The Amazon Android Market

Several months ago, Amazon opened their "own" version of the Android Market. The app is called Appstore (sparking threats of legal action by Apple) and can be downloaded on most Android Phones on most carriers. (Sorry AT&T users.)

Now that there has been some time for the dust to settle, I would like to share a little about the Amazon appstore, pros, cons and maybe hear from you as well. You can access their market at Amazon.com/ or through their App.

I am not entirely sure why Amazon decided to take on their own version of the Android Market. There are rumors about a possible Amazon Android tablet or a Android powered Kindle (like the Nook) that might be in production. If they aren't planning on putting Honeycomb on it, this makes sense, bc they would not be allowed to put the official Market on those tablets. Whatever the reason, there are a few great reasons to use it.

1. Free app of the day - Each day Amazon provides one free application, that will cost you $$ on the Android Market. (If you are curious to see what has been offered already, click here) While the free app has been game heavy, I have downloaded some really neat apps and am irritated with myself when I forget to check and see what's free! I click the "buy" button and it appears in my Amazon Appstore right away. I can actually download it whenever I want. So I have grabbed a few just in case, and will dl them onto the phone if I find I need the app at some point.

2. Discounted Apps - If I am planning to buy an App, I check both markets, and find that sometimes, its cheaper on Amazon. One example at the time of this writing: Xtralogic's remote desktop client is currently $24.95 in the Android Market, but only $12.99 in Amazon's store. Xmen will run you $3.00 in Android Market and $1.50 on Amazon.

3. All Apps stored for you - I recently had to change my phone out. One thing I realized, is that the Android Market only tracks your paid apps, not your free apps, and its a huge hassle to re- download everything. With my Amazon apps, I just re-downloaded the appstore and hit one button, all my apps, free and paid that I purchased through Amazon were restored on the new phone.

4. Test Drive - Some (not all) of the apps have a "test drive" feature where you can preview the app, and see how it works. Click here for a list of all the apps you can test drive before downloading.

Some of the cons

1. Its another market - This may be a con only for me, but I am not a huge fan of having 2 markets to look for what I need. Which leads to my next con...

2. Fewer Apps - I have noticed some devs have one app on Amazon, and several on the Market. There are many many fewer apps on Amazon. One reason, is Amazon says they have a vetting process for apps to their Appstore. This is supposed to lead to safer apps (no viruses) and only "high quality experiences" (no junk apps). However, this also shrinks their offerings. Of course, on the other hand developers may not want to go through the process of submitting their apps two places etc.

3. It stores your Apps for you - Hah, i know I listed this as a pro above, but its a tiny, nitpicky con as well. If you decide you longer want an app on your phone, you remove it the same way you remove any other app. However, you cannot remove it from your Amazon account, so the app will continue to remind you that you have updates for it, even though you don't care about it anymore. No big deal, but it happens.

So far, I have overall liked what Amazon is doing. Its been easy to use, and made me phone switch much easier than the Android market. The free apps don't hurt either.

Are you currently using the Amazon Appstore? What say you?