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Is the new Amazon Android App Store just another marketplace or are there any specific features or benefits that the Google Android Market doesn't have?

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I still prefer AppBrain: appbrain.com – travis Mar 22 '11 at 15:19
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@travis, AppBrain is a superset of the main Android Market, it's effectively another way to manage, choose and recommend the apps in the Android Market (with a few extra features). The Amazon Market is totally separate from the Android Market. – GAThrawn Mar 22 '11 at 16:55

4 Answers

up vote 14 down vote accepted

There are a number of differences between the two marketplaces and while "Advantages" may be somewhat subjective there are a few specific features that the Amazon App Store has that the Market place does not.

  1. Amazon claims to test each app before making them available for download to ensure that "each app works as outlined in [the] product description, does not impair the functionality of the mobile device or put customer data at risk once installed."

  2. They offer one "paid" app for free each day.

  3. Some apps have a "Test Drive" feature on their website that allows you to try the app in a virtualized Android interface in your browser (although I can't seen to find an app that has this feature yet ).
  4. Amazon is employing their recommendation engine to suggest apps you may like based on your purchase history.

It should be noted that at the moment the Amazon App Store only works in the US (unless you are able to use a US Proxy in another country) and the service is blocked on AT&T devices.

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Test Drive has been temporarily disabled, I believe. Does Amazon's testing mean manual testing? I assume Google does automatic scans now, though I'm not sure. – Matthew Read♦ Mar 22 '11 at 14:53
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In their Dev FAQ that say "...As a result, we will be testing the apps you submit prior to making them available in our store to verify that each app works as outlined in your product description, does not impair the functionality of the mobile device or put customer data at risk once installed, and complies with the terms of the Distribution Agreement and our Content Guidelines." – Matt Mar 22 '11 at 15:00
I'm going to experiment with publishing my app on Amazon. The other thing is that they control the price. You give it a "list" price, but they could have a "sale" or give the app away for free for a day. – Bryan Denny♦ Mar 22 '11 at 15:38
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Another advantage: gift cards amazon.com/gp/feature.html/… – Bryan Denny♦ Mar 22 '11 at 17:57
up vote 6 down vote

The pricing model is nice. You can set a list price. They will sell the app for (almost any) price. You will either get 70% of list price or 20% of sell price , whichever is higher.

So occassionally they might give it for free and that increases your sales (without loosing revenue) or they might sell for a high price (which is good if people ready to pay for it).

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up vote 4 down vote

A nice feature of the Amazon App store is that it is tied to your Amazon account, not your google account. This means if you have two phones with different gmail accounts in the same house, you can share apps if they both log into the amazon app store with the same login. On Android Market, I've had to buy apps twice in that case.

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up vote 1 down vote

Angry Birds (Paid/Ad-Free), Angry Birds Seasons (Paid/Ad-free), Angry Birds Rio. That's it, if you like Angry Birds, that is. These are currently exclusive to Amazon's Appstore, for the time being. There are probably other apps that are exclusive as well, I don't have a list.

The Amazon Appstore is be taking advantage of its recommendation engine and the one-click purchasing it is known for. In that regard it is leaps and bounds better than the current Android Market/Google Checkout system, must faster, however the recommendations will only take into account apps you've purchased through Amazon's system, so it might not be super useful at first.

The main advantage of the Amazon Appstore is that you don't need Google's blessing, meaning you can install this on any device (above a certain Android OS version) that doesn't come with the official Android Market, say one of those cheap Chinese tablets. You have access to many of the same apps, so long as the developer has uploaded them to both places, without the need for Google to okay the device.

Update: If you like to play games on your phone Gameloft's commitment to use the Amazon Appstore exclusively is significant.

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