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Android app support on Windows 11 hits prime time next month
Starting things off as a public preview
Love it or hate it, Windows 11 is here to stay. While a few of the UI changes have not sat well with some, there's no denying that some of the new features — including Android app support — are very exciting. Unfortunately, mobile apps were nowhere to be found when Windows 11 launched — not for those outside the Windows Insider beta program, at least. Months after its initial release, Microsoft looks set to fully roll out support for Android apps for everyone — albeit in public preview — starting next month.
The Amazon Appstore is finally up and running on Android 12
The company's been aware of compatibility issues since October
The Amazon Appstore is among the more popular alternatives Google's own Play Store, so early Android 12 adopters were understandably surprised this fall to find it didn't work on the newest release — leaving owners of phones like the Pixel 6 out in the cold. According to a statement given to Engadget, though, Amazon's finally righted the ship.
Amazon's Appstore is completely borked on Android 12
The retail giant is ignoring its Appstore yet again
Amazon's Appstore for Android is obviously not as popular as the Play Store, though it is a decent alternative to Google's offering. It is primarily used on the company's own Fire-branded tablets that do not ship with Play services. If you do actually care about the Amazon Appstore and have purchased several apps and games from it, make sure that you don't update your device to the latest version of Android. The Appstore is broken on Android 12, and Amazon is yet to fix it despite the OS being out for over a month now.
Android apps have arrived on Windows 11
The initial roster of supported apps is pretty light, though
Windows 11 is the biggest change to Microsoft's desktop operating system since 2015. While it brings a whole lot of new stuff to the table, a specific aspect of it caught our eye over here in Android land: Windows now supports Android apps. In a similar fashion to its Linux support, which had already been included with Windows 10, the latest version adds an Android subsystem so you can install and run your favorite apps on Windows natively. However, this wasn't a launch feature, so you couldn't just fire up a Windows 11 machine and start running Android apps. If you do want to try it out, the feature is now available for beta users.
Amazon remembers it has an app store, promises to catch up with modern package support — eventually
Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and actually maybe not soon either
Starting next month, app bundles will be the default means of distributing Android apps in the Play Store. It's a way to dramatically reduce download size for apps that target different hardware and build in extra assets without taking up extra space. App bundles are coming to Amazon's branded Appstore, too. Someday.
Weekend poll: Did Microsoft make the right choice with Amazon's Appstore for Windows 11?
It's good for competition, but are you happy with the decision?
The biggest news of last week was Microsoft's announcement of Windows 11 — and, more relevant to us, the fact that the new OS will run Android apps. However, there is one major catch: The app store Microsoft plans to use is Amazon's. While sideloading apps will apparently be possible, we don't know what sort of restrictions or difficulties that might impose. So for this week's poll, we'd like to know: Do you think Microsoft is making the right choice using Amazon's Appstore on Windows 11?I'm of two minds here because there is a clear consumer benefit in terms of competition. Yes, Amazon's Appstore doesn't have as good of a selection, and the company's recent practices are sketchy at best. In terms of tech giant conglomerates, Amazon's about as far down on the "evil" scale a company can go before it starts stealing candy from babies or starting fights in bars. But, Amazon's Appstore is also one of the very few third-party ones for Android that has managed to be successful at any level, and an uptick in customers via a Microsoft partnership could be the kick in the pants it needs to really compete with Google and provide us with a solid second choice.Of course, a Microsoft Engineer says we should be able to sideload apps, but that's not necessarily an easy workaround for Microsoft's choice of store. Chromebooks are a good example for comparison here. Yes, technically you can sideload Android apps on them, but it's a huge pain in the ass, and there's no proof yet that Microsoft will make things easy for us, either.Microsoft could likely have gone with the Play Store just as easily — after all, the company highlighted how closely it worked with Google for the Surface Duo dumpster fire — but Google's terms for such a deal would almost certainly have been more difficult for Microsoft to accept. Historically, Google's Play Store licensing imposes things like pre-installed apps, Google service integrations, and Google Search as the default search engine (though GMS licensing terms are usually confidential and vary by manufacturer and market). And when it comes to desktop services, search, and personal computing, Microsoft and Google are direct competitors.Lastly, Microsoft has a software storefront already: the Microsoft Store. In fact, that's how you'll get your Android apps on Windows 11, but Microsoft still isn't fully in charge. As the screenshot above shows, it's just a front-end for the Amazon Appstore. If the company wanted to, Microsoft could have just done its own thing from end-to-end.There's a lot to balance here as you consider the question, but what do you think of Microsoft's choice of Android app store for Windows 11, and do you think Amazon's Appstore is the right one?
Windows 11 will run the Android apps you want (from the app store you don't)
Also: maybe not all the apps you want, either
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Microsoft is announcing the next generation of Windows today, complete with an all-new look and feel to its interface. There are a ton of changes arriving with Windows 11, but one new addition was genuinely unexpected. Android apps are coming to Windows 11 in the Microsoft Store, with an unexpected partner bridging the two platforms.
Firefox is ending support for Amazon Fire TV and Echo Show devices
You'll need to switch to Amazon Silk after April 30th
Firefox came to Fire TV devices way back at the tail-end of 2017, available alongside Amazon's own Silk browser. Although there's plenty of reasons to access the web on a TV, it really only showed up for one reason. During the years where YouTube was unavailable on Amazon's streaming gadgets, Firefox provided an easy alternative. Of course, an official YouTube app has been back on Fire TV since 2019, significantly reducing the need for a third-party web browser. Starting on April 30th, 2021, Mozilla will no longer support Firefox on the Fire TV or its Echo Show.
Why pay more than you have to for the games you love? When you use the Amazon Appstore, you can enjoy big savings with Amazon Coins. And for a limited time, you can get up to 30% refunded back to you when you make purchases in some of the most popular games around.Amazon Coins are used to make in-app purchases just like cash in games downloaded via the Amazon Appstore, but at a discount to you. Each Coin has an equivalent value to one penny, so 100 Coins = $1.00. However, you don’t pay $1.00 for every 100 Coins. For instance, if you buy $100 worth of Amazon Coins, you will only pay $87 of your own money. That means you have $100 to spend on games without spending $100 of your cash.
A good review can make all the difference when deciding on an app. But a review is only as good as it is relevant, so Amazon is tweaking the way the Appstore displays them.
There are probably quite a few new Amazon Kindle tablet owners poking through their brand new gadgets this morning, and to encourage new customers to check out what the Appstore offers, Amazon is giving some of its best games for free. A couple of its best games, anyway - the rest of today's 13 freebies are less than notable. But gamers will definitely want to grab textual space adventure Lifeline, atmospheric exploration game Last Horizon, and the zany fantasy-themed Goat Simulator MMO Simulator.Here's the full list of currently free titles.
Whether you're a hardcore mobile gamer or just someone who likes to use games as a distraction to pass the time, basically everyone plays games on their smartphone and/or tablet. With the popularity of mobile games in recent years, however, we've also seen a rise in in-app purchases and higher-priced mobile games. But sometimes it's just hard to justify spending any additional money on virtualized currency or other in-game perks.Amazon gets that, and the introduction of the Amazon Appstore and Amazon Coins are the company's answer to high game and IAP costs. First off, let's take a closer look at what's going on with Underground.
Amazon really likes to package a bunch of regularly paid apps and give them away for free, seemingly at every opportunity. The latest batch is ostensibly in honor of Halloween, though a lot of the paid apps being offered don't really have any connection with the holiday. We don't mind - anyone who's been keeping up with these promotions has built up quite a little library of freebies by now. You can see the full collection here.
Minecraft Pocket Edition updates are often filled with minute changes that you have to be familiar with the game to understand. Version 0.12.1's changelog includes a number of these tweaks. For example, there's "Ocelots! Try taming one with a fish" and "Golems. We recommend you approach with caution." Also, "Sneaking and sprinting! Express yourself through movement!"[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/MCPE_News/status/617763460789567489[/EMBED_TWITTER]But you don't need any understand of the game's lore or its mechanics to appreciate this one—gamepad support has arrived! That's right, the wait is over (for the most part, keep reading). A mapping screen comes included that lets you assign functions to your preferred buttons.While you're digging out that controller, know that you and four buddies can now play together across mobile devices and Windows 10. So if you're running Android and your friends are gaming from their PC, that should no longer be a problem.
When Amazon announced Amazon Underground, a new app marketplace where many freemium games are made "actually free," everything seemed pretty great. You can make in-app purchases on apps downloaded from Underground without actually spending money, which is my favorite way to buy things. Of course, if you spend much time thinking about how this must work behind the scenes, it's tough to see how this will be a winner.
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Amazon has had some pretty great deals as part of its Free App of the Day, but apparently that's over now. The prolific retailer is replacing it with Amazon Underground, which includes "over $10,000 of apps and games that are actually free." Specifically, Amazon is giving away paid apps and in-app purchases with an agreement that reimburses app developers based on the amount of time the apps are actually used. It's very much like Amazon Kindle Unlimited, without the extra charge.The promotion comes in the form of a brand new Amazon Underground app. This app replaces all the functionality of the standard Amazon Shopping app, with the Underground partner apps thrown in as well. And surprisingly, this isn't just a bunch of junk from developers who are desperate for a little exposure - these are premium games, well-known apps and tools, and in-app purchases that would cost considerable amounts of money on the Play Store, all available completely free to end users. Games from Rovio, Glu, Gameloft, and more are included. Not all of the in-app purchases are set to free - you can't just download an infinite amount of gems - but at least some will come at no charge. Update: see below.[EMBED_YT]https://youtu.be/QDRvenh4TQs[/EMBED_YT]To get Amazon Underground, just open Amazon Shopping or the Amazon Appstore on your phone - it should appear as a banner right at the top of either of them, prompting you for a sideload installation just like a normal Amazon Appstore app. (You can also download it directly at amazon.com/underground.) The Shopping app will be replaced with Underground, and the Amazon Appstore app (where paid and free apps and games that aren't part of Underground are still available) will include a cross-app link.Check it out, there's a surprisingly great selection already. If Amazon is hoping to get people excited about its Appstore as an alternative to Google Play, they're off to a good start. Developers can learn more at developer.amazon.com/underground.
Amazon's latest app giveaway is worth more than $50 and will remain available for the next week. As you can see in the hero image, some of the headliners include The Bard's Tale and Weather Live, though there are several more that may interest you. And while the super-popular Monument Valley has disappeared from the promotional page, it's free too. This is bigger and better (and longer-lasting) than its typical free daily deal, though it isn't their best ever. Beyond those already mentioned, you might want to pay special attention to Quell Memento and Alarm Clock Pro.Here is the full list of what's on offer, all of them free for now:
Amazon has taken its sweet time bringing its dedicated cloud storage solution to Android devices. Amazon Cloud Drive Photos has been around since 2012, but that was a photo-specific product that came years after Dropbox, to name one competitor, was already letting mobile users back up whatever they want. Amazon Cloud Player Music launched in 2011, but again, that just stored audio files.It is only now in 2015 that Amazon has made a non-specialized Cloud Drive app available for Android. This should make that unlimited storage all the more tempting.
BlackBerry has slowly but surely realized that their best bet for continued existence is to somehow bridge the app compatibility gap that Android and iOS boast in comparison to their platform. The route they have taken is adding the ability to natively run Android apps within the BlackBerry OS, which quite honestly is a good idea. The next step is getting those apps to users. For American users, that starts today, as a new OS update will bring the Amazon Appstore along with it.
OK, Amazon, I can sympathize with your plight. As both the legal operator of a massive software distribution service and a TV, movie, and music vendor beholden to various rights holders, you might be tempted to remove anything from your app store that even whiffs of piracy or copyright infringement. Hell, I could help you spot some examples if you want. But that really doesn't excuse booting legitimate, useful apps off of your store without a second thought, as appears to be the case with Kodi Media Center.AFTV reports that Amazon removed Kodi, a highly technical open-source media manager (formerly called XBMC), from the Amazon Appstore last week. The developers were given no warning or explanation. When they contacted Amazon directly, they were told that, "[Amazon] determined that it can be used to facilitate the piracy or illegal download of content," and asked not to resubmit the app again.