Android: Can I have my app that uses AmazonSDK in-app payments published on the Android Market or do I have to use Amazon's App Store?

Question

Long title but can I still use the Android AmazonSDK even thouugh my app is published on Google Play and not on Amazon's App store? I am reading from this page

"Only apps that have been approved and published through the Distribution Portal can communicate with the Amazon Client."

So can I still distribute my app through google play ?

Answer 1

No, you shouldn't distribute an app that use Amazon In-App Purchasing API through Google Play, as it requires the Amazon Appstore client to be available at run-time (similar to Google In-app Billing API requires the Google Play client to work).

Per Amazon In-App Purchasing API FAQs:

Q: What do customers need to complete in-app purchases?

A: Customer requirements for in-app purchases are the same as those for the Amazon client.

    1. Amazon client must be installed on the device
    2. The customer account must have 1-Click Payment enabled
    3. 1-Click Payment must be linked to a credit card from one of the supported countries
    4. The default address for 1-Click Payment must be a valid address in one of the supported countries

Even if the Amazon Appstore client is installed on the user's device, other factors come into play. For example, whether Amazon DRM is enabled, whether the end-user has purchased the app on Amazon Appstore...etc. Without going into all the details, the short answer is you should not distribute an app that use Amazon IAP through Google Play.

Answer 2

Yes, according to the following page on the Amazon dev site, you can use Amazon's In-App Purchasing api on the Google Play store, Amazon Appstore, and for HTML5 apps.

https://developer.amazon.com/public/apis

Just look at the icons for each platform on each each API listed.

For example, here is the In-App Purchasing API: