Amazon Appstore Thread

[mikedt]

They are very highly rated popular games on Android market and Symbian (we're talking millions of downloads here) so that's probably why they picked them.
Unfortunately, the reason why they are so popular is because they are for low end phones that are prevalent overseas and Amazon users are more tech savvy.

I'm curious as to how you drew that conclusion.

Seems to me using Amazon is a no-brainer(provided one has a western credit card), so easy that even my grandmother could use it. Probably why Amazon has been so successful over the years. I consider myself to be tech savvy, well tech savvy enough to go over the Great Firewall of China and to root Android phones. However I've had no reason to use Amazon at all, until now.

 

[mikedt]

I'm not too sure about your problem, I know the Amazon Appstore doesn't have the best support in Canada and the U.K. from what I read in this article:
Work-Around Discovered for Amazon Appstore Users Outside of US
maybe this is also a problem in China, but according to the article it will fix the issue with free apps. I hope this helps

I tried that this morning, but it's still requiring a valid Visa, Mastercard or Amex credit card number. Still not sure why the Appstore is running so slow though, I can view Amazon's websites no problems at all from my PC and Galaxy S however. The initial download of the Appstore APK file was quick as well. I just scanned the QRcode from Amazon's US site for this.

Amazon.cn in China takes payments from UnionPay cards, almost everyone here has these.

I'm still interested as to why a multinational like Amazon is trying to limit their Appstore to US only. Can't be licensing can it? It's not like they're selling music or movies here. Apple and Google have no such restrictions on their 'app stores'*, although certain games and apps may not be available or suitable for all countries, e.g. iPlayer, Netflix and Hulu apps.

* Google only distributes free games and apps in mainland China.

 

[ari-free]

I'm curious as to how you drew that conclusion.

Seems to me using Amazon is a no-brainer(provided one has a western credit card), so easy that even my grandmother could use it. Probably why Amazon has been so successful over the years. I consider myself to be tech savvy, well tech savvy enough to go over the Great Firewall of China and to root Android phones. However I've had no reason to use Amazon at all, until now.

Grandma knows English and knows how to use Amazon on her PC. Many of these herocraft games are sold to Albanian sheepherders with really dinky phones.

 

[CriticalCritic]

Anyone notice that the Amazon market had two different paid apps today? The first one got hammered by reviews because it had jacked up the permissions (that were not there in the Google Market version). Then it was suddenly replaced by the Newsweek app.

I'm wondering if Amazon really is filtering the available apps as well as they claim?

 

[A.Nonymous]

I'm curious as to how you drew that conclusion.

Seems to me using Amazon is a no-brainer(provided one has a western credit card), so easy that even my grandmother could use it. Probably why Amazon has been so successful over the years. I consider myself to be tech savvy, well tech savvy enough to go over the Great Firewall of China and to root Android phones. However I've had no reason to use Amazon at all, until now.

I think mainly because it's harder to install. You have to click a link in an email and wait for an apk. Then you have to download that apk to your phone. Then you have to disable the feature that blocks sideloading apps by default. You have to be a little more tech savvy to begin with.

 

[mikedt]

Grandma knows English and knows how to use Amazon on her PC. Many of these herocraft games are sold to Albanian sheepherders with really dinky phones.

That's probably down to how rich a person is isn't it, rather than how tech savvy they are?

'Albanian sheepherders' (peasants) not likely to be able to afford a PC or fancy expensive smartphone. But on the other hand, these peasants are mechanically inclined enough(tech savvy) to be able to say strip and repair an engine. Something my grandma could never do. My grandma is not tech savvy at all, she'd go to Geek Squad if she had problems with her PC.


Chinese peasants who may only have dinky basic cheap Nokia and Haier phones, can be very tech savvy. Tech savvy enough to be able to repair their own DVD players, TVs and washing machines.

 

[ari-free]

Anyone notice that the Amazon market had two different paid apps today? The first one got hammered by reviews because it had jacked up the permissions (that were not there in the Google Market version). Then it was suddenly replaced by the Newsweek app.

I'm wondering if Amazon really is filtering the available apps as well as they claim?

There are reports that the game is now updated and fixed the permissions issue.

 

[ari-free]

That's probably down to how rich a person is isn't it, rather than how tech savvy they are?

'Albanian sheepherders' (peasants) not likely to be able to afford a PC or fancy expensive smartphone. But on the other hand, these peasants are mechanically inclined enough(tech savvy) to be able to say strip and repair an engine. Something my grandma could never do. My grandma is not tech savvy at all, she'd go to Geek Squad if she had problems with her PC.


Chinese peasants who may only have dinky basic cheap Nokia and Haier phones, can be very tech savvy. Tech savvy enough to be able to repair their own DVD players, TVs and washing machines.

Yes that is all true. But this is not about IQ. It's about what they don't know and don't have. My point is that they won't be so picky about mobile games that don't run well on an Atrix or have all kinds of unnecessary permissions. Amazon/developers can't throw out old j2me ports and expect good reviews.

 

[benfgsg]

I think if you try to download it from your phone it is difficult, but if you regularly use Amazon and you have an android phone, even if you're not tech savvvvvy you'll notice that Amazon puts their own products upfront for consumers to see. The Kindle was on the home page for the longest time, last week the Amazon Appstore was on the front page and now each has its own dedicated tabs on the side. Currently they are pushing the Amazon Cloud Player, which I'm probably going to download just to give it a try. What I'm saying is, Amazon has dabbled around with marketing and online purchasing for a lot longer than Android and they know what they're doing. Plus people who use Amazon already have their purchasing information setup and it immediately carries over from their Amazon account to their Appstore.