Amazon has already removed the option to purchase digital goods from its Shopping and Prime Video apps on Android due to changes to Google’s Play Store billing policy, and now, Kindle, Audible, and Music are following suit. The company is currently notifying customers that they will have to use the Amazon website to purchase new content to consume. The updates to the apps are already arriving at Android smartphones left and right.

As Amazon describes in a customer email notification regarding Kindle, the company made the change to comply with updated Google Play Store policies. While the Amazon doesn’t explicitly mention which rules it refers to, it’s clear that this is a reaction to Google’s 2020 plans to enforce its rules on digital goods that it previously ignored. According to the policy, digital goods sold on apps distributed via the Play Store need to use Google’s billing system, meaning that the search behemoth would take a cut from each sale.

It looks like Amazon isn’t keen on the idea of sharing its revenue like this, so instead of opting for Google’s payment method, it is simply removing the option to pay for digital goods from all of its apps. Google will begin to enforce these rules from June 1, 2022, so it’s high time that Amazon makes these tweaks.

According to Engadget, the new versions of the Kindle, Amazon Music, and Audible apps are already rolling out on the Play Store and should reach everyone soon.

Once you’ve got the Kindle update, you will have to head to amazon.com/ebooks to look for and purchase Kindle content. Alternatively, you can still browse the store in the app, but you can only add content to your wishlist, which you can access under amazon.com/wishlist in your browser if you want to purchase content from it. You will need to use a similar workaround if you want to purchase tracks on Amazon Music, and you will also need to turn to this in Audible once you’ve run out of credits from your subscription. Credit card payments right in the app will no longer be possible.

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Another option is to download the Amazon App Store for Android. It gives you access to different versions of the Amazon apps which still offer in-app purchases, though you'll need to uninstall the Play Store apps before you can download these. This solution comes at the expense of slightly higher battery usage, since the Amazon App Store runs in the background to look for app updates, much like the Play Store.

To remedy issues like these, Google is currently testing a new third-party billing system with Spotify, which is supposed to reduce the Play Store fee for in-app payments. However, it’s unclear if Amazon is willing to work with Google on this as it would still have to pay a fee. In any case, a solution like this would likely be best for customers who just want to purchase digital content right in the app that they want to consume it in.