just put $10 in at a time the most the thieves will get is a couple cups of coffee worth. – Matt Mar 22 '11 at 14:06
@ce4 Do you have a source for that? I just opened the app and it worked as normal, though I have accessed it with a US IP in the distant past. – Matthew Read♦ Jun 21 '12 at 18:00
Sure. It's sadly in german, so here's a Google Translate link to original article: translate.google.de/… Search for 'After a single authentication' – ce4 Jun 21 '12 at 18:17
The last update (jun 21 2012 is no longer valid. I accessed all the times from a US ip but I'm not able to complete a buy yet. – Toc Oct 25 '12 at 22:50
up vote 2 down vote

This from MoDaCo worked for me:
Using the Amazon Appstore from outside the US (including paid apps)

The gist is you need..

  1. An account with amazon.com (rather than .co.uk or whatever)
  2. A valid US address and phone number to attach to this account
  3. A US registered credit/debit card number for the account attached to account's 1-Click settings

Legal and 'non-illegal' methods given in the link.

Update
This method no longer works as Amazon seem to have started checking your region (IP address presumably). So looks like you'd need to use a US based VPN now.

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up vote 1 down vote

Actually, I managed to activate 1-click with a dummy credit card (0000-0000-0000-0000) and a completly fake postal address. I think amazon doesn't check the credit card number until you actually buy something... Why is it not recommended to enter a fake address ? The only thing i'm interesting in is download the free app-a-day... Is amazon gonna erase my phone and all my google data (including my gmails) ?

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Yeah, it's fine if you only want free apps. The issue is if you try to buy apps with a fake address; Amazon and your credit card company are sure to be unhappy. Interesting that all 0's worked though! – Matthew Read♦ Jul 4 '11 at 21:56
@guilhem Certainly not. They'll simply terminate your account and ban your email address which means you'll lose any digital content you bought and didn't backup locally. – hennes Dec 20 '11 at 18:40
up vote 1 down vote

I'd just like to let everyone know that initially I registered my Fire with an account that had a US address and a fake AMEX credit card, and then I added my (Australian) bank account number and it works just fine. I haven't bought anything on my Fire yet, but I did successfully purchase Quickoffice Pro from the Amazon website. =D

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up vote -3 down vote

why not have a try with app Market Unlocker on the phone? Unlike market enabler, it can set fake provider and proxy for your Android Market and Amazon appstore, which looks like you're visiting from US (IP address). So you will be able to check out paid apps.

Search and check out "Market Unlocker" in Android Market https://market.android.com/details?id=com.evanhe.marketunlocker

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It looks like this app is no longer available. – Matthew Read♦ Apr 27 '12 at 4:22

protected by Al Everett Apr 6 '12 at 18:24

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