As 2023 comes to a close, we invite you to take a look back with us at some of our favorite highlights. From new features and developer tools, to expanding across devices to reach PC gamers, to in-person meet-ups — we’re incredibly grateful to celebrate another year with the Amazon Appstore Developer community.
Whether you’re porting your first app to Fire OS or already delighting users around the world, we built tools and features to support your growing business on the Amazon Appstore:
App porting made easier with product improvements and new developer tools for publishing Android apps on the Amazon Appstore:
- A3L SDKs enable you to create one implementation across both Android and Fire OS devices for common features, including messaging, user authentication, and location services.
- The Appstore Billing Compatibility SDK uses familiar API request structures that mirror the Google Play Billing Library for consumables, entitlements, and subscriptions so you can launch on Amazon Appstore without refactoring your code.
- We tested and verified over 46 popular Android SDKs you can use with Fire OS without any code changes.
- If you submit an app using the Android App Bundles format, you can now optimize your app download size for all the supported Amazon devices.
New customer experience features to increase engagement and revenue:
- Simple Sign-in uses secure tokens to represent the identity of your users, eliminating the need for them to remember and input their login credentials every time they sign in across multiple devices.
- Pending Purchases gives your users more control and peace of mind by allowing parents and guardians to approve or decline in-app purchasing requests made through the Amazon Kids user profile.
- Privacy labels provide your customers with transparency on how your app collects and uses their data.
Streamlined workflow for submitting apps with an updated the Live App Testing and App submission experience. We heard your feedback and simplified forms, reduced manual inputs, and added auto-save functionality.
Important: Amazon Appstore on Windows 11 will no longer be supported after March 5, 2025. Read the blog for more information.
In July, we were thrilled to announce that all developers can distribute their apps and games to Amazon Appstore on Windows 11, unlocking hundreds of millions of new users across 31 countries. Over 53K apps are available today, including a few whose developers were excited as us to share their stories:
said Brian Hall, CEO of Mark/Space who captivated PC users with their retro gaming service app, Argon.
We had a blast hosting our first virtual devDay event in April. In addition to new releases, our industry experts covered best practices for optimizing your app on Amazon Appstore. Viewers especially liked learning about the benefits available through the Small Business Accelerator Program, such as improved revenue share and AWS promotional credits. Special thanks to everyone who joined us in the devLounge for live Q&A! ICYMI, you can watch all the sessions for free on-demand.
From Games Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, to devCom in Cologne, to droidcon London — we got to meet up with you at 16 events across the globe. We loved connecting in-person to hear about what you’re building and how we can make our tools better. Your creativity and feedback are truly invaluable when it comes to shaping the future of Amazon Appstore.
We hope you had as much fun learning about some of our favorite topics as we did sharing them with you:
- High performance code sharing between Android, iOS, and Web
- Creating Engaging Android TV and Fire TV Apps with Native and Cross-Platform Tools
- How to use StoryBook for UI development, testing, and documentation
Follow @AmazonAppDev and sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date on where we’re headed next.
Our recap wouldn’t be complete without a huge “thank you” to you — the developers who create content and experiences customers love. You inspire us to keep innovating, improving, and investing in what matters. Thank you for being part of our community. We can’t wait to see what you build in 2024.