Although I’m personally on the Google Play Books ecosystem for ebooks and audiobooks, I can understand that a much larger percentage of people prefer Kindle and Audible to their content. Because Android is the dominant handheld operating system, it is natural that most of the same people also have a Samsung, Pixel or other Android device and that they are used to buying their books through the Amazon app.
Unfortunately, this will no longer be possible from June 1, 2022 – it’s only about a week away! As you can see in the image below from Ars Technica, the Amazon app now shows users a “Changes to your app” when trying to purchase a Kindle eBook.
Readers will no longer be able to buy or rent Kindle books or subscribe to Kindle Unlimited through the Amazon app for Android; this change keeps the app in line with Google’s updated Play Store policies. You can always add to your library by purchasing or renting books through amazon.com from a web browser.
Google Play’s billing policies state that any app available through the Play Store must use it to process payments and not their own payment processing service. This has undoubtedly caused a lot of frustration with major app providers like Epic Games, Barnes & Noble and now Amazon, especially as Google Play reduces in-app purchases by 30%!
Last month, Audible was also no longer allowed to offer the purchase or rental of audiobooks (however, you can still use free purchase coupons in the app). For now, it seems that Amazon is playing ball and saying that they have made the necessary changes to keep its apps in line with Google’s wishes, but I imagine it will not take this for granted.
Barnes & Noble actually had to completely complete digital purchases on the Nook HD 10 ″ due to this billing update as Nook runs Android. Google claims that it has implemented a strict policy against other payment processes to prevent users from getting confused with the Android user experience, and so there are no additional charges in the app. Basically, it wanted to limit the amount of communication that a developer could perform in their app in the billing sense, instead of encouraging developers to communicate freely outside the app for such things.
Have you ever purchased Kindle eBooks or Audible audiobooks through the Amazon app on Android? Tell me in the comments what you think about Play Store’s billing policy update and whether you agree with it or not. I can understand why Google does this, but I can also see where Apple has built a better setup by encouraging the opposite.