Bug: Different Amazon Purchase UI and Infinite Loading State When Retrying a Purchase

Fire Devices & Appstore Q&A
1

Hi Amazon Appstore SDK team,

I am working on integrating Amazon In-App Purchasing for a Fire TV application. I have recently migrated our implementation from Appstore SDK version 2 to version 3 and have implemented the required integration steps according to the documentation.

When I initiate a purchase using ‘PurchasingService.purchase(“SKU”)’ the Amazon purchase UI opens correctly and allows the user to enter card/payment details, as shown in the first screenshot. I am able to complete the purchase successfully.

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However, if the user presses Back in the middle of the purchase flow and then attempts to initiate the purchase again by calling:

PurchasingService.purchase("SKU");

a different Amazon UI is displayed. This UI only shows a “Subscribe Now” option.

When clicking “Subscribe Now”, the Amazon UI enters an infinite loading state. At this point:

  • The loading screen continues indefinitely.
  • The user is unable to navigate back from the Amazon UI.
  • Our application’s onPurchaseResponse() callback is not triggered.
  • Since the purchase UI is handled outside our activity, the only lifecycle callback we observe in our activity is onPause().
  • We do not receive any additional callback or error indicating that the purchase flow has failed or been cancelled.

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Version used:
Appstore SDK version - 3.0.9
Firetv OS version - 6.7.1.1

Troubleshooting performed:

  1. Confirmed that PurchasingService.registerListener() is not being called multiple times.
  2. Confirmed that duplicate PurchasingService.purchase() calls are not being made unintentionally.
  3. Cleared the Amazon Appstore cache and retried the purchase flow. After clearing the cache, the initial purchase UI, where card details can be entered, is displayed again.
  4. Reviewed our implementation against the Appstore SDK documentation and confirmed that the required integration steps have been implemented.
  5. When the issue occurs, no callback is received through onPurchaseResponse().

Based on our current assessment, the issue appears to occur within the Amazon purchase UI or purchase flow, as the application does not receive a callback or error when the UI enters the infinite loading state.

Request:

Could you please help us with the following:

  1. Please confirm whether this is expected behavior or a known issue with the Fire TV purchase flow.
  2. Is there a recommended workaround for handling this scenario?
  3. Could you confirm whether Appstore SDK version 3.0.9 is the recommended version for production Fire TV applications using In-App Purchasing?
  4. Could you help us understand why onPurchaseResponse() is not triggered when the Amazon purchase UI enters the infinite loading state?
  5. Is there any recommended way for the application to detect that the Amazon purchase flow has become stuck or has not returned a response?

I can provide our sample integration code, logs, device details, and screenshots if required.

2

Hi @Mohammed_Tariq

Welcome to Amazon Developer Community!

Thank you for the detailed report, screenshots, and thorough troubleshooting.

The two screens you’re seeing are actually two different subscription flows:

  1. First image - the standard IAP subscription purchase dialog (plan selection with “Purchase now”), triggered by PurchasingService.purchase(“SKU”).
  2. Second image - the Quick Subscribe flow (single “Subscribe now” button, auto-renew language). Note the “TEST” badge on the Eros Now logo - this confirms you’re testing a LAT (Live App Testing) build, not a production/sandbox build.

The switch between the two UIs after pressing Back, and the infinite loading, is a known characteristic of how the purchase flow behaves in the LAT environment - it does not reflect production behavior.

Answering your questions:

  1. Is this expected / a known issue?
    The infinite loading on re-initiating a purchase after Back is a known behavior specific to the LAT environment. In LAT, the purchase screen and Quick Subscribe flow can enter a delayed/stuck state after a cancelled attempt because the prior purchase session hasn’t fully cleared. This does not occur in production. (Reference: IAP LAT delayed purchase screen describes similar LAT-specific timing behavior.)

  2. Recommended workaround:

  • After a cancelled purchase (Back press), before re-initiating, call PurchasingService.getPurchaseUpdates(false) in your onResume() to reconcile any pending/incomplete purchase state.
  • If the UI is stuck in loading, press Home to return to the launcher, then re-open your app - this clears the stuck purchase session (as you already observed with the cache-clear).
  • Do NOT call purchase() again while a prior purchase session may still be pending - check getPurchaseUpdates() first.

  1. Is SDK 3.0.9 the recommended version?
    Yes, Appstore SDK 3.x is the current recommended version for production Fire TV IAP. 3.0.9 is fine. Confirm you’re on the latest 3.x patch.

  2. Why is onPurchaseResponse() not triggered during the infinite loading?
    The purchase UI runs outside your activity’s process (in the Appstore). When it hangs, the transaction never reaches a terminal state (SUCCESSFUL/FAILED/ALREADY_PURCHASED/INVALID_SKU), so no onPurchaseResponse() fires. The only lifecycle callback you’d see is onPause() (when the Appstore UI takes foreground). This is expected - the callback only fires when the Appstore returns a resolved result.

  3. How to detect a stuck/no-response purchase flow?
    There’s no direct “purchase timed out” callback. Recommended pattern:

  • In onResume() (when the user returns to your app after the purchase UI), call PurchasingService.getPurchaseUpdates(false). This reconciles any purchase that may have completed or is pending, even if onPurchaseResponse() didn’t fire.
  • Implement a client-side timeout: if onPurchaseResponse() doesn’t fire within N seconds of calling purchase(), treat it as incomplete and reconcile via getPurchaseUpdates() on next resume.
  • Always process receipts from getPurchaseUpdates() as the source of truth, not just onPurchaseResponse().

To confirm this is LAT-specific:
Could you test the same flow using App Tester (sandbox) or a production build (not the LAT build with the “TEST” badge)? If the infinite loading only reproduces on the LAT build, that confirms it’s an environment behavior rather than an SDK bug.

What would help us investigate:

  • Your app’s own logs around the purchase() call and any client-side SDK output (filter logcat by your own package name)
  • Your device DSN - so we can pull the Appstore-side purchase flow logs from our end to see why the UI hangs
  • Confirmation of whether this reproduces on a production build or only the LAT build

Warm Regards,
Ivy

4

Thank you @Ivy for the detailed information and the suggested workaround. This clarifies the behavior we are seeing in the LAT environment.

I will test the same purchase flow using a production build and verify whether the issue is specific to LAT. I will also test the recommended getPurchaseUpdates() reconciliation flow after cancelling a purchase.

I’ll update this thread with the results at the earliest.

Thanks again for your support.