The Google Play Store’s restrictions prevent Amazon from selling Kindle books to Android customers.
This is terrible news if you were a fan of Kindle books on your Android smartphone, since Amazon has disabled the ability to purchase ebooks via the Android Kindle app.
As recently as a few weeks ago, it was possible to purchase Kindle books using the Amazon app on Android. In order “to maintain in accordance with the Google Play Store standards,” Amazon has eliminated the opportunity to purchase books from inside the app, as observed by Ars Technica. Users are now routed to a page explaining this removal.
As of April 1, firms with a yearly revenue of $1 million or more are required to pay a 30% commision on all in-app transactions made on Android.
It’s possible to get around this by using a payment provider other than Google Pay to make in-app purchases. Google, on the other hand, has been prohibiting applications that don’t utilise its payment mechanism from releasing updates since March. Apps that do not use Google-approved payment methods will be withdrawn from the Play Store as of June 1.
In other words, it seems Amazon is getting a jump on Google Pay by removing non-Google Pay payments from the Kindle app before anybody else can. However, instead of giving up 30% of Kindle app sales, Amazon now leads customers to its website where they may purchase books that can then be downloaded to the app. Amazon recently disabled the ability to buy Audible audiobooks via its Android app for the same reason.
In 2011, when Apple imposed a “tax” on digital products bought via applications on its App Store, Amazon removed the ability to buy Kindle books through its iOS app. Such changes aren’t uncommon.
In other words, the Kindle app for Android will be harder to use now that Amazon has made this change. Kindle’s user experience has become a bit worse, so you may want to check out our list of the top ebook applications.