Amazon has announced it is shuttering its efforts to compete with Google Play on Android.
The Amazon Appstore, which will continue to live on within Fire Tablet and Fire TV devices, will cease operating on August 20 this year. The company is also getting rid of its digital currency that can be used against purchases.
Echo Studio bargain
The Echo Studio, which boasts room-filling audio that’s perfect for a party, has now plummeted to a must-buy price at Amazon.
- Amazon
- Save 45%
- Now just £108.99
On a support page (via TechCrunch) for developers, Amazon said: “Starting August 20, 2025, you will no longer have access to the Amazon Appstore on your Android device. We will also be discontinuing the Amazon Coins program on August 20, 2025.”
The Amazon Appstore was originally launched as a way for Fire TV and Fire Tablet owners to get access to the key Android apps.
Because the FireOS runs on a forked version of Android, it doesn’t have access to Google Play Services, meaning there’s no Play Store or official apps like Gmail, YouTube, Google Calendar and more. Naturally, that Appstore will need to stick around for users of those devices in the future.
It was also expected to drive the company’s ill-fated Fire Phone range, but that handset only stuck around for one generation.
The need to have it on regular Android phones, complete with Google Play, was curious though. It was helpful for people who didn’t want a Google account at all and.
It also had a quirk for the Kindle app that enabled users to purchase them directly, which the native Kindle app for Android did not.
Amazon’s announcement comes after revealing it was shutting down access for the Appstore on Windows devices, which will be enacted on March 5.
