Article 3 of 10 in the series: What the Top 50 Games do with In App Purchasing that the Rest of Us Don’t

By Mike Hines (@MikeFHines)

In the previous article in this series, we took a look at retention, usage and IAP results of our participants for the first two weeks. Now we start to see where the expertise of the top 50 comes into play.

2 weeks

Two weeks after first install, the retention numbers are getting a little ugly for the rest of us. Now the difference is about 40% in favor of the top 50, and the top 50 are also seeing increased advantages in both time in app and average revenue.

1 month

A month later, and the retention differences are overwhelming. This is a 100% advantage for the top 50. Not only that, but the top 50 app users are spending a lot more time in the game giving them just about a 60% advantage in minutes spent in game, and they’re spending a lot more money buying a lot more things from the top 50.

I have read several articles that state that most apps have lost 80% of their users at day 7, so worry less about performance a month out; there is just not the volume of users to make a difference. Even Playtika (interactive division of Caesars Entertainment) had believed this. That is until they analyzed the data. So does day 7+ matter? Well, it matters a lot. 

Next Up

In the next article in the series, we’ll break down when purchases happen, including a look at purchasing by hour, and see just what kind of revenue is still on the table after 7 days.

Ready to Submit Your App or Game?

• To learn more about the Amazon Appstore, click here
• Click here to register for free as an Amazon Developer. 
• Click here to download the Amazon Mobile SDK. 
• Click here to submit your app

According to a new report from Newzoo, gamers using the Amazon Appstore are the most likely to spend money.  More specifically, 64% of mobile gamers that use the Amazon Appstore spend money on mobile games, versus 37% for Google Play.

The report also digs into the profile of the mobile players versus mobile spenders.  According to the report, mobile games equally attract male and female players but when it comes to spending money, the demographic skews male.  The majority of big spenders on mobile are male and have kids, have a large income and more than a third play together with their children regularly, spending a large share of their gaming budget on their kids. 

CEO of Newzoo Peter Warman says:

“Game developers should consider shifting marketing resources towards the Amazon Appstore for two reasons: gamers using the Amazon Appstore are the most likely to spend money and Amazon is best at reaching the big spender, which is typically a family man with a full-time job.”

To download the full report, click here.

Ready to submit your game? 

• To learn more about the Amazon Appstore, click here
• Click here to register for free as an Amazon Developer. 
• Click here to download the Amazon Mobile SDK. 
• Click here to submit your app.

Article 2 of 10 in the series: What the Top 50 Games do with In App Purchasing that the Rest of Us Don’t

By Mike Hines (@MikeFHines)

In the previous article in this series, we took a look at how we built the cohort study we’re sharing in the series, and described what day 1 looks like in terms of retention, usage minutes, usage sessions, and IAP transactions. This article looks at the rest of the first week.

Day 2

When we last left our study participants, retention data was statistically equal, and the top 50 had an edge in usage and ARPPU. A day later we still have about equal user retention data (represented in the top part of the illustration above). Notice in the time data (the pie charts on the bottom), that the top 50 still have advantage in minutes per session and number of sessions per day. Over the month, you’ll see Total Session Length go between a 40% advantage up to an almost 60% advantage for the top 50 apps. In terms of Items sold per paying user, the top 50s advantage will stay in the single digits and won’t really move around all that much over the month.

Not so with the average selling price.  On day 2, the advantage the top 50 have in average selling price has closed a bit, but it’s not because the top 50 did anything wrong. The gap has narrowed because the rest of us started selling more things for higher prices. As a result the margin of average revenue per paying user shrank to only 14%. But this doesn’t last long.

Day 3

On day three, the retention data is still roughly equal, and the session time gains favor the top 50. But the top 50 have made some gains on average selling price. Like the day before, this is not because one group is making a big mistake, it’s because the Top 50 are moving higher-priced items in their IAP catalogs, and they are starting to differentiate offers to different groups of users.

1 Week Later

A week later, we start seeing some of the difference in retention data becoming significant. There is now roughly a 25% active user advantage to being in the top 50. As far as time in the app is concerned, we are moving a lot closer to a 60% advantage in total minutes spent for the top apps. Regarding revenue, we see a 24% difference in average revenue per paying user. No doubt this is a tipping point for our study participants. Check out how they fare moving forward.

Next Up

In the next article in the series, things start to change dramatically, and we see what it looks like to be top 50 in the long run.

For More Information

Learn more about the Amazon Appstore here.

Article 1 of 10 in the series: What the Top 50 Games do with In-App Purchasing that the Rest of Us Don’t

By Mike Hines (@MikeFHines)

Why Do A Study At All?

This whole study of ‘the top 50 vs. the rest of us’ started because we were curious as to why some great games didn’t make a lot of money with IAP while other good games were making more. Sometimes a lot more. We do, after all, run an Appstore with millions of customers in over 200 countries and territories, so finding out how to improve our developer’s IAP returns is a pretty big deal for us.

In our search for an answer, we took a look at how the top 50 apps did with IAP and compared those results with similar apps that were not in the top 50. Then, we proceeded to dive deeper to find out what the top 50 did in common that the rest of us weren’t doing (hence the title for the blog series). We found some pretty interesting data and observations to match, and we’ll share all of that with you in this series.

Sharing the Results

The first thing I’d like to share is how the top 50 did differently. We’ll take a look at the numbers and see what it means to be top 50 versus what it means to be the rest of us. The second thing I’d like to share is what they do differently. What did the top 50 do differently than the rest of us to get those results.  Along the way we will share things that you can start implementing now, so that you can try to get results that are a lot closer to the results that the top 50 get.

The Cohort Analysis

For the first step, we wanted to find out how they did differently. That is what does a top 50 app look like when compared to the rest of us in terms of retention and usage.  To study that, we did a cohort analysis. That’s a fancy way of saying we took 100 users for each of the top-50 apps and the other apps, and compared the groups against each other. Here’s what we found while walking through the first day the users downloaded their apps:

On day 1, 100 people download and install the apps.

What’s surprising is how many people don’t actually launch the app after they download it.  So we have just a little bit over 50% of the downloads becoming active users. And as you might imagine, if you’ve downloaded the app but haven’t launched it, you will likely uninstall that app.

Be that as it may, what we really want to look at is how many users became paying users.  On the Amazon Appstore about 3% of the total downloads eventually become paying users.  I’ll refer to the active user chart at the top of the slide as Retention data. But that’s not all the data we chose to look at.

How Users Spend Time in the Apps

Look at the pie charts and bar charts below the retention data.

We also wanted to know how frequently the users were engaging with the app. The first chart that you see on the left is the average number of minutes that people spend in an app per session. For the top 50 it’s 7.4 minutes per session, and for the rest of us it’s 6.9 minutes per session. The next pie chart is the number of sessions per day that a user has with the app. Again we see an advantage for the top 50 who 2.9 sessions per day as opposed to the rest of us who got 2.6 sessions per day. Now let’s do the math and multiply the session minutes per session by the number of sessions per day. What we get is Total Session Minutes per day.  The top 50 get 21.6 session minutes per day, versus the 18 session minutes for the rest of us.  As you’ll see over time, the top 50 continue to get better at earning more session minutes and more sessions per day than the rest of us do.

It’s important to know how much time users are spending in your app, because ultimately it will impact how much they spend in your app.

How Users Spend Money in the Apps

How users spent money in the apps is what we looked at next. We took the apps from the rest of us and we normalize their earnings at 100% so we could see how the top 50 did in relation to how the rest of us did.

The first bar chart on the left shows how many items were purchased in the day, and we can see right away to the top 50 sold 12% more items than the rest of us did. And they sold for 36% more than the rest of us sold our IAP items for.  Okay, let’s do the math again. Take the number of items purchased multiplied by the purchase price, and we find the top 50 have a 54% greater average revenue per paying user (ARPPU) than the rest of us do.

Next Up

But this is just the beginning. In the next article in the series, we’ll take a look at this data moving out a bit farther in time.

For More Information

Check out the Amazon Appstore and the In App Purchasing API here.

Read some case-studies on Amazon Appstore Developers here.

One of the top priorities for most developers is acquiring new users. Apart from organic channels like referrals, top charts and reviews, developers can also use paid ads to drive downloads and installs. Starting today, developers will now be able to target Fire tablet customers with Facebook mobile app ads. 

Drive More App & Game Downloads on Fire Tablets

Facebook’s mobile app ads for installs can help you acquire new users on Fire tablets. When a customer is in the Facebook mobile app or on Facebook on mobile web on their Fire tablet, they will see an ad for your app with a call to action button like “Install Now”. When the customer taps the ad, the Amazon Appstore client will launch to the detail page of your app, and the customer will be prompted to install the app.

These placements and the exposure they provide can drive significant traffic and help you grow your installed base quickly.

Creating a Facebook Ad is Easy

Facebook ads are easy to create and come with flexible targeting options to reach Facebook’s large audience of users effectively.

If you choose to integrate Facebook’s SDK, you will be able to track how well your ads are converting from impressions and clicks to eventual installs. You can also alternatively use SDKs from one of Facebook’s Mobile Measurement Partners to measure performance of your mobile app ads.

Create an ad for your app on Fire tablets by visiting Facebook’s Mobile App Ads for Installs to learn more and get started.

Vision Mobile recently shared a new chart showing a higher percentage of Amazon Fire developers above the app poverty line versus other platforms. More specifically, 59% of developers distributing their apps on the Amazon Appstore make more than $500 per month versus <50% on other platforms. The chart also showed that developers continue to experience increased monetization in the Appstore - Amazon had a bigger proportion of developers making $5,000+ a month compared to developers on other platforms. We’re excited to see developers like you expand their reach and monetize apps through the Amazon Appstore.

Today the Amazon Appstore is available on more than just Fire devices including the all-new Amazon Fire TV Stick. The Amazon Appstore for Android is also pre-loaded on BlackBerry 10 devices and carriers including O2, EE, Deutsche Telecom and others on millions of Android devices. This wide reach gives your app access to even more customers. Plus, the latest Amazon shopping app fully integrates apps and games into the shopping experience enjoyed by millions of customers. So when customers are searching for products in the Amazon shopping app, they’ll also discover relevant apps and games that they may also enjoy.  Here’s what some developers are saying about their experience with Amazon:

“When we compared our 2014 data, we noticed that ARPU on Amazon was 70% higher than on Android and 15% higher than on iOS”.                                                                          

– Elad Kushnir, VP of Business Development at Playtika

“The Average Revenue Per Download (ARPD) on Amazon is actually higher than on Android.”   

– Jean-Baptiste, CEO at DJIT

Check out the infographic below to learn more about where your apps will be available once you distribute them on the Amazon Appstore then get started and submit your apps here.

P.S. The holidays are the best time of the year to submit your apps. Read our latest blog post to learn more: Three Important Stats About Holiday Device Sales

In just over month, the holiday season officially kicks off. Connected devices like phones, tablets and streaming video set-top boxes continue to be popular gifts. And for app and game developers, this means a bonanza of downloads and new customers.

To help you get focused, we’ve compiled three stats that are important for mobile app developers:

1. App Purchases Surge by 50% Thanksgiving Week

The holiday season unofficially kicks off on Thanksgiving, and it’s also the unofficial kick-off to a very lucrative season for mobile app developers.  Maybe it’s the extra free time people have because of the holiday, or perhaps it’s treating themselves to new tablets and phones on Black Friday, but what we have seen is clear: customers purchase 50% more apps Thanksgiving week, than an average week the rest of the year. 

Put another way, you will get 50% more revenue in this one week than you would on any other average week this year. 

Submit your app now to make sure it’s available for Thanksgiving week.

2. Fire Tablets See a 24X “Bump” on Christmas Day

Thanksgiving week is a good start, but things really start to get interesting on Christmas day.  According to Flurry Analytics, Amazon sees a particularly large number of device activations on Christmas day—24 times the typical number for any other day in 2013.

This is a huge opportunity for Amazon Appstore developers.  The Amazon Appstore is preloaded on Fire tablets, Fire phone and Fire TV, so when the holiday “bump” happens, your apps and games will be ready to be discovered and downloaded by new customers. 

3. App Purchases Increase 400% During Digital Week

What is the single best week for app developers?  The aptly named “Digital Week” sees app purchases surge by 400% versus the next highest week.  Digital Week is the single biggest week of the year for app developers, and it’s easy to see why.  When customers unbox their new tablet or phone, what’s the first thing they do?  Start downloading apps and games of course! 

And just a reminder: The Amazon Appstore is available on more than just Fire devices. The Amazon Appstore is also pre-loaded on millions of Android devices and hundreds of thousands of Android customers have already downloaded the Appstore on their own. The Amazon Appstore is also preloaded on BlackBerry 10 devices throughout the world, giving you access to even more customers. And the latest Amazon shopping app fully integrates apps and games into the shopping experience enjoyed by millions of customers. So when customers are searching for products in the Amazon shopping app, they’ll also discover relevant apps and games that they may also enjoy.

Submit Your Apps Now to Maximize Your Holiday Bump

The Amazon Appstore has never been available on a broader range of devices and platforms.  Want to reach more customers during Digital Week?  Submit your app now to make sure it’s available for Thanksgiving week.

Click here to register for a Free Amazon Developer Account.  Click here to test your app and get feedback in 90 seconds or less.  Ready to submit?  Click here.

One question developers commonly ask is: how can I increase downloads and reach new customers?

The first step in this process is to start with the basics.  When a customer decides they want to learn more about your app, your detail page, screenshots, icons and video are what drives conversion and downloads.

Watch this quick video to learn 4 tips to help you increase downloads and reach new customers by sweating the details and nailing the basics.

Want to learn more?  Check out our free online course, The Indie Dev's Guide to Promoting Apps and Making Money.  Enroll today to learn how to become a successful mobile developer by engaging users, earning more with your app and using data to make good decisions.

@MikeFHines

In the Bay area? Check out the 3 Amazon Appstore days at AWS Pop-up Loft. Meet 1:1 with developer evangelists, learn about the Appstore in technical sessions, participate in the Appstore Port-a-Thon, and gain hands-on experience through our self-paced hands-on monetization services lab. Plus, each day we will be raffling off Fire TV’s and the brand new Fire tablets. Register now to attend.

The AWS Pop-up Loft is a space located in downtown San Francisco where startups and developers are invited to stop by, hang out, and receive free in-person technical guidance from Developer Evangelists, Product Managers, Support and more.  

Click here to attend the Pop-up Loft

Plug in, hang out, and learn from your peers. All are welcome. You can reserve a spot at any of our activities or sessions, or drop in knowing availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. And we’ll have snacks, drinks, and a bike rack to park your pedals.

Hours and Location

The Appstore team will be at the AWS Loft at 925 Market Street in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 22, Monday, October 27 and Tuesday, October 28 from 1PM-5PM.  

Check out the full agenda below…

Wednesday, October 22 | Jesse Freeman, Developer Evangelist, Amazon Appstore | 1PM-5PM

1:00PM-2:30PM

Reach More Customers by Bringing Your App to the Living Room with Amazon Fire TV

Developing for Fire TV can help you increase your customer reach by putting your app in front of an engaged audience in a new setting. With powerful performance and features such as second screen and multi-controller support, Fire TV gives you a familiar Android-based platform to extend your apps and games into the living room.

Join us for a technical presentation where you will learn about Fire TV’s capabilities, using the SDK to optimize for the 10-foot experience, and implementing controller support.

2:30PM – 5:00PM

Ask an Evangelist

Get guidance on technical topics, learn about our products and services, or come with any question about anything else Amazon Appstore related.

Monday, October 27 | Peter Heinrich, Developer Evangelist, Amazon Appstore | 1PM-5PM

1:00PM-2:30PM

Increase User Engagement by Making Your App Smarter with 3 Easy Tips

Deeply engage users and encourage them to return more frequently to your app or game with 3 easy tips.  We’ll cover how to use A/B testing to fine tune app performance, bring users back again and again with the app widget, and implement analytics to improve player experience and retention. Learn how to deliver users to the heart of your content and make it easier than ever for them to engage with your app.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Join us for a technical presentation where you will learn how to integrate A/B Testing, the app widget, and implement analytics to improve player experience and retention in your app or game.

2:30PM-5:00PM

Amazon Appstore Port-A-Thon

Did you know that 75% of Android tablet apps we tested just work on Fire tablets with no additional development? Attend the Amazon Appstore Port-A-Thon with your Android or HTML5 web app and your app may be published in as fast as two hours. Testers and evangelists will be on-site to speed you through the submission process and answer any questions. Receive a $25 Amazon.com gift card upon submission of your app (limit one per developer).

Tuesday, October 28 | Peter Heinrich, Developer Evangelist, Amazon Appstore | 1PM-5PM

1:00PM-2:30PM

Make Money from Your Apps and Games: Paid Downloads, In-App Purchasing, and Mobile Ads

Calling all apps and games, whether for mobile or tablet devices, Amazon wants to help you improve monetization through pay per download, in-app purchasing, and/or mobile ads. In this session you’ll learn how to take advantage of Amazon’s 1-Click purchasing technology. We’ll show you how to implement In-App Purchasing to offer digital content and subscriptions (e.g., in-game currency) for purchase within your app. And, we’ll cover the Mobile Ads API that offers an in-app display advertising solution where you are paid on ad impressions served instead of clicks on ads. We’ll share best practices and walk you through how to implement these monetization options.

2:30PM-4:00PM

Self-paced, Hands-On Lab

Bring your laptop and app or game for a hands-on lab where you will learn how to maximize your app earning potential. Decide whether Amazon In-App Purchasing and/or Mobile Ads is right for you, and integrate during this hands-on portion of the afternoon.

Special Offer:  Integrate the Amazon Mobile Ads API for the first time into your app or game during the hands-on lab and receive a $50 Gift Card.

4:00PM-5:00PM

Ask an Evangelist

Get guidance on technical topics, learn about our products and services, or come with any question about anything else Amazon Appstore related.

The Amazon Appstore is now preloaded on BlackBerry 10.3 devices starting with BlackBerry Passport.  Starting today, hundreds of thousands of apps and games will now be available to Blackberry customers through the Amazon Appstore. 

A FREE high-quality paid app is also available through the Free App of the Day program, which gives customers one free paid app each day.  At Amazon, we are always committed to making it easy for our customers to easily find the apps and products they want and ensure they’re satisfied with their overall customer experience. Now we’re excited to extend that same commitment to the BlackBerry community. BlackBerry customers will have the opportunity to discover apps that are relevant to them based on personalized recommendations and download these apps with confidence using Amazon’s trusted payment options.

On the developer side, we’re focused on creating the best platform for developers to build, monetize and distribute their apps.  Our developer ecosystem starts with the Amazon Web Services platform for developers’ infrastructure needs.  We’ve got programs like Appstore Developer Select that provide advertising and merchandising benefits to developers so they can get their app discovered. And with services like In-App Purchasing, Mobile Associates, Mobile Ads and our virtual currency Amazon Coins, developers can find all new ways to make more money. Click here to learn more.

Getting Your App on BlackBerry Devices

Publishing your app on BlackBerry devices via the Amazon Appstore is easy.  If you’re an existing Amazon Appstore developer, you’ve previously chosen to distribute your app or game on “Non-Amazon Devices” and your app is compatible with BlackBerry Passport, you don’t have to do anything - your app is already available on BlackBerry Passport devices. 

If you’re an existing BlackBerry developer but new to the Amazon Appstore, click here to register for a free developer account and submit your app today.

On September 9^th, Amazon announced the updated Amazon App for Android – the primary Amazon shopping app enjoyed by millions of customers. The new Amazon App for Android phones provides an award-winning mobile shopping experience on hundreds of millions of physical goods and now enables customers to discover and purchase all of Amazon’s digital catalog - including Amazon Appstore apps and games – from one app. It’s never been easier for Amazon Appstore developers to reach new customers.

Reach Millions Of Customers on More Devices

Millions of customers already enjoy the benefits of Amazon Prime membership. The new Amazon App for Android combines the fast and easy mobile shopping experience customers have come to know and love with access to unlimited streaming of tens of thousands of movies and TV episodes from Prime Instant Video.  Now, your apps and games are directly integrated into that experience, and you have a new channel to reach customers. Current Amazon Appstore developers don’t have to do anything; your app is already included in the new Amazon App for Android.

Want your App included in the Amazon App for Android catalog?  Click here to register as an Appstore developer.

Make More Money with the Amazon Appstore

The Amazon Appstore has never been available on a broader range of devices and platforms.  It’s no wonder 65% of the surveyed developers also say that the Total Revenue achieved on the Kindle Fire is similar to, or even better than, what they experience with other major platforms.

The Amazon Appstore is integrated into Fire tablets, Fire TV and Fire phone devices. Earlier this month, we announced that Fire TV and Fire phone are now available in the UK and Germany. Back in August, we announced the expansion of the Amazon Appstore to 41 new countries, including Egypt, Indonesia, Singapore and Turkey. So publishing your Android app on Amazon means you reach customers from around the world.

The Amazon Appstore is not just available on Amazon devices. This announcement further expands the distribution of Appstore apps and games on Android devices.  And coming this fall, the Amazon Appstore will be preloaded on BlackBerry 10 devices globally, giving you access to more customers with Amazon.

How Do Developers Make Their App Available?

Most Amazon Appstore developers don’t have to do anything; as long as you clicked the box for “compatibility with non-Amazon devices” on the Developer Portal, your app is generally already included in the new Amazon App for Android. Developers who have a check within their app to see if their app was installed on the device by the Amazon Appstore will need to modify their code to include a less specific check to see if their app was installed by Amazon. Want your app included in the Amazon App for Android catalog?  Click here to register as an Appstore developer – it’s free.

Now Is the Time to Submit Your App

Submit your app today to get your app or game included in the new Amazon App for Android.  Most apps just work with no additional development required.

Click here to register for a free developer account.  Click here to test your app and get feedback within 90 seconds.

- Dave (@TheDaveDev)

A common theme that developers often face is deciding which platform they should make their apps available on next. Are the users on this platform engaged enough? Will I be able to make money on this platform? These are only some of the questions that developers face, before investing their time on transferring their apps. For Playtika, a company which builds highly immersive social games, expanding their apps onto as many platforms as possible has become a core strategy.

Playtika’s app Slotomania currently holds the #8 spot worldwide for highest grossed mobile app on iOS and Android. In addition to iOS and Android, Playtika has also launched on the Amazon Appstore, which has proved to be a big success. According to Playtika, the Amazon Appstore provided the team with the highest ARPU (average revenue per user) compared to other platforms and also contained the highest retention rate amongst its competitors. Recently I had the chance to sit down with Elad Kushnir, VP of Business Development, to discuss how their apps were doing in the Amazon Appstore and their experience working with Amazon.

Amazon Appstore offers 70% higher ARPU compared to Google Play and 15% higher than iOS

“The Amazon Appstore does not only make the migration easy from an existing Google Play app, but it also has outperforming KPI’s as well.” says Elad. The team has seen some impressive results since their app has gone live in the store and have done fairly well for themselves in terms of revenue. “When we compared our 2014 data, we noticed that ARPU on Amazon was 70% higher than on Android and 15% higher than on iOS”- Elad Kushnir

 The team credits the unique audience that Amazon brings in and how engaged they are. “When we looked at retention rates for 2^nd day and 7^th day metrics, the retention was relatively the same across all platforms. However on the 30^th day, retention on Amazon Appstore was 10%-20% higher than on iOS and Google Play.” Says Elad.

Playtika Sees 150% Higher Conversion Rates from Players to Payers on the Amazon Appstore Compared to iOS and 170% compared to Google Play

Getting users engaged is only half the battle. With a free app like Slotomania, conversion rates (paying users/ DAU) is crucial in terms of making revenue which is why Playtika is using Amazon’s In-App Purchasing API. So how many of these users are actually purchasing within the game? From Playtika’s data in 2014, they determined that the average user on the Amazon Appstore is 150% more likely to become a paid user than on iOS and 170% more likely than Google Play.

Figure 1In-App Purchasing

From Google Play to Amazon Appstore with Little to No Work

When the team came together to decide on their next platform, they chose the Amazon Appstore immediately. So why did the team decide that Amazon Appstore was the right choice?

“When we were deciding on our next platform, we already had our app on Google Play. We realized that moving our app from Google Play to the Amazon Appstore would be pretty easy since Fire OS is built on Android. Once we started, we got our apps up and running in a couple days and the process itself was seamless. The best part was that it had relatively low development costs.” – Elad Kushnir

From previous tests, we actually found out that more than 75% of the Android apps we tested just work on Kindle Fire with no additional development required. The team has now launched several of their games on the Amazon Appstore and are working on the getting the remaining ones up and running within the next year.

Moving into Fire Phone and Amazon Fire TV

Moving forward Playtika plans to take their apps to the next level by getting them onto Amazon’s newest devices. Their current focus is to get their app on Fire, in which their team is already planning on integrating Fire’s exclusive feature, Dynamic Perspective. In 2015 Playtika is planning to also have their apps on Amazon Fire TV. For now, the Playtika team tells us that they are very happy with how things are going and plan to release even more apps on the Amazon Appstore in the near future.

Learn More about the Tools Used by Playtika

• Amazon In-App Purchasing API
• Fire Phone
• Amazon Fire TV
• Dynamic Perspective SDK

Amazon today introduced Fire OS 4 “Sangria,” the next generation of software and services that powers Amazon’s Fire devices, including three all-new Fire tablets introduced today. The Fire HD 6, Fire HD 7, and Fire HDX 8.9 tablets all give customers the power to watch, work, and play.  Aggressively priced, they are highly affordable and will appeal to a whole new customer segment by introducing a smaller, lighter 6” HD tablet form factor.

This release introduces hundreds of new upgrades and platform enhancements, including:

All-new Fire OS 4 “Sangria”

Fire OS 4 “Sangria” starts with Android and adds a customer-friendly user interface, unlimited cloud storage of Amazon content and photos taken on your Fire device, latest productivity apps, and enhanced platform integrations to seamlessly access the best selection of digital content—more than 33 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, and Android apps and games.

Unmatched Entertainment Ecosystem

Fire OS 4 integrates our newest services including Prime Music, ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction), and Kindle Unlimited. Second Screen headphone integration lets you watch Amazon Instant Video on a compatible big screen TV with headphones plugged into your tablet so you can enjoy the movie in enhanced Dolby Digital sound.

Built for Gaming

Fire tablets are built for the best in gaming with tilt, turn, and multi-touch controls. Customers get a new paid app for free everyday, and enjoy great discounts on popular games and apps. Plus, use Amazon Coins to purchase and save on apps, games, and in-app items. New Fire tablet owners in the US get 500 Amazon Coins—a $5 value.

Content in the Cloud

Every Fire tablet includes free unlimited storage in Amazon Cloud Drive for photos taken on the device, plus 5GB of storage for photos and files added to Cloud Drive from other devices.

Starting at $99, Fire tablets feature quad-core processors that more than double the speed and quadruple the graphics performance of previous models. Your apps launch faster and your customers enjoy a smoother and richer experience with better overall performance than ever before. Stunning HD displays and Dolby Audio make your apps and games shine.

Fire OS 4 is available on the new Fire tablets, with some features coming to the 3^rd generation Kindle Fire HDX and Kindle Fire HD (released in 2013) as part of free, over-the-air Fire OS updates starting later this year.

Learn more about the new Fire tablet hardware and the software improvements announced today.

Fire OS’ Content-Forward UI Makes Your App More Discoverable

Fire OS 4 and the new Fire tablets are designed to provide fast and easy access to favorite books, songs, videos, and games. By deeply integrating software, content, and the Cloud, we build on Fire OS’s content-forward user interface to deliver innovative services that are available only from Amazon.

Fire OS is designed from the ground up to make it as easy and fast as possible for customers to access their favorite apps and content. The home screen Carousel and media libraries are automatically personalized to put your apps front and center in the app grid, providing easy, one-click access.

This means customers use your apps more, leading to more sessions, deeper engagement, and more opportunity to generate revenue. We expect these and many other features will make the new Fire tablets even more popular than their predecessors, further expanding the reach for your apps and games.

Reach a Global Audience for the Holidays

This year’s Fire tablets will be available to customers worldwide in the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, China, and Australia. The Amazon Appstore is also available on Android devices in 236 countries to give your apps even more reach. According to an Amazon-sponsored IDC survey, 76% of developers say that Fire helps them connect with new customer segments that may be difficult to find on other platforms.

Fire tablets expand that reach even further, and with perfect timing. The holiday season is almost here, and Amazon devices have historically surged during this period. According to Flurry Analytics, Christmas Day sees a particularly large number of device activations—24 times the typical number for any other day in 2013, for example—so now is the time to develop a new app or bring your existing Android or web app to Fire tablets, Fire TV, or Fire phone.

Most Android Apps Just Work with Fire OS 4

Fire tablets run Fire OS, which is based on Android 4.4 (KitKat) and offers complete support for API Level 19. This means that it is incredibly easy to bring your Android APK to Amazon devices. Most Android apps we’ve tested work on Fire tablets without modification, so you can publish your apps to the Amazon Appstore with little or no effort and expand your potential audience by millions.

Use the App Testing Service to check the compatibility of your existing Android app in as little as 90 seconds. It will identify potential issues and explain how to resolve them, and then make submitting your app a breeze.

Appstore Monetization Similar to (or Better) than Other Platforms

An IDC survey we commissioned found that developers make as much money per user (often more) when they sell their apps and games on Fire tablets, as compared to any other mobile platform. Playtika, for example, creator of highly immersive social games like Bingo Blitz, saw its highest average revenue per paying user (ARPU) on Fire tablets—70% higher than Android and 15% higher than iOS. Similarly, Crittermap saw superior results using the Amazon Mobile Ads API. Creators of BackCountry Navigator PRO, they earned higher eCPM than on other ad networks.

Fire tablets also support Amazon Mobile Ads, a cross-platform service to display banner, interstitial, and rich media ads inside your apps. You are paid for ad impressions, not just ad click-through events. Use it to monetize app sessions across Fire tablets, Fire phone, and all Android and iOS devices.

Amazon Mobile Ads is just one of many APIs available in Amazon’s Mobile App SDK, which also provides support for In-App Purchasing, A/B Testing, Maps, Login with Amazon, and GameCircle Achievements, Leaderboards, and Whispersync for Games. Build with our Mobile App SDK to get these services up and running quickly, and then use them to engage new customers, understand and improve their experience with your app, and increase revenue.

Learn more about Amazon’s monetization APIs on our website, where you will find Quick Start Guides and sample code to help you integrate them into your apps quickly.   

Your Apps & Games: Now Available on More Devices

The Amazon Appstore has never been available on a broader range of devices and platforms. It’s no wonder 65% of the surveyed developers also say that the Total Revenue achieved on the Kindle Fire is similar to, or even better than, what they experience with other major platforms.

The Amazon Appstore is preloaded on Kindle Fire tablets, Fire TV, and Fire phone devices.  And recently, we announced that Fire TV is available in the UK and Germany. Amazon Fire TV makes it easy for users to stream movies, TV shows, and music as well as download apps and play games right on the HDTVs they already own.

Back in April, we announced the expansion of the Amazon Appstore to 41 new countries, including Egypt, Indonesia, Singapore, and Turkey. Publishing your Android app on Amazon means you can reach customers from around the world, including those in countries that were previously inaccessible.

The Amazon Appstore is not just available on Amazon devices; hundreds of thousands of customers have already downloaded the Amazon Appstore for Android. This announcement expands the distribution of Amazon Appstore apps and games on Android devices. And coming this fall, the Amazon Appstore will be preloaded on BlackBerry 10 devices, giving you access to another new global customer segment.

Now Is the Time to Submit Your Apps

Download our Mobile App SDK today to get started developing for Fire OS and Amazon’s entire device family. You can even test your existing Android apps with our App Testing Service to see how they will actually work on Fire tablets and Fire phone. As the Amazon ecosystem grows, so does your potential audience.

-peter (@peterdotgames)

We frequently hear from developers that allocating resources and prioritizing investments can be a tough decision.

Tivola, a kids and family games publisher based in Hamburg, Germany, was not sure if they should build an Android version of their apps until they heard that apps were monetizing well on Amazon – sometimes even better than on other Android platforms. The return on investment that Amazon could potentially deliver inspired them to take the plunge, with Amazon as their Android partner. Their apps were live when Kindle Fire tablets and Fire TV launched in the US, and today they see Amazon as a core part of their strategy.   

Recently we had the chance to meet in person with Hendrik Peeters, COO of Tivola, and he shed some light on Tivola’s experience with Amazon.

Tivola Goes from PC to Game Consoles to Mobile Devices

The developers at Tivola are the creative brains behind 50 apps, including PetWorld 3D and the popular Fire TV game Grandpa and the Zombies. Founded in 1995, Tivola has nearly 20 years of experience building innovative and entertaining apps and games for kids and families.

Tivola is quick to respond to the constantly evolving business environment. They have pivoted their strategy and moved from selling games on PC CD-ROM, to games consoles, and now to apps and games on mobile devices. Tivola published their first iOS app in 2011 and chose Amazon as the first platform on which to publish their Android apps in 2012.

33% Higher ARPU than on Alternative Android Platforms

Reflecting on why they built Android apps for Amazon first, Hendrik says that what ultimately affected the decision was the personal support they knew they would get with Amazon. Hendrik states that monetization on Amazon is stronger than expected, with ARPU being 33% higher than on alternative Android platforms. In the US specifically, ARPU for free titles is up to 4 times more than on Google Play. Hendrik ties the high monetization they’ve seen to Amazon’s customer base:

“Amazon provided a unique platform where we can distribute apps to an audience of invested parents who are interested in high quality content and are happy to pay money for it.”

As a kids and family games publisher, Tivola acts very carefully when offering in-app purchasing, so a customer base who is willing to pay for an app upfront plays a crucial role in Tivola’s success. Indeed, Tivola’s preschool-level games perform very well on Amazon, achieving ratings of 4.7 stars on Amazon.de.

70% of Revenue from International Markets

Having understood early on that they have to distribute their apps globally, Tivola have emphasised localisation to expand abroad successfully. For example, Tivola worked very hard to publish Grandpa and the Zombies in 9 different languages, which, according to Hendrik, was a crucial customization to reach customers outside Germany. Indeed, localisation has enabled that 70% of revenue from their kids games and casual games now comes from outside Germany. The Free App of the Day promotion of Grandpa and the Zombies exemplifies this success, with 2/3 of downloads coming from the United States.

Tivola Published Their Apps on Fire TV for Day of Launch

Confident in their success on Amazon’s tablet devices in the US, Tivola decided to have their apps live on Fire TV for when it launched in the US in April 2014. Indeed, their game Grandpa and the Zombies was one of the first apps on Fire TV. As Hendrik explains:

“We were excited to be part of something big. We saw it as investing in the future and we wanted to be there from the beginning.”

He strongly encourages developers to be present on a platform from the very beginning. As Tivola discovered first-hand with Fire TV, the high discoverability they got from a brand new platform is a clear advantage and incentive to invest in it.

Getting Started

• Fire TV is now available in the UK and Germany - learn more.
• Learn more about Fire TV here.
• Read about the Appstore Developer Select program for Fire TV
• Find out more about the Free App of the Day promotion, as well as other marketing and merchandising opportunities, here.

Why do indie developers love the Amazon Appstore? 

Because they can extend their reach and make more money.  65% of developers say total revenue similar or better than other platforms.  Trevor Holyoak of holyoak.com says:

"Right now, the income is about five times better than Google Play"

Watch this video to learn more, then click here to register for your free Amazon Appstore account.  Already have an app?  Click here to test it.  Over 75% of apps we tested just work just work on Fire devices, with no additional development required.

@MikeFHines