appstore - 3/5 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Sep

[Update x2: It Was Fun While It Lasted] Is The Amazon Appstore Officially Rolling Out Globally?

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Amazon, News

Update 2: Just like we expected, Amazon has pulled the plug on the Appstore's international availability. No reason was given, but we already knew that the global launch was unintentional in the first place, so it makes sense.

Of all the gripes surrounding the Amazon Appstore, its lack of international availability has been among the top since its release back in March of this year. However, we're starting to hear that Big A may have quietly unleashed its third-party Android market to several countries outside of the US.

According to The Digital Reader, users in the UK, Australia, The Netherlands, and India have all successfully been able to install the Appstore and login using their existing user ID and password.

Sep

Amazon Appstore Introduces 'Geek Week,' Drops The Price On Some Very Useful Apps

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

While the Amazon Appstore may have its downfalls, it also has its upsides -- namely good deals and free apps. Thus is the case with its new promotion called "Geek Week," in which some very useful apps designed for hardcore Android enthusiasts have received a nice price drop.

As for the apps in question, you'll find some well-known tools and utilities in the mix:

Easy Tether for $4.99 (normally $9.99)
Root Explorer for $0.99 (normally $3.99)
WidgetLocker for $0.99 (normally $1.99)
Wave Launcher for $0.99 (normally $1.99)
SetCPU for $0.99 (normally $2)
RepliGo Reader for $1.99 (normally $4.99)
Xtralogic Remote Desktop Client for $12.99 (normally $24.95)
BackupEverything for $0.99 (normally $1.99)

Among those, I highly recommend Root Explorer and SetCPU (for overclocked devices), but the majority of those apps are definitely worth the sale price.

Aug

Developer ShiftyJelly: Amazon Appstore "Rotten To The Core"

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in News

Nearly a month ago, we heard from the developer of Apparatus that the "Amazon Appstore is a disaster." To take a look at the other side of the situation, we sat down with Aaron Rubenson, the head of the Amazon Appstore. Now we have another developer, ShiftyJelly, chiming in with an even worse horror story: they were featured as the free app of the day (FAOTD), their app was downloaded 101,491 times, and they made $0 for it.

Their story isn't a fluke, either; Amazon made it abundantly clear that they do not compensate developers for the FAOTD.

Jul

[Weekend Poll] Amazon Has Now Given Away More Than 100 Apps - Which One Is Your Favorite?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Off-Topic, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

The Amazon Appstore has received very mixed reviews since its launch March 22nd of this year, most recently taking the heat from the Apparatus developer, but one thing is for sure - the free app deals it offers daily have become very popular among the folks here in the U.S. I for one religiously check the Appstore every night, hoping to pick up the next best app. Speaking of which...

The Amazon Appstore has now given out more than 100 free apps - some incredibly useful and some outright awful. I'm curious to see today which app deserves the highest marks in your grade book.

Jul

Amazon Appstore's Free App Of The Day Is The Mind-Reading SwiftKey X (Normally $3.99) [7/21/11]

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

Just a week after shedding its beta status, the ever-popular keyboard SwiftKey X is being featured in the Amazon Appstore as the free app of the day, down from its usual $3.99 price. If you've never used the beta, SwiftKey X has a few great features that distinguish it from many other alternative keyboards:

Improved word prediction using TouchType's Fluency Prediction Engine
Personalization Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, and SMS
"Precise" and "Rapid" typing styles
Supports multiple languages simultaneously

This is actually the second time one of TouchType's apps have been featured on the Appstore, the first being the original SwiftKey a few months back, so there's hope for tablet owners that SwiftKey Tablet X may be featured soon as well.

Jul

Apple To GetJar: "Stop Using 'App Store' Or We'll Sue You" GetJar: "No."

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, News

Apple's at it again, this time back on its "We own the words 'App Store'" reign of terror. While a judge denied Apple's request to bar Amazon from using "Appstore" in a preliminary injunction before the issue is decided at trial, that isn't stopping the world's most infamously litigious tech giant from going after everyone and their brother using the words.

And until the Amazon trial is settled or decided (it's on the docket - for October 2012), Apple is free to go about threatening and pursuing more legal action, even though its trademark on the words "App Store" remains actively contested (by Microsoft) in its bid for certification at the USPTO.

Jul

PSA: Amazon Appstore Allowing Downloads Over 4G (WiMAX, At Least) For Wi-Fi Only Apps

Posted by David Ruddock in 4G, Apps/Games, News, Tips & Tutorials

The Amazon Appstore's 'Wi-Fi Only' tag on certain large apps (read: Plants Vs. Zombies) has been a frustration for those with consistent access to 4G while they're on the go. I mean, come on Amazon, if I really want to download that 75MB PopCap game, it's my data connection! I'm sure there's some reasoning for this (like reducing the active # of connections on the Appstore's servers), but when you're on 4G, it only makes sense that you should be able to do the things you would on Wi-Fi.

Over the last few days we've heard from a number of people claiming the Appstore now allows Wi-Fi Only downloads over 4G, and we tested it out, sure enough, it works:

Now, we've also heard it doesn't yet work on Verizon 4G LTE - but Sprint's WiMAX is a definite go.

Jul

We Sit Down With The Head Of The Amazon Appstore And Talk Refunds, Reviews, Device Filtering, And More

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, Development, Interviews

When we published a piece reporting on the recent decision of game developer Bithack to pull its popular title Apparatus from the Amazon Appstore, we contacted Amazon asking for comment on the whole situation.

Earlier this week, Amazon got back to us and wanted to sit down and discuss the Appstore and some of the issues that developers and customers alike have had. While Amazon could not specifically discuss the complaints of Bithack for confidentiality reasons, they were able to generally talk about some of the concerns Bithack raised.

Today, I spoke with Aaron Rubenson, Category Leader (essentially, head of business) of the Amazon Appstore.

Jul

Apparatus Developer: "Amazon Appstore Is A Disaster"

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

You might have heard of the fun physics/Rube Goldberg machine game Apparatus. It's actually pretty popular, and quite well-loved - over 800 reviews on the Android Market putting it at an average score of 4.5. For a game, especially, that's a very difficult feat to accomplish. It goes without saying then, that the developer of Apparatus is very concerned with customer feedback and providing support for his application.

Recently, he decided to distribute Apparatus through the Amazon Appstore. Today, he decided to remove it.

Initially, Apparatus was rejected by the Appstore for an extremely minor (even insignificant) mis-step: it used HTTP rather than HTTPS for a cookie when the app was accessing the community forums.

Jun

[Update: It's Live!] Peggle Coming Exclusively To The Amazon Appstore June 21st, Free Of Charge - $2.99 Thereafter

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, Games, News

Update 6/21/11: The game just went live on the Amazon Appstore, go get it!

P.S. Unavailable on the Hero and XOOM but available on the Tab 10.1 and EVO? I can maybe understand the Hero, but the XOOM?..

Update: According to the comments, the game should work on devices listed as unavailable - you just have to buy it in the web version of the Appstore and then download as usual within the Appstore app. Odd stuff.