Amazon To Shut Down Android Appstore By August 2025

Amazon will shut down its Android Appstore on August 20, 2025, discontinuing assist for third-party Android units. The corporate informed developers that they are going to not be capable of submit new apps, signaling the tip of the platform’s presence exterior Amazon’s ecosystem.

Alongside the Appstore closure, Amazon may also discontinue its Amazon Cash digital foreign money, which was used to buy apps and video games. Customers holding Amazon Cash as of August 20 will obtain refunds. The corporate cited low engagement from non-Amazon gadget customers as a key motive for the shutdown, stating that the overwhelming majority of consumers use the Appstore on Amazon’s personal units, corresponding to Hearth TV and Hearth Tablets. The Appstore will proceed working on these units, guaranteeing that Amazon customers retain entry to apps and content material.

Oh wait what, Amazon App Retailer discontinued on Android Gadgets. pic.twitter.com/CQvxcXe4LP

— RizbIT IT Companies (@RizbITUK) February 20, 2025

Amazon initially launched its Appstore in 2011 as a substitute for Google Play, making an attempt to determine a competing app ecosystem. It was integral to Amazon’s Hearth Telephone, a challenge that in the end failed. Extra lately, Amazon tried to develop its app market to Home windows, permitting customers to obtain Android apps on Microsoft’s platform. Nevertheless, in 2024, Amazon introduced that it will discontinue assist for its Appstore on Home windows beginning March 5, 2025.

Safety issues might have influenced Amazon’s choice. In 2023, McAfee Labs found that an utility on the Amazon Appstore was disguising itself as a well being software whereas spreading malware. Whereas Amazon didn’t instantly attribute the shutdown to safety dangers, the incident raised issues concerning the platform’s security.

By closing its Android Appstore, Amazon is consolidating its digital providers, focusing by itself units moderately than sustaining an impartial app market. This transfer displays the corporate’s broader technique of strengthening its ecosystem moderately than competing with Google Play.

Filed in Cellphones. Learn extra about Amazon, Amazon Appstore and Android.