I have 6 web apps at Amazon Appstore that work perfectly well in almost all non-Amazon Android devices when installed through apk debug installer, and yet, they can’t be installed in non-Amazon Android devices through Amazon Appstore.
Why is that and what is the reason for such weird decision from Amazon Appstore?
Not all Android apps are available in Amazon’s app store, (and vice-versa), because Amazon’s app store operates independently from the Google Play Store, which is the primary app store for Android devices.
Developers have the option to distribute their apps exclusively through the Google Play Store, or make them available on multiple platforms, including Amazon’s app store. So it could be a developer preference. Some developers may choose not to distribute their apps on a given app store due to revenue sharing, or audience targeting.
From experience, I can tell you that both Google and Amazon app stores have different criteria that must be met. Things like, what the requirements are of the user of the app, age restrictions, how much information the user is required to give, and what happens with that information once its been given. The TOS (terms of service) are more often than not the deciding factor in which app store a developer distributes on.
Hope this helps!
Sorry, but, what does your reply has to do with this question?
Hi Silvano,
Thanks for posting! While the “Mobile Web” is one of the options when submitting applications to Amazon Appstore, it exists as a way for non-developers to submit a URL to their website and the system to auto generate an app on their behalf. It is not intended for more advanced use cases and as such it regrettably does not support the full array of features that you would normally find when submitting an .apk or .aab file via the “Android” option. At the moment that includes support for Amazon devices only.
Since you are a developer, I would strongly suggest looking at wrapping your web app in an Android package and submitting it as an .apk/.aab rather than .zip / URL. You will have more control over the manifest, as well as be able to target additional devices, among other things. Thanks!
Thanks for replying @Levon
but, until July 2023, it was possible to install Web Apps from Amazon Appstore in non-Amazon Android devices, why did Amazon Appstore decided to make it impossible\incompatible?
Hi Silvano,
While web apps were previously available on non-Amazon Android devices, most of these apps were poorly- or non-functioning on these devices, and it was a poor customer experience and rarely used.
I will pass your request to bring this feature back on to the team. Thanks for your feedback and understanding.
Moses
I can’t speak for other developers web apps, but I can speak for mine\s:
I have 8 web apps at Amazon Appstore and all of them work wonderfully in non-Amazon Android devices. (Except for 2 of them that use save button in which does not work because it seems Android\Cordova webviews only support download from http\https for now and this issue will probably be fixed in near future.)
Web Apps support depends on the “Google Chrome” version installed in the device because it seems web apps use the same engine used by “Google Chrome”.
Almost all my web apps work with any version of “Google Chrome”, except one that requires “Google Chrome” from 2019 (even phones from 2012-2013 can install “Google Chrome” from 2019, so, the support range is not a problem)
Also, there are several “Native Apps” working “poorly- or non-functioning” on non-Amazon Android devices, yet, they can still be installed from Amazon Appstore.