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2024 year-in-review: tools, community, and growth

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As 2024 comes to a close, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the many achievements of our developer community. Your creativity and input have guided us to build better tools, foster collaboration, and address the challenges that matter most. Whether you’re a seasoned app developer or or just starting out, we’re grateful to work with you to support your vision and success. From new resources to exciting events, let’s look back at the highlights of the year.

 

Building together in 2024

Developer events

This year, we had the privilege of meeting many of you at events all across the globe. During live panels and tech talks, we explored how React Native simplifies app development for Fire TV, Fire tablets, and more, allowing you to build once and deliver seamlessly across Amazon devices. We hope these insights helped you save time and reach more users with your apps. Missed any of our events? Catch up with some of our favorite sessions from 2024:

 

Extending React Native Beyond Mobile & Desktop Apps with Anisha and Chris

Beyond Mobile: Building Multi-Modal Streaming Apps with React Native for Amazon Devices

At React Conf, Chris Trag and Anisha Malde showcased how to extend your app to platforms like Fire TV, Tablet, Echo Show, and Automotive. They tackled challenges like performance optimization, input methods, and focus management, sharing tools and techniques to maximize React Native's capabilities for multi-device scalability.

Build a React Native App for TV in 15 Minutes with Erica Fahsl

Build a React Native App for TV in 15 Minutes

At Chain React, Eric Fahsl demonstrated practical strategies to adapt mobile apps for TV environments. From optimizing screen size, navigation, and performance for native TV apps, to using tools like spatial navigation libraries, this talk equips you to create polished TV app experiences quickly and efficiently.

Panel session- "Over The Top": Building streaming apps for mobile, web, and smart tvs

Over the Top: Building Streaming Apps for Mobile, Web, and Smart TVs

At React Universe, Chris Trag moderated a panel with experts from DirecTV, Meta, Callstack, TheWidlarzGroup, and Theodo. They explored how to handle variable screen resolutions, input modes, and scaling for big events, offering tips for optimizing performance and creating seamless, multi-device streaming experiences. Whether you're expanding a mobile app to TV or building a TV-first experience, this session provides valuable insights.

2024 product and feature release round-up

This year, we introduced new spaces and repositories to foster knowledge sharing within our community:

  • The Appstore Developer Community Space relaunch makes it easier than ever to connect with peers, share insights, and troubleshoot challenges. This space fosters collaboration and gives you a voice to help shape the future of app development on the Amazon Appstore.
  • Amazon Appstore's GitHub has added new code samples, quick-start guides, and porting tools. Working with React Native? Find resources to get started or streamline your workflows.

Try these new features to grow your user base and app revenue:

  • Live App Testing (LAT) now makes testing in-app purchases (IAPs) faster and more reliable, helping you catch issues early in a secure, controlled environment for a smoother user experience.
  • Retention Offers give your users a reason to stay engaged with your app by offering limited-time discounts during critical decision points.

products
products

Try these new features to grow your user base and app revenue:

  • Live App Testing (LAT) now makes testing in-app purchases (IAPs) faster and more reliable, helping you catch issues early in a secure, controlled environment for a smoother user experience.
  • Retention Offers give your users a reason to stay engaged with your app by offering limited-time discounts during critical decision points.

Improved dashboards and reports help you monitor key KPIs and deliver a best-in-class user experience:

  • The App Health Insights dashboard helps you monitor your app’s performance and stability in one place, making it easier to identify and resolve issues before they impact your users.
  • The acquisition dashboard and reports helps you understand how users discover your app, measure your app's acquisition, and refine your strategies for growth.
  • The engagement dashboard and reports give you comprehensive user activity with customizable filters to track trends across time periods, devices, and marketplaces, so you can make data-driven decisions to improve your app’s performance.

Additional tools and features simplify porting from Android OS, helping you expand your app's reach to Fire OS:

  • The Appstore Billing Compatibility (ABC) SDK simplifies porting Android apps using the Google Play Billing Library to the Amazon Appstore, supporting consumables, entitlements, and subscriptions without code refactoring.
  • The Receipt Verification Service (RVS) in the Appstore Billing Compatibility SDK streamlines in-app purchase (IAP) receipt verification for your backend, saving development time with RESTful APIs that align with Google Play's interfaces.
  • Amazon Appstore Easy Port helps you resolve SDK compatibility issues when porting Android apps to Fire OS by rebuilding your app at the bytecode level with compatible SDKs, saving you time and reducing the need for code refactoring.

You asked, we delivered resources

We’ve developed resources tailored to your most pressing challenges, supporting your goals to build, optimize, and succeed.

 

Extending React Native Beyond Mobile & Desktop Apps with Anisha and Chris

ASO 101: App store optimization for Amazon developers

Actionable strategies to improve your app's visibility and ranking, from optimizing metadata and images to leveraging keywords and reviews for greater discoverability.

Extending React Native Beyond Mobile & Desktop Apps with Anisha and Chris

4 ways to make money on the Amazon Appstore

Tips for monetizing your app effectively with strategies like paid downloads, in-app purchases, ads, and using Amazon's Product Advertising API to increase earnings.
 

Extending React Native Beyond Mobile & Desktop Apps with Anisha and Chris

Get started with React Native for Fire OS

A step-by-step guide to building apps for Fire TVs and tablets using React Native and the Expo framework, with tips for emulators, physical devices, and optimizing for leanback features.

Extending React Native Beyond Mobile & Desktop Apps with Anisha and Chris

Testing the startup time for your Fire OS app

How to measure and optimize your app's startup performance on Fire OS with the FireOS Performance Test, from setup to actionable insights.
 

Extending React Native Beyond Mobile & Desktop Apps with Anisha and Chris

4 tips to update your Amazon Developer account

Streamlined, self-serve solutions for updating your developer name, managing user permissions, and transferring account ownership.

Thank you

Your work and apps drive the growth and evolution of the Amazon Appstore. We rely on your creativity and innovation to shape what the Appstore is today and what it will become. Please continue to share your thoughts in the community space—your feedback helps us improve and enable you to deliver exceptional experiences for your customers.

Thank you for being part of our community. We can’t wait to see what you build in 2025!

 

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