Amazon's Appstore for Android closes next week

Next week is the end: Amazon is closing its app store for Android on August 20. According to Amazon, it can no longer be guaranteed that apps downloaded from the store will still work on Android devices by the deadline.

It has been known for six months that the Amazon App Store for Android devices will close. In February 2025, Amazon wrote: “We have decided to discontinue the Amazon Appstore for Android to focus entirely on the Appstore experience on our devices, where the vast majority of our customers currently interact with it.” Since the announcement, developers have no longer been able to submit new apps to Amazon's Appstore for Android, while they could continue to publish updates for their existing apps. As of August 20, this option will also be removed.

From August 20, Amazon will only offer its Android Appstore for its Fire TV and Fire tablet devices. The move follows the discontinuation of the Appstore for Windows in March 2025.

End for Amazon Coins

According to Amazon, users who have purchased Amazon Coins to make purchases in certain apps and in-app purchases in the Amazon Appstore will only have a short time to use up their credit. “Any Coins remaining in your account after August 20, 2025, will be refunded,” says Amazon. The company is not being specific here. It merely states that further details on refunds will be announced at a later date.

Amazon Appstore was one of the few alternative app stores for Android. Installing the Play Store alternatives is quite cumbersome and is particularly common among more experienced users. In addition to F-Droid, the most well-known app stores are Samsung's Galaxy Store, Xiaomi's Market,Huawei's Appgallery. However, the latter three are only available on the respective manufacturer's devices.

(afl)